Tag Archives: biology

Who Doesn’t Like a Good Argument?

By Carole Hayward | Published: March 1, 2013

Research indicates that many students do not develop proficiency in scientific practices, such as argumentation. The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the forthcoming Next Generation Science Standards emphasize eight practices that are key elements of K–12 science and engineering instruction, and one practice is “engaging in argument from evidence.” In Scientific Argumentation in Biology: 30 Classroom Activities, authors Victor [...]

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A new reason to visit the library

By Debra Shapiro | Published: October 20, 2011

A California middle school teacher tells how seed-lending libraries can help integrate science into the curriculum.

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Maps and models

By Mary Bigelow | Published: September 21, 2011

My principal questioned why I had U.S. and world wall maps on my request list. “You teach science, not geography” was his comment. But the maps were ordered, and during lessons we pulled them down and found the location of the Namib Desert, the Okefenokee Swamp, and coral atolls in the Pacific. We pinpointed where [...]

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Modeling biological systems

By Mary Bigelow | Published: February 21, 2011

When we see the word “model” some of us get flashbacks to Styrofoam planets, papier-mâché volcanoes, or pretzel-stick log cabins. Their construction often was more of an arts-and-crafts exercise. But models in science can be more than representations of objects. As the editor notes, models “help us make predictions, understand complex systems, generate new ideas, [...]

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Latest from NSTA’s online outposts

By Howard Wahlberg | Published: May 4, 2010

What’s New for May on NSTA’s various online outposts Many of you are wanting to download the resources from the conference in Philadelphia. Here’s how. On our listservs, flood relief efforts for a school in Tennessee are being arranged on our Chemistry list, and the brain and our senses is being discussed in the General [...]

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Science and social studies

By Mary Bigelow | Published: March 20, 2010

Ellis Island Ambassadors Barbara DeSantis, Cindy Jenkins, and Beth Topinka are interested in  investigating how government policy and science are intertwined and in the historical context of innovations and discoveries. They participated in a summer project at Ellis Island on  the science of historical restorations, in which teachers studied topics such as the chemistry of [...]

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Observations and data from nature

By Mary Bigelow | Published: January 7, 2010

The word “data” for some people conjures up pages of numbers or a dreadful experience in statistics class. But get rid of the deer-in-the-headlights look and dig into lessons focused on forensics, snow, fruit flies, and Down syndrome. The protocols, rubrics, and examples can help you work with students in this critical inquiry process. I’ve [...]

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Guest blogger, Portland: Stacy Baker

By Tyson Brown | Published: November 14, 2008

I’m incredibly excited about heading to the NSTA Portland conference next week!  The first trimester is just ending at the school where I teach and I’ve spent an untold number of hours grading and writing report card comments.  The fact that in just one week I’ll go on a mini-vacation thrills me to no end.  [...]

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Bringing biology instruction to life

By Mary Bigelow | Published: October 29, 2007

Here is an interesting coincidence. The other day, I was reading the Science Teacher article on “The Life and Work of John Snow,” with suggestions for an inquiry-based unit of study that focuses on the history and nature of science. One of the recommended websites, John Snow, is an interesting collection of resources related to [...]

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