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Full-Text Articles in Education
Confronting Doubts About The Intelligibility, Plausibility, And Fruitfulness Of Inquiry-Based Instruction, Jerrid Kruse, Michael P. Clough
Confronting Doubts About The Intelligibility, Plausibility, And Fruitfulness Of Inquiry-Based Instruction, Jerrid Kruse, Michael P. Clough
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Our two prior ISTJ editorials in the Iowa Science Teacher Journal (Clough & Kruse, 2010a & 2010b) have applied a conceptual change framework (Posner, Strike, Hewson & Gertzog, 1983; Pintrich et al., 1993; Abd-El-Khalick & Akerson, 2004; Clough, 2006a) to understand the difficulties students have in abandoning their intuitive ideas about the natural world and, for the same reasons, the difficulties teachers have in jettisoning their intuitive and learning. Our last editorial noted that in both cases, dissatisfaction with prior ways of thinking must be achieved before alternative ways of thinking will be seriously sought and considered. To initiate a …
Title Page - Table Of Contents
Thinking On Paper: Using Science Notebooks To Increase Active Engagement In The Elementary Science Classroom, Kimberly R. Gasaway
Thinking On Paper: Using Science Notebooks To Increase Active Engagement In The Elementary Science Classroom, Kimberly R. Gasaway
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
The need for scientific literacy is becoming a new standard to which school districts are being held accountable. Student inquiry and the ability to “think like a scientist” will increase the depth at which students understand the natural world and make connections that are critical in strengthening students' scientific literacy. In addition, research has shown that when students were actively engaged in the learning process, they participated more enthusiastically and retained the concepts being taught. Science notebooks help students learn to record and make sense of data and observations about the natural world and come to deeper understanding of scientific …
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When Dissatisfaction Is A Good Thing, Michael P. Clough, Jerrid Kruse
When Dissatisfaction Is A Good Thing, Michael P. Clough, Jerrid Kruse
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Our previous editorial (Clough and Kruse, 2010) in the Iowa Science Teacher Journal used conceptual change theory (Posner, 1982; Pintrich et al., 1993; Abd-El-Khalick & Akerson, 2004; Clough, 2006) to highlight the similarities between students learning science content and educators learning to teach well. An important part of conceptual change is first acknowledging and then confronting current ways of thinking. That is, before learners (whether children or adults) will consider altering their thinking, they must first develop some sense of dissatisfaction with their currently held ideas. That can be difficult because the ideas people hold do appear to work — …
A Balancing Act: Helping Students Understand The Mole Relationship For Balancing Equations, Karl Goldsmith, Matt Jaschen
A Balancing Act: Helping Students Understand The Mole Relationship For Balancing Equations, Karl Goldsmith, Matt Jaschen
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Stoichiometry can be one of the more challenging topics to teach in high school chemistry. Students often struggle until they realize the ratio from the balanced chemical equation represents mole ratios rather than the mass of each component. The activity presented here provides students with an inquiry based experience with a chemical reaction. During the activity, students seek evidence as to what the coefficients in a balanced chemical equation mean. With teacher guidance, these activities help students (1) connect chemical equations to observations, (2) gain evidence that mass ratios are not useful, and (3) understand the relationship between moles and …
Pulling Students In: Creating Concrete Experiences Through A Simple Pulley Device, Joe Kohlhaas, Teresa Morales
Pulling Students In: Creating Concrete Experiences Through A Simple Pulley Device, Joe Kohlhaas, Teresa Morales
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Physics is often taught with an emphasis on mathematical relationships. Many teachers use equations to teach, assuming that the content will fall into place. In reality, all students benefit from concrete representations and familiar objects and properties before learning abstractions (Karplus, 1977). Since mathematics is inherently abstract it must be reserved until after students have a firm conceptual understanding. This article provides a concrete activity that encourages students to explore pulleys. This activity promotes National Science Education Content Standards A, B, E, and F. It also addresses Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
How Does Water Become Polluted? Helping Elementary Students Learn How To Prevent Pollution, Kelsey Bentzinger, Lindsey Thilges, Ken Vacek
