Background: Creativity is an important skill for the future society and developing students' creativity is an important part of science education. Working on a creative science project may help developing students' creative abilities, and the interaction between teacher and students during the work on defining a problem and solving the problem, is…

The need for scientifically literate citizens is an urgent priority, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Despite the importance of scientific literacy, elementary schools across the nation have not made science instruction a priority in their school day. On average, elementary students spend 40% less instructional time in science…

Citizen science projects have been found to increase scientific knowledge and awareness among the participants who engage in these collaborative efforts. Providing elementary students the opportunity to collect, share, and analyze data is an effective way to help them develop a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and gain competency in…

Pedagogical competence and teaching efficacy significantly influence the quality of classroom science learning. Without applying pedagogical learning in realistic classroom environments, there is slight possibility that prospective teachers will increase their teaching confidence or develop understanding of how learners acquire and construct…

This article presents an account of a practical outdoor science project using the larvae of antlions with year 5 and 6 (age 10-11) pupils from Sir Harry Johnston International Primary School in Zomba, Malawi. Aim: To conduct a science project outdoors using scientific enquiry and knowledge in a typical African school environment and to see whether…

Donnelly, Idaho, is a small town surrounded by private ranches and Forest Service property. Through the center of Donnelly runs Boulder Creek, a small tributary feeding into Cascade Lake Reservoir. Boulder Creek originates from a mountain lake north of Donnelly. Since 1994 it has been listed as "impaired" by the Environmental Protection…

One tool for enhancing students' work with data in the science classroom is the measure line. As a coteacher and curriculum developer for The Inquiry Project, the author has seen how measure lines--a number line in which the numbers refer to units of measure--help students not only represent data but also analyze it in ways that generate…

Reading literacy has been a major problem for American students for the past several years. Educators have struggled to find a solution to this problem that will help students while at the same time maintain their interest in the subject matter. Educational video games and other e-learning technologies have made their way into classrooms and homes…

These teacher-tested ideas will guide students in creating true inquiry-based projects. Two of the ideas, the Topic Selection Wizard and Science Project Timeline, are appropriate for all science fair programs, even new ones. For existing programs, the Black Box of Project Improvement and After-School Project Clinic improve project quality and…

This book provides information to help create a themed science fair for childen in grades 4-6. Illustrated instructions and checklists for each of the 100 plus experiments are provided, plus ideas for teachers and students to vary experiments for additional scientific discovery. The experiments are written in age-appropriate language so that…

Students are usually quick to draw conclusions about their surroundings. Their generalizations, however, are often based on a single experience or even a story recounted by a friend. An individual's ability to reason inductively improves as he gains more experience in the world. The ability to draw broad conclusions also improves with an…

Through an interactive partnership, fifth-grade students collected data on plants and joined an active scientific community of working scientists. This Web-based Integrated Science Environment (WISE) project involved asking questions about plants, growing plants in the classroom, and discussing their data with scientists online. (Contains 5…