Science Teaching Resources

Science is just as important as language arts and math, and with these 5 ideas, you'll find more time to fit it in!

Have you ever seen bird ballet? It’s true, not only are birds fabulous singers, some, like these starlings, are exceptional dancers. The filmmaker Neels Castleton caught starling ballet on this video taken in Marseilles, France earlier this year.

You've probably noticed pictures of STEM engineering challenges floating around the teacher blog world recently, especially if you happen to be on Pinterest. There are so many pictures of plastic cup towers, coffee filter parachutes, and other cardboard contraptions. Perhaps you've plunged into the fun headfirst, or maybe you are still standing on the diving board wondering, "Will this really benefit my students?" Read this post to learn 8 reasons STEM challenges are beneficial for students and download a free STEM engineering project!

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is one of the current "buzz words" in the world of education today even though the STEM philosophy of teaching has been around for a very long time. STEM is all about students learning in a student-centered, question-based, subject-integrated classroom. Hence, what I consider to be good teaching. Remember teaching with cross-curricular themes? STEM is like thematic teaching gone wild!

Have you been watching the Winter Olympics? I love to watch ice skating, and I'm absolutely amazed by the artistry of the skaters and their technical skill. Flying spins, death spirals, quads, twizzles, throw jumps, .... oh my! How do they DO that? It just boggles my mind!

As part of the Next Generation Science Standards, elementary teachers will teach engineering. Really??? I’m not an engineer!The problem solving skills, communication, perseverance and teamwork that students will learn while participating in these lessons have been identified as necessary skills for the 21st century worker.

Mittens keep our hands warm, but are mittens themselves warm? That's the question Selina Smith of the Classroom Magic blog posed to students in her mitten investigation. Using inquiry science, students discovered that mittens keep our hands warm because they trap our body heat, but mittens alone are not warm at all. Selina pairs this investigation with the book, The Mitten, by Jan Brett. What other mitten investigations might students be able to conduct?

As one walks the hallway on the evening of Family Science Night, the echoes of excited young scientists fill the school building. From extracting strawberry DNA to investigating a car that runs on alternative fuel to constructing a Rube Goldberg machine from everyday materials, the students are actively engaged in learning that will impact them for a lifetime.