Electromagnetism, along with mechanics, is one of the most fundamental disciplines in physics, and the magnetic force is one of the most easily accessible forces existing in nature. Magnets are often used as science teaching aids and are readily available from a young age; the forces of these magnets are first dealt with in NGSS (Next Generation…

This article describes a lesson rooted in "tinkering," an approach to learning that encourages the use of authentic, hands-on experience to develop an understanding of content and physical materials. There were several desired outcomes for this lesson. First, the authors felt that tinkering was an appropriate approach to investigating…

In this article, the authors focus on students constructing observations of patterns to understand how surfaces affect the motion of an object. Students will use the patterns they observe to predict future motion of marbles (NGSS Lead States 2013). Students then apply their learning by engaging in an engineering task. By giving students a task to…

Martin Wagenschein's ideas of prioritising phenomena in making sense of science processes have influenced the German "Lehrkunstdidaktik" (art of teaching) approach. This article sketches a "Lehrkunstdidaktik" teaching unit inspired by Michael Faraday's "Chemical History of a Candle." It shows how primary and lower…

In an ever-increasing technological society, teachers have now, more than ever, a vast offering of educational technologies made available for classroom use. However, the time necessary for vetting and developing rigorous lessons with the usage of such technologies can be overwhelming for a classroom teacher. Still, teachers need the opportunity…

In this article, Helen Spring explains how a 'wow' activity is a great place to start learning outside the classroom. It will enthuse both children and staff. Teachers new to outdoor learning can start with something simple like having students use double-sided sticky tape to collect as many colours as they can from the school grounds. Then look…

English learners (ELs) benefit from inquiry-based science instruction that includes explicit attention to language learning goals. The purpose of this article is to share a third-grade unit on forces and motion which integrates science inquiry and writing in science notebooks with the goal of developing ELs' engagement in science, conceptual…

This investigation-based lesson is geared toward third through fifth grade students. The lesson presented in this article was the first of three lessons designed and taught by us for our first preservice teaching course. UTeach is a teacher preparation program for undergraduate STEM majors, which originated at the University of Austin, Texas. The…

A rich science learning experience not only captures students' attention but also motivates them to investigate and solve problems and investigate how scientists carry out their work. This article describes how secondary science coordinator Patrick Brown's found success teaching students the nature of science by engaging them in…

Although most elementary students have had experiences with magnets, they generally have misconceptions about magnetism (Driver et al. 1994; Burgoon, Heddle, and Duran 2010). For example, students may think magnets can attract all metals or that larger magnets are stronger than smaller magnets. Students often confuse magnets with magnetic…

We describe an inquiry-based course in physics and chemistry for preservice K-8 teachers developed at California State University Fullerton. The course is one of three developed primarily to enhance the science content understanding of prospective teachers. The course incorporates a number of innovative instructional strategies and is somewhat…