Science

Teaching science to elementary school students is complex, and teacher preparation programs must support preservice teachers’ learning to communicate science content and practices with children. Science teachers bring the experiences they have as students to their teacher preparation, and these experiences may support or conflict with what they are learning about effective teaching. In this study, we present stories of two first-year teachers who attended a STEM-focused teacher preparation program in the U.S.

This article presents a tool that teachers can use to support children in planning science investigations. Using an extended example from a second-grade investigation into seed dispersal, we describe strategies for structuring conversations that anchor investigations in phenomena and provide opportunities for students to be involved in making decisions about what materials to use in an investigation, how to use materials, and what to look for or count as evidence.

Studying moths is an excellent way to include students in science practices by introducing them to a ubiquitous but under-appreciated animal group that can be found in their local places, including urban, suburban, agricultural, forested, and other habitats. In this paper, we share a simple, low-cost method that can allow individual students or groups to collect moth specimens and begin to ask and answer questions about moth diversity and abundance in their local community.

In this paper, we examine traditional psychosocial approaches to the study of student agency in science education, emphasizing the importance of incorporating sociocultural and critical perspectives.

This collection of curriculum units focus on the biology topics of natural selection, matter and energy, and genetics. Each unit contains a series of lessons, videos, and materials for students and teachers.

These high-quality, NGSS-aligned science lesson plans are built on phenomena meaningful to rural students. They include plans for middle school science, as well as high school biology, Earth science, chemistry, and physics.

This toolkit lays important groundwork to help teachers successfully enact motivation design principles (MDPs) in support of student motivation and engagement in science. It addresses the reciprocal relationship between motivationally supportive teaching and equitable science instruction and provides guidance on general classroom organization, routines, policies, and climate considerations that provide a vital foundation for supporting student motivation. The toolkit contains resources for the five MDPs: belonging, confidence, learning orientation, autonomy, and relevance. It describes connections between enacting the MDPs and delivering instruction based on the NGSS and outlinines the reciprocal relationship between supporting student motivation and implementing phenomenon-centered science instruction, integrating crosscutting concepts, and promoting the eight science and engineering practices from the NGSS.

This toolkit lays important groundwork to help teachers successfully enact motivation design principles (MDPs) in support of student motivation and engagement in science. It addresses the reciprocal relationship between motivationally supportive teaching and equitable science instruction and provides guidance on general classroom organization, routines, policies, and climate considerations that provide a vital foundation for supporting student motivation. The toolkit contains resources for the five MDPs: belonging, confidence, learning orientation, autonomy, and relevance. It describes connections between enacting the MDPs and delivering instruction based on the NGSS and outlinines the reciprocal relationship between supporting student motivation and implementing phenomenon-centered science instruction, integrating crosscutting concepts, and promoting the eight science and engineering practices from the NGSS.

This toolkit lays important groundwork to help teachers successfully enact motivation design principles (MDPs) in support of student motivation and engagement in science. It addresses the reciprocal relationship between motivationally supportive teaching and equitable science instruction and provides guidance on general classroom organization, routines, policies, and climate considerations that provide a vital foundation for supporting student motivation. The toolkit contains resources for the five MDPs: belonging, confidence, learning orientation, autonomy, and relevance. It describes connections between enacting the MDPs and delivering instruction based on the NGSS and outlinines the reciprocal relationship between supporting student motivation and implementing phenomenon-centered science instruction, integrating crosscutting concepts, and promoting the eight science and engineering practices from the NGSS.

This curriculum workbook details a design process for engaging elementary students in citizen science investigations that are relevant to their school district’s curriculum and school site. The citizen science guide is designed to help users critically examine potential citizen science projects to determine whether they can be easily adapted for use in a classroom curriculum and schoolyard setting.