How Does Water Become Polluted? Helping Elementary Students Learn How To Prevent Pollution, Kelsey Bentzinger, Lindsey Thilges, Ken Vacek
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Through making observations of mixing various items with water, students develop ideas about how pollution happens. The cumulative effect of what happens when many people add only “a little something” to the water provides students with a concrete representation of what can happen in their own communities. Students complete the lesson by determining what they can do to prevent pollution from happening in their own communities. This activity promotes National Science Education Content Standards A, B, and F, and Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Exploring The Depths: Inquiry To Apply And Deepen Students’ Understanding Of Density, James M. Sleep, Lee Johnson
Exploring The Depths: Inquiry To Apply And Deepen Students’ Understanding Of Density, James M. Sleep, Lee Johnson
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
This activity is designed to deepen students' understanding of the concept of density through scientific inquiry. Students devise procedures to determine the relative and absolute (qualitative and quantitative) densities of several solutions of salt water, and establish a class consensus on their results. Students then apply their findings to estimate the density of an unknown solution. The targeted grade-level for this activity is 8 grade physical science. However, because we know students at all grade levels struggle to understand density, this activity could also be useful in high school Earth science and chemistry. This activity promotes National Science Education Content …
Keeping It Green: Using A Compost To Improve Student Learning, Spencer Mesick, Kayla Hendrix
Keeping It Green: Using A Compost To Improve Student Learning, Spencer Mesick, Kayla Hendrix
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
This article discusses ways in which composting might be used to mentally engage students with science content. Incorporating a compost pile in the classroom provides ample connections to future science content (e.g., conditions necessary for the life of organisms in a well running aerobic compost, what decomposition means in a biological sense, aerobic vs. anaerobic decomposition, food webs, respiration, recycling of nutrients, landfill issues, etc.). Also, reflecting the complexities of effective science teaching, the article makes clear the crucial role of the teacher during the activity. The science content and activity addressed in this article are appropriate for 9th - …
Temperature Rising: Investigating Rates Of Temperature Change, Jacob Norlin, Daryl Miller
Temperature Rising: Investigating Rates Of Temperature Change, Jacob Norlin, Daryl Miller
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
This exploratory activity, designed for secondary physical science or earth science students, investigates rates of temperature change over bodies of water and land. Students discuss temperature trends of several cities across the United States, which creates an opportunity to conduct classroom experiments to explain these trends. Students write procedures and generate data of temperature changes between areas of water and land. Students gain a valuable, concrete experience of temperature changes which in turn enables them to better understand and explain why similar cities experience vastly different temperature patterns. This activity can then serve as a basis to address the abstract …
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The Price Of Inquiry: Managing Open-Inquiry Through Scaffolding And Faux Grant Writing, Shawn Cornally
The Price Of Inquiry: Managing Open-Inquiry Through Scaffolding And Faux Grant Writing, Shawn Cornally
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Open-inquiry involves students asking their own questions, designing their own investigation, and creating their own explanations in order to learn about the natural world. However, implementing open-inquiry is often daunting for teachers and frustrating for students. This article discusses how I use guided inquiry to help students prepare for open-inquiry and a faux grant process to manage open-inquiry in my class. This activity promotes National Science Education Content Standards A, B, E, G, and Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Conceptual Change: It’S Not Just For Teaching Science, Michael P. Clough, Jerrid Kruse
Conceptual Change: It’S Not Just For Teaching Science, Michael P. Clough, Jerrid Kruse
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Mark Twain is often given credit for saying, “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Science teachers likely resonate with this quote because we know our students come to class confidently holding many ideas about the natural world that “just ain't so.”
