This article was written by middle school science teacher Todd Williamson for the Integrating Technology column of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, an online magazine for elementary teachers. All versions of this article are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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If you’ve used a search engine like Google or Yahoo anytime in the past two years […]

This article first appeared in Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears online magazine August 1, 2008. The article has been modified to include middle school math and science examples. All versions of this article are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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Over the last few years, blogs have evolved into an exciting web-based publishing tool for individuals […]

This article first appeared in Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears online magazine June 1, 2008. The article has been modified to include middle school math and science examples. All versions of this article are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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Have you ever wondered how you could get your own web site on the Internet, how […]

Problem solving, one of the NCTM Process Standards, is critical to learning mathematics. Students may feel confident with computation, measurement, and statistics, but they can feel completely lost when asked to apply those skills to a word problem. How to start? What to do next? This page offers an introduction to problem-solving strategies, followed by […]

The National Science Education Standards is more than a document for reference when state or local content standards are written or revised. The book, available online and in print, contains a wealth of supporting information for you and other educators in addition to the K-12 standards for science education content.
Professional Development Standards
If you are […]

With the increasing emphasis on hands-on instruction, it becomes more important than ever before for science teachers to be knowledgeable about laboratory safety issues. The National Science Education Standards say that students should have frequent opportunities to use a wide range of equipment, materials, supplies, and other resources for experimentation and direct investigation of phenomena. […]

Communication is a science process skill found within the Science as Inquiry section of the National Science Education Standards. The resources here point to methods and references science teachers can use to assist students in continual honing of this important skill.
Writing with Scientists
In this workshop students will use their own notes and research to write […]

The National Science Teachers Association’s Position Statement on Scientific Inquiry says:
Scientific inquiry reflects how scientists come to understand the natural world, and it is at the heart of how students learn. From a very early age, children interact with their environment, ask questions, and seek ways to answer those questions. Understanding science content is significantly […]

A well-designed WebQuest allows students to increase their computer technology skills, do research, discover what they didn’t know, and construct new understandings of mathematics and science concepts. WebQuests can be done solo, with a partner, or in small groups. Small groups can jigsaw and gather an even wider breadth and depth of information for teaching […]

Here are some great resources to help you add variety to your assessment techniques. Assessment Standard C of the National Science Education Standards implies a need for multiple forms of assessment and recommends the following: (a)The feature that is claimed to be measured is actually measured, (b) Assessment tasks are authentic, (c) An individual student’s […]