Scientists and other professionals across the globe require employees to collaborate, think critically, and solve problems effectively. To this end, the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) have a vision of ensuring that through inquiry, collaboration, and evidence-based instruction, students will have the necessary skills to be…

Teachers know what a daunting job it can be to ensure that all students in a class learn effectively. In addition to the usual difficulties of gaining everyone's attention at once, instructors also run into the issue of preferred learning styles. In any classroom environment, the same topic is taught to multiple students, and each student may…

Through integration of geology, biology, chemistry, and the history of science, the historic Krakatoa eruption offers a unique portal for student inquiry in the classroom. Students are inherently fascinated by natural disasters, and modern comparisons to the Krakatoa cataclysm are as close as the day's news. This article uses the historic Krakatoa…

In this article, the authors describe a systematic approach to planning for the first days of school that is appropriate for today's demanding high school science classrooms. These strategies apply to any science subject and benefit student teachers, new teachers, and those teachers wishing to improve their classroom management skills. (Contains 3…

Discussions are important classroom tools--and those that focus on science in society have the potential to interest and engage students. However, a conversation can quickly veer out of control if expectations are not clearly set by the teacher and if the discussion is not structured appropriately. This article describes the use of Socratic…

Reviews studies that address the gender gap in primary and secondary science classrooms concerning interest in the subject as well as academic performance. Suggests strategies to encourage female participation in science. (KHR)

Introduces six evaluation instruments which measure student opinion of classroom climate. Provides examples of their uses, along with comments of teachers who have used the instruments. (CP)

Teachers are obligated to engage students in science and excite them about the wonder and amazement of investigating the world. Teachers need to be willing to move from a lecture-oriented classroom to a student-centered classroom that engages students in inquiry. In this article, the author describes how she moved toward a student-centered…

With the publication of the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, people now have a thorough idea of what an inquiry-based teacher is, and what he or she needs to do within a classroom in order to be successful. However, one major barrier in learning how to become an effective inquiry-based science teacher…

Many varieties of data acquisition systems are now available for science classrooms. Most systems consist of a range of sensors--typically called probeware--connected to an interface unit usually described as a datalogger due to its capacity to record data from these sensors. Although some systems operate independently, most units connect to a…

Reading is an essential part of science literacy, yet teachers often face challenges in incorporating reading in science classrooms. In this article, the authors share how they brought reading back into their science classrooms. They designed four quarterly reading projects with yearlong literacy routines that they used successfully with their…