The Plot Thickens: Using A Plotting Activity To Start Your School Year Strong, Joe Taylor
The Plot Thickens: Using A Plotting Activity To Start Your School Year Strong, Joe Taylor
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
Captivating students and setting high expectations for critical thinking are two key classroom goals. This plotting and graphing activity is designed specifically to achieve these goals. Additionally, this activity can be modified for any science course taught at the secondary school level. Support materials including teacher and student printouts are provided at the end of the article. This activity promotes National Science Education Standards A, C, D, and F and Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Impact!: Improving Student Learning Through An Inquiry Crater Investigation, Blake J. Williams, Derek J. Hollingshead
Impact!: Improving Student Learning Through An Inquiry Crater Investigation, Blake J. Williams, Derek J. Hollingshead
Iowa Science Teachers Journal
The fight against student compartmentalization of science concepts is an ongoing battle for all science educators. When an inquiry-based investigation of natural phenomena, like that presented here, is integrated into curricula new links between science concepts are created. These new connections promote a deep and robust understanding of science content. This cratering activity has students applying prior knowledge of gravitational forces, momentum, conservation of energy, and density while exploring the intricate relationships between these fundamental concepts. This activity also provides abundant opportunities for explicit connections to the nature of science. Impact cratering is a phenomena which can be easily modeled …
Mammal Capture Success Of Scent Stations And Remote Cameras In Prairie And Forest Habitat, Marc N. Mckinney, Aaron M. Haines
Mammal Capture Success Of Scent Stations And Remote Cameras In Prairie And Forest Habitat, Marc N. Mckinney, Aaron M. Haines
Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS
Two common noninvasive (i.e., no stress to the animal) methods used to survey mammals include track stations (i.e., track captures of mammals) and remote camera-traps (i.e., photo-captures of mammals). Our objectives were to compare capture effectiveness of both track stations and remote cameras in both forested and prairie habitats. This project was conducted on 4 study sires (2 forested sires and 2 prairie sites) located in Fayette County, Iowa. Each study site had 6 trapping stations 2:: 100 m apart. We monitored traps for a total of 216 trap nights and we recorded a total of 368 captures composed of …
Editorial Board & Iowa Academy Of Sciences Officers And Directors
Editorial Board & Iowa Academy Of Sciences Officers And Directors
Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS
No abstract provided.
The Occurrence Of Chestnut Lamprey (Lchthyomyzon Castaneus; Pisces: Petromyzontidae) In The Chariton River In South-Central Iowa, Mark K. Flammang, John R. Olson
The Occurrence Of Chestnut Lamprey (Lchthyomyzon Castaneus; Pisces: Petromyzontidae) In The Chariton River In South-Central Iowa, Mark K. Flammang, John R. Olson
Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS
In the mid-1990s, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Fisheries Bureau biologists began receiving reports from anglers of a parasitic lamprey attached to fish taken immediately downstream from Rathbun Lake on the Chariton River in south-central Iowa; these reports have continued to present. In 2002, the IDNR received and identified a chestnut lamprey (Ichthyomyzon castaneus Girard) from an angler who removed the lamprey from a common carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus) he captured. This record was the first for a lamprey from the Chariton River drainage in Iowa. Five additional specimens of chestnut lamprey have been collected and identified …
The Vascular Flora Of Boone County, Iowa (2005-2008), Jimmie D. Thompson
The Vascular Flora Of Boone County, Iowa (2005-2008), Jimmie D. Thompson
Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS
A vascular plant survey of Boone County, Iowa was conducted from 2005 to 2008 during which 1016 taxa (of which 761, or 75%, are native to central Iowa) were encountered (vouchered and/or observed). A search of literature and the vouchers of Iowa State University's Ada Hayden Herbarium (ISC) revealed 82 additional taxa (of which 57, or 70%, are native to Iowa), unvouchered or unobserved during the current study, as having occurred in the county. This total of 1098 taxa (979 species, 57 varieties, 39 subspecies, 23 hybrids) places Boone County first in vascular plant richness among 18 published county inventories …
Table Of Contents (Back Cover)
Table Of Contents (Back Cover)
Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS
No abstract provided.