Since their release in 1996, the US National Science Standards have provided the vision for science education reform. But has that reform actually taken hold in elementary school? "Yes!" reports Robert Yager, editor of Exemplary Science in Grades PreK - 4: Standards-Based Success Stories, "Probably the Standards have done more to change science in elementary schools than has occurred at the other grade levels. Evidence of change is apparent in this fourth volume of the Exemplary Science monograph series, an essay collection featuring educators in PreK - 4 describing programs they've developed to fulfill the Standards' More Emphasis guidelines. The 14 programs are real-life examples you can learn from in carrying out reforms in teaching, assessment, professional development, and content. Among the topics covered: "Adapting Science Curricula in the Kindergarten Classroom," "Building on the Natural Wonder Inherent in Us All," "Guiding Students in Active and Extended Scientific Inquiry," "Active Integrated Inquiry in an Afterschool Setting," and "Thinking Outside the Box: No Child Left Inside!" As Yager writes in the book's introduction, "The 14 exemplary programs can be seen as models for other teachers, not just to copy, but as ways of approaching science and encouraging their students to do more of what they like..." When both teachers and students are enthused, curious, and involved, science becomes central to the lives of students and others in the community and can tie the whole school experience together.

This collection of 16 essays is ideal for staff development providers, as well as preservice science methods instructors. Each essay describes a specific program designed to train current or future teachers to carry out the constructivist, inquiry-based approach of the Standards. Each essay also provides evidence of effectiveness on how teachers grow more confident using inquiry approaches,

Do the Standards really matter in middle school? Nine years after the National Science Education Standards' release, just how well do science teachers in grades 5 to 8 actually use them to plan content, define improved teaching, and assess real learning? Find out the answers to these key quesitons in this groundbreaking collection of 15 essays by teachers, researchers, and professors whose specialty is middle school. Nine years after the release of the Standards, these educators describe what they're doing to achieve the visions for the reform of teaching, assessment, professionaldevelopment, and content. All the visions correspond to the Less Emphasis and More Emphasis conditions that conclude each section of the Standards, characterizing what most teachers and programs should do less of as well as decribing the changes needed if real reform is to occur. Among this collection's wide-ranging essay topics: "Teaching Science With Student Thinking in Mind," "The Relationship Between a Professional Devleopment Model and Student Achievement," "Creating a Classroom Culture of Scientific Practices," "Traveling the Inquiry Continuum: Learning Through Teacher Action Research," "What Do We Get to Do Today? The Middle School Full Option Science System Program," and "Teach Them to Fish." This volume is the third in NSTA Press's Exemplary Science monograph series, which provides the results of an unprecedented national search to assess how well the Standards' vision has been realized.

Strong evidence from recent brain research shows that the intentional teaching of science is crucial in early childhood. Big Science for Growing Minds describes a groundbreaking curriculum that invites readers to rethink science education through a set of unifying concepts or “big ideas.” Using an integrated learning approach, the author shows teachers how to use readily available, low-cost items to create a safe classroom setting that fosters hands-on learning and exploration of real-life problems. The text includes classroom activities that connect science learning to mathematics, technology, art, and literacy. Book Features: Shows teachers how to address fundamental biology, chemistry, physics, and Earth science concepts using easy-to-find objects.Describes constructivist learning environments that are aligned with emerging data on brain development.Includes guidance for adopting approaches and instructional strategies consistent with NSTA, NSES, and NAEYC guidelines. “We need to celebrate the birth of this book. It is a vivid embodiment of how young children learn scientific ideas when their teachers create conditions that match the ways youngsters are able to integrate meaning. Constructivist practice comes to life in these pages. At a time of narrow high-stakes tests, here is a model that preserves truly professional practice.” —From the Foreword by Doris Pronin Fromberg, Hofstra University “Big Science for Growing Minds is a wonderful, jam-packed storehouse of research-based ideas for the effective teaching of science. The author is masterful in her ability to clearly explain current brain research and cognitive science studies and to exemplify the research through practical classroom applications.” —Lawrence Lowery, Professor (emeritus), Graduate School of Education and the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley

In the coming decades, the general public will be required ever more often to understand complex environmental issues, evaluate proposed environmental plans, and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local to global scales. Thus it is of fundamental importance to ensure that higher quality education about these ecological issues raises the environmental literacy of the general public. In order to achieve this, teachers need to be trained as well as classroom practice enhanced. This volume focuses on the integration of environmental education into science teacher education. The book begins by providing readers with foundational knowledge of environmental education as it applies to the discipline of science education. It relates the historical and philosophical underpinnings of EE, as well as current trends in the subject that relate to science teacher education. Later chapters examine the pedagogical practices of environmental education in the context of science teacher education. Case studies of environmental education teaching and learning strategies in science teacher education, and instructional practices in K-12 science classrooms, are included. This book shares knowledge and ideas about environmental education pedagogy and serves as a reliable guide for both science teacher educators and K-12 science educators who wish to insert environmental education into science teacher education. Coverage includes everything from the methods employed in summer camps to the use of podcasting as a pedagogical aid. Studies have shown that schools that do manage to incorporate EE into their teaching programs demonstrate significant growth in student achievement as well as improved student behavior. This text argues that the multidisciplinary nature of environmental education itself requires problem-solving, critical thinking and literacy skills that benefit students’ work right across the curriculum.