The paper reports an empirical study on the relationship between middle school students' understanding of nature of science (NOS) and their metacognitive awareness. The reconceptualised family resemblance approach to the nature of science (RFN) (Erduran & Dagher, 2014; Kaya & Erduran, 2016) as a holistic framework that covers science as…

Reconceptualized Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science (RFN) explains science as a cognitive, epistemic, and social institutional system. The aim of this study is to examine the inclusion of Nature of Science (NOS) in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Turkish middle school science textbooks. The "content," "activity,"…

The paper reports about a study that examines changes in teachers' incorporation of epistemic practices in their design of engineering lessons and compares them to their views about the nature of engineering knowledge across 100 hours of professional development. Nineteen K-8 teachers in the USA, who were new to teaching engineering as part of a…

Mathematics and science are natural partners. One of many examples of this partnership occurs when scientific observations are made, thus providing data that can be used for mathematical modeling. Developing mathematical relationships elucidates such scientific principles. This activity describes a data-collection activity in which students employ…

In this interdisciplinary and field-based activity, grade 5 to 9 students engage in a comprehensive scientific study of snow. Through a series of in-class and out-of-class structured interdisciplinary and team-teaching lesson progressions, students will collect data to be able to analyze and apply knowledge about weather, the physical properties…

This paper explores the foundational principles of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as an integrative teaching strategy designed deliberately to cross discipline boundaries in order to make meaningful and lasting connections. The authors suggest that while PBL has in recent times has largely manifested towards a method of inquiry within a single…

Mendel and his peas. Goodall and her chimpanzees. Bentley and his snowflakes. Pasteur and his sheep. Not only do these stories intrigue students, but they also demonstrate the trials and tribulations associated with scientific inquiry. Using scientists' biographies piques student interest while providing an added dimension to their understanding…

Students connect to science in multiple ways. For some students, learning how real people have developed and defended their scientific ideas makes science relevant and interesting. Tracking the changes in scientific thought over time can be fascinating for students as they see how scientists based their growing understanding on empirical data that…

In the atmosphere or on the ground, snow provides students with unique opportunities to discover winter weather patterns. Traditionally, when students study weather, it is limited to the collection of data one would see on a weather report. However, the interdisciplinary Students Synthesizing Snow data in Natural Objective Ways (SSSNOW) project…

While some textbooks still teach students that there is one scientific process that must be rigidly followed, this stagnant portrayal of the process of science can lead students to think that science and scientists are quite boring. Through integrating visual art and microscopy, students learn about the creativity of scientists and begin to…