In a series of 12 project-based learning lessons, a group of seven fifth-grade students who live 200 miles from the coast explored their personal connections to the ocean. After completing a unit on the role of water in Earth's surface processes, the students investigated ocean acidification and how this pervasive ocean problem impacts their local…

As well-developed as they may be, standards are not curriculum. It is the job of teachers and curriculum teams to use the Standards as the basis for designing the specific pathway for teaching and learning. In this article, the authors explore the use of Understanding by Design (UbD), a widely-used curriculum development framework, for honoring…

Alternative farming techniques are often more efficient and conserve resources more effectively than conventional farming, which can harm the environment with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers (Pimental 2005). To learn the theory, application, and related science concepts of sustainable farming techniques, students can collaborate to create an…

This article describes an interdisciplinary unit in which students explore biological "ice nucleation"--by particles that cause water to freeze at temperatures above -38°C--through the lens of the microbial ice nucleator "Pseudomonas syringae." Such This activity, which aligns with the "Next Generation Science…

Carbon is at the heart of many of today's environmental challenges. It is the central element responsible for the structure and function of living systems--taken up by plants through photosynthesis and moving from plants to other organisms, soil, and the ocean and into the atmosphere. The imbalance of these connected biogeochemical…

Tomlinson's explanation of Artful Teaching and her 2017 expansion of this concept The Five Key Elements of Differentiation provide the theoretical framework of this examination of the need for science investigations in elementary schools. The Artful Teaching framework uses an equilateral triangle with vertices labeled The Teacher, The Student, and…

Creative learning is discussed with respect to a specific physics topic. A teaching example, based on an apparatus that demonstrates the standard dynamo model of geomagnetism, is presented. It features many of the basic physics concepts within the syllabus of electromagnetism at high-school and university. To stimulate conceptual learning and to…

Students receive a more complete conception of scientific cognition methods if they reproduce fundamentally important historical investigations on their own. Ohm's investigation realized in 1826 is one of these. This paper presents a simple and accessible experimental unit, in which Ohm's ideas are implemented with the help of modern…

A quality children's literature program needs to be correlated with ongoing science lessons and units of study. It can enhance and enrich the science curriculum. Pupils tend to enjoy reading library books and the the literature may assist pupils to explore topics in greater depth. In addition to science experiments, demonstrations, and…

Model-Based Inquiry (MBI) is an emergent instructional strategy that is gaining acceptance among science educators. This approach to learning realistically mirrors the work of scientists, who develop and test hypotheses to construct more sophisticated understandings of the natural world. This article details how the authors collaboratively taught…

In the lesson presented in this article, students learn to organize their thinking and design their own inquiry experiments through careful observation of an object, situation, or event. They then conduct these experiments and report their findings in a lab report, poster, trifold board, slide, or video that follows the typical format of the…

Alternative energy sources have become increasingly important as the production of domestic oil has declined and dependence on foreign oil has increased. Historically, there have been four time periods during which the United States was in fact crippled by oil shortages. These time periods include: (1) the early 1900s; (2) World War II; (3) the…

Students in two Camden County high schools planned and built a space shuttle project to send ants into space to examine the effects of weightlessness on a life colony. The experiments, tests, colony design, development of a computer-controlled environment, and production are described. (CM)

This article is an outline of what the author did in his classroom to incorporate the help of two volunteer engineers to create a powerful learning unit and cumulative review for his eighth-grade physical science students. This unit reviews what students have learned during the school year regarding force, motion, Newton's laws, gas laws, and…

Rationale, objectives, and instructional strategies for a directed study course on spectrophotometry are provided. Descriptions of three experiments and four student research projects are also provided. Objectives, laboratory procedures, advantages, and disadvantages for the experiments and projects are included. (JN)