Intermediate Senior General Science

If You Build It, They Will Learn is the perfect do-it-yourself guide for physics teachers who want custom-made demonstration projects to use in their classrooms. Devices like GalileoOCOs Track, Coupled Pendulum, and Gum-Wrapper Thermostat will help you teach forces, energy, properties of matter, and much more. Best of all, you donOCOt need an engineering degree to assemble these devices. The book provides such detailed instructions that even novices can handle the necessary tasks and tools."

John Haysom and Michael Bowen provide middle and high school science teachers with more than 100 student activities to help the students develop their understanding of scientific concepts. The powerful Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) strategy, field-tested by hundreds of teachers, is designed to foster student inquiry and challenge existing conceptions that students bring to the classroom. The POE strategy allows students to reflect on their experiences with and understanding of a subject before making a prediction about the outcome of an experiment and discussing the prediction with classmates. Following up this discussion with observations and then scientific explanations of the outcome gives students a more in-depth understanding of the subject at hand. Furthermore, the authors' POE strategy helps teachers gain insight into students' thinking throughout the learning process. Practicing the POE strategy also serves preservice teachers who need to develop strong pedagogy as they attempt to engage students in science learning and understanding.The 15 chapters cover topics such as force and motion, temperature and heat, light, chemical change, and life processes in plants. Lessons include worksheets, scientific explanations of the concepts being studied, summaries of student responses during the field tests, synopses of research findings, and lists of necessary materials. In Predict, Observe, Explain, Haysom and Bowen make it easy for novice and experienced teachers alike to incorporate a teaching method that helps students understand-and even enjoy-science and learning.

It can be a tough thing to admit: Despite hearing so much about the importance of inquiry-based science education, you may not be exactly sure what it is, not to mention how to do it. But now this engaging new book takes the intimidation out of inquiry. Science as Inquiry in the Secondary Setting gives you an overview of what inquiry can be like in middle and high school and explores how to incorporate more inquiry-centered practices into your own teaching. In 11 concise chapters, leading researchers raise and resolve such key questions as: What is Inquiry? What does inquiry look like in speccific classes, such as the Earth science lab or the chemitry lab? What are the basic features of inquiry instruction? How do you assess science as inquiry? Science as Inquiry was created to fill a vacuum. No other book serves as such a compact, easy-to-understand orientation to inquiry. It's ideal for guiding discussion, fostering reflection, and helping you enhance your own classroom practices. As chapter author Mark Windschitl writes, "The aim of doing more authrntic science in schools is not to mimic scientists, but to develop the depth of content knowledge, the habits of mind, and the critical reasoning skills that are so crucial to basic science literacy." This volume guides you to find new ways of helping students further along the path to science literacy.

Are you looking for ideas to make your science teaching come alive? Full of suggestions for exciting and practical activities to engage children, Practical Science 11-16 explains the science behind the experiments and shows you where it links to the national curricula in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The book covers the three sciences: chemistry, biology and physics. It contains detailed subject knowledge to ensure you grasp key concepts, and there are lots of useful diagrams to help illustrate key points.Experiments include:extracting DNA from a kiwi fruitcapturing rainbowsthe chromatography of sweetsremoving iron from cornflakesa plate tectonic jigsawThese activities will help you develop thorough subject knowledge and ensure you meet your Qualified Teacher Status standards, as well as show you ways to get your students enthusiastic about science. Perfect reading for Secondary PGCE students as well as those on GTP programs, this book is also useful for non-specialists who are trying to get to grips with the sciences.

Teaching Middle and High School Science for Understanding: A Practical Guide for Teachers provides a theoretical and practical introduction to teaching science for understanding and application. The book is grounded in a new paradigm for science education that is consistent with the Project 2061, National Science Education Standards and reform programs in many states. It is based on formal research and on experiences of teachers who have been successful in transforming their classrooms from traditional forms of instruction to an environment where students learn to understand science and apply it in their own lives. The author's experience in classrooms, and with practicing teachers in the U.S. and in several other nations, add richness to this book as a resource for helping teachers improve their professional effectiveness.   The author demonstrates science teaching through three different levels of learning activities: building students' base of information developing understanding applying knowledge Each chapter guides you through the type of planning and instruction you will need to create a constructivist environment in your classroom, providing you with specific activities and examples to illustrate how you can teach science for understanding. 

Even though there is an unending supply of science textbooks, kits, and other resources, the practice of teaching science is more challenging than simply setting up an experiment. In Teaching Science for Understanding in Elementary and Middle Schools, Wynne Harlen focuses on why developing understanding is essential in science education and how best to engage students in activities that deepen their curiosity about the world and promote enjoyment of science. Teaching Science for Understanding in Elementary and Middle Schools centers on how to build on the ideas your students already have to cultivate the thinking and skills necessary for developing an understanding of the scientific aspects of the world, including: helping students develop and use the skills of investigation, drawing conclusions from data through analyzing, interpreting, and explaining, creating classrooms that encourage students to explain and justify their thinking, asking productive questions to support students' understanding. Through classroom vignettes, examples, and practical suggestions at the end of each chapter, Wynne provides a compelling vision of what can be achieved through science education…and strategies that you can implement in your classroom right now.

Solidly grounded in current recommendations of the National Science Education Standards, this text offers teaching guidance and strategies for physical, biological, and earth science courses for middle school, junior high, and high school. The authors' extensive curriculum development experience imbues the text with a practical focus. Their collective knowledge of the field balances coverage of the theory and research behind the strategies they present. Also, inherent in the text is a description of the role of constructivism in science teaching and the connection between science and society including how technological development is driven by societal needs.