Science Lessons

Teacher's handbook for teaching science.

Under Gordon Binder's leadership, Amgen became the world's largest and most successful biotech company in the world. This text describes what it really takes to manage risk, financing, creative employees, and intellectual property on the international stage.

Too many universities remain wedded to outmoded ways of teaching. Too few departments ask whether what happens in their lecture halls is effective at helping students to learn and how they can encourage their faculty to teach better. But real change is possible, and Carl Wieman shows us how it can be done—through detailed, tested strategies.

This Science and Technology Committee report on practical experiments in school science lessons and science field trips concludes that many students are receiving poor practical science experiences during their secondary school education. There was no credible evidence to support the frequently cited explanation of health and safety concerns for a decline in practicals and trips. Instead, more focus is needed on what happens after teachers have been recruited to the profession: knowledge and practical skills must be maintained and developed in order for high quality science education to be delivered. High quality science facilities and qualified and experienced technical support are vital. A career structure for technical staff should be provided and the government should ensure schools provide science facilities to match its aspirations for science education. Practical science is relatively expensive and carries little cachet for parents comparing schools. The inspection regime and the requirements set for exam boards should therefore drive higher quality with more and better practical science lessons. The Committee also found a lack of coherence in the provision of science educational materials. It urges the science community to utilise the STEM directories - the online database of STEM enhancement and enrichment activities for schools and colleges - and calls on the government to secure the future of the directories which provide vital contacts between schools and scientists. Finally, the committee urges the government to provide a detailed strategy on how it intends to achieve its ambition to increase participation in school science subjects.

Employ cognitive theory in the classroom every day Research into how we learn has opened the door for utilizing cognitive theory to facilitate better student learning. But that's easier said than done. Many books about cognitive theory introduce radical but impractical theories, failing to make the connection to the classroom. In Small Teaching, James Lang presents a strategy for improving student learning with a series of modest but powerful changes that make a big difference—many of which can be put into practice in a single class period. These strategies are designed to bridge the chasm between primary research and the classroom environment in a way that can be implemented by any faculty in any discipline, and even integrated into pre-existing teaching techniques. Learn, for example: How does one become good at retrieving knowledge from memory? How does making predictions now help us learn in the future? How do instructors instill fixed or growth mindsets in their students? Each chapter introduces a basic concept in cognitive theory, explains when and how it should be employed, and provides firm examples of how the intervention has been or could be used in a variety of disciplines. Small teaching techniques include brief classroom or online learning activities, one-time interventions, and small modifications in course design or communication with students.

2018 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented. The book is organized around four sets of core teaching practices: planning for engagement with big ideas; eliciting student thinking; supporting changes in students’ thinking; and drawing together evidence-based explanations. Discussion of each practice includes tools and routines that teachers can use to support students’ participation, transcripts of actual student-teacher dialogue and descriptions of teachers’ thinking as it unfolds, and examples of student work. The book also provides explicit guidance for “opportunity to learn” strategies that can help scaffold the participation of diverse students. Since the success of these practices depends so heavily on discourse among students, Ambitious Science Teaching includes chapters on productive classroom talk. Science-specific skills such as modeling and scientific argument are also covered. Drawing on the emerging research on core teaching practices and their extensive work with preservice and in-service teachers, Ambitious Science Teaching presents a coherent and aligned set of resources for educators striving to meet the considerable challenges that have been set for them.

Nothing captures the attention of young people (and adults) like a creative object lesson. This hands-on book gives pastors, teachers, speakers, and homeschoolers 77 exciting science activities that reveal the order and grandeur of creation and encourage an appreciation of all God has made. These easy experiments illustrate the laws of nature, teach Bible principles, and affirm God's power as Creator. With catchy or unexpected results, the demonstrations make Bible truth unforgettable. The clearly explained experiments use common household objects, require little setup, and are illustrated with pictures and diagrams.

Science Lessons & Investigations presents science learning through in-depth investigation and observation, supporting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Each unit guides students through exploring a science concept and includes hands-on activities to extend learning. This robust teaching resource gives you everything you need, including teacher support pages, informational text and graphics, vocabulary review, reading and writing activities, and hands-on science projects. Students apply science, technology, engineering, and math concepts to solve real-world problems. Each of the 15 units focuses on a hands-on challenge in which students work together as engineers to design, prototype, test, and refine their creations. Topics support NGSS. Book jacket.