Nationally known science educator Page KeeleyOCoprincipal author of the popular, four-volume NSTA Press series Uncovering Students Ideas in ScienceOCohas teamed up with physicist and science educator Rand Harrington to write this first volume in their new series on physical science. They begin with one of the most challenging topics in physical science: force and motion. The 45 assessment probes in this book enable teachers to find out what students really think about key ideas in force and motion."

This is a must-have book if you're going to tackle the challenging concepts of force and motion in your classroom. --

What do your students know-- or think they know-- about what causes night and day, why days are shorter in winter, and how to tell a planet from a star? Find out with this book on astronomy, the latest in NSTA' s popular Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. The 45 astronomy probes provide situations that will pique your students' interest while helping you understand how your students think about key ideas related to the universe and how it operates. The book is organized into five sections: the Nature of Planet Earth; the Sun-Earth System; Modeling the Moon; Dynamic Solar System; and Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe. As the authors note, it' s not always easy to help students untangle mistaken ideas. Using this powerful set of tools to identify students' preconceptions is an excellent first step to helping your students achieve scientific understanding.

V. 1. Physical science assessment probes -- Life, Earth, and space science assessment probes.

Author Page Keeley continues to provide KOCo12 teachers with her highly usable and popular formula for uncovering and addressing the preconceptions that students bring to the classroomOCothe formative assessment probeOCoin this first book devoted exclusively to life science in her Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. Keeley addresses the topics of life and its diversity; structure and function; life processes and needs of living things; ecosystems and change; reproduction, life cycles, and heredity; and human biology."

Science teacher educators, curriculum specialists, professional development facilitators, and KOCo8 teachers are bound to increase their understanding and confidence when teaching inquiry after a careful reading of this definitive volume. Advancing a new perspective, James Jadrich and Crystal Bruxvoort assert that scientific inquiry is best taught using models in science rather than focusing on scientistsOCO activities."

"Children are continually developing ideas and explanations about their natural world. … Some of these ideas are consistent with the science children are taught; others differ significantly from scientific explanations. Many of these ideas will follow students into adulthood if they remain hidden from the teacher and unresolved. The challenge for teachers is to find ways to elicit these ideas and then use appropriate strategies to move students’ learning forward.” —Page Keeley, author of the bestselling NSTA Press series Uncovering Student Ideas in Science You don’t have to become a mind reader to understand the ideas young students bring to science class. This collection will help you draw out and then recognize what students know—or think they know—about the natural world. What Are They Thinking? is a compendium of 30 “Formative Assessment Probes” columns from NSTA’s elementary journal Science and Children. Each chapter provides: • A sample formative assessment probe: a set of interesting questions that root out commonly held, often-mistaken ideas. Geared to elementary students, probe topics range from why you can see the Moon in the daytime to where water goes when it evaporates to what is or isn’t a rock. Your students’ answers to each probe will help you take a step back and figure out how to guide them from where they are conceptually to where they need to be. • Accompanying teacher notes: easy-to-grasp explanations and advice that tell you how to encourage evidence-based discussion and then monitor students’ understanding. • A bonus feature: a set of study group questions written especially for this compendium by award-winning author Page Keeley. So forget about acquiring psychic powers. Instead, turn to What Are They Thinking? to transform both your teaching and your students’ learning about science.