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Science is a core curricular area of instruction for all students and the federal mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) and No Child Left Behind (2001) require that students with disabilities are educated in the least restrictive environment and have access to general education science content, based upon rigorous standards. While, most students with visual impairments are educated in the general science classroom, few studies have been done to determine whether appropriate accommodations and modifications are being made in those classrooms to meet the specialized needs of these students. A 35 question survey instrument was disseminated to teachers of the visually impaired through a Visual Impairments Listserve and Facebook group to help determine what pedagogical practices, accommodations, modifications, adaptive equipment and instructional practices are being used to educate students with visual impairments in the United States and Canada. This study helped inform how students with visual impairments are being educated in the science classroom.

This article presents the results of a study on the use of 3-D printed models in a science classroom for students with visual impairments and examines whether the use of these models impacts student conceptual understanding and misconceptions related to geosciences concepts, specifically plate tectonics. Data were collected one week prior to instruction, one week after instruction and throughout the 3-week instructional period. Results showed that students with visual impairments held many of the same misconceptions about plate tectonics as students who are typically sighted. All students in this study had fewer misconceptions after the instructional period than they held before instruction began; however, both the 3D group and the TG group continued to hold approximately equal numbers of misconceptions. The adaptations and hands-on experiences in this 3-week curriculum proved effective for students with visual impairments; helping them understand the unifying theory of plate tectonics. Some unique misconceptions held by the students with visual impairments in this research study include plates floating on the ocean, earthquakes moving with the plates, and volcanoes working together with the plates to cause earthquakes. There was a difference between students who had low vision and those with light perception only. The study helps to shed light on the use of 3-D printed models in the science classroom and their effectiveness at helping students with visual impairments learn important geoscience concepts.

Instruction in science can be difficult for students with visual impairments due to the use of visual instruction that is often used for conceptual understanding. Pedagogical approaches to teaching science continue to evolve, with inquiry-based science instruction as a primary instructional method used in current classrooms. In teaching students with visual impairments, inquiry is a strategy that has been traditionally been used in orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction, in an effort to teach students with vision loss to explore and make conclusions about their environments through the use of all senses. The purpose of this review is to outline how orientation and mobility (O&M) lessons can reinforce early science concepts for students who are blind or visually impaired through inquiry based experiences.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine students' self-efficacy level prior to participation and after participation in an inquiry-based science camp to determine if self-efficacy levels changed as a result of participation. A validated instrument, the 30 item Morgan-Jinks Student Self-Efficacy Scale (MJSES) (Jinks & Morgan, 1996) was used to identify the constructs of self-efficacy before and after the weeklong summer camp. The results suggest that the inquiry-based science camp had a positive impact on junior participants' academic self-efficacy and did not increase senior participants' academic self-efficacy.

Eighteen middle and high school students with visual impairments participated in a weeklong field-based geology summer camp. This paper reports the curriculum, strategies, and what the students learned about Earth science by climbing in and out of caves, collecting fossils, exploring a bog, and interacting with experts in the field. Students were encouraged to be active learners outside of their normal comfort zone to develop understandings about geology through reading the landscape. Initially, few of the students held scientifically accurate Earth science concepts, but by the end of the week most had developed a medley of scientific and unique inaccurate understandings that have never been documented before. A week of intensive first-hand experiences was sufficient for the students to acquire some scientific knowledge, but not enough to eliminate inaccurate understandings. The duality of their science understandings suggests that additional informal experiences paired with formal classroom instruction will be necessary to clarify concepts. Some previously undocumented misconceptions were exhibited by the students, such as water pressure influencing plate tectonics and lifecycles of animals impacting Earth systems.

This study examines two classroom teachers' of students with visual impairments perceptions of middle school students with visual impairments learning of seasonal change and the teaching methods used in their classrooms. These perceptions were compared to data that documented student learning of the science content of seasonal change. The first teacher taught seasonal change concepts to middle school students with visual impairments using traditional instruction methodologies. The second teacher taught the same concepts using inquiry-based methodologies. Both classroom teachers were interviewed in order to probe their thinking about their classroom practices and the strategies they used. Upon completion of the inquiry-based lessons, the inquiry-based teacher stated that she will continue to utilize these lessons in the future and will not change any lessons. The traditional group teacher stated he would not make any changes but would add only a few units before teaching seasons. Both felt that students learned the reasons for seasons. Data showed that students in the traditional group were not as successful as their peers in the inquiry-based group.

For early elementary students with vision loss, these seemingly simple questions can pose great difficulty, especially when conceptual development is being established. Because students with vision loss are unable to observe non-verbal cues within environmental settings, supplemental learning techniques must be utilized for learning. In science, connecting real-world experiences with "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") is one way of helping students with vision loss understand, apply, and retain skills being taught in a classroom setting. This article explores how science teachers and orientation and mobility instructors can work together to provide access to science content for students with visual impairments while incorporating the orientation and mobility curriculum. Specifically, ideas for providing lessons in forces and motion to kindergarten students through coteaching and co-planning are provided to enable all students' access to the science curriculum.

The rubric was based on a combination of several open-source science fair rubrics found online as well as one teacher's experience in science fairs. Rocket scientists also supported their fellow rocket scientists by offering encouraging comments and using different language than the teachers to convey the steps in building the rocket that they found helpful. Throughout the build, rocket scientists asked the teachers for visual confirmation of their builds by sharing their rockets on camera. This allowed each rocket scientist access to the work of others while learning about the methods and engineering used by each rocket scientist during the supersecret mission. [Extracted from the article]

How do students with visual impairments measure liquids? Can a student with cerebral palsy participate in hands-on science activities? What challenges might a hearing-impaired student have in my science class? These are just some of the important questions increasingly being asked by science teachers, thanks in part to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which together mandate standards-based science opportunities for students with disabilities. The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") echo the goal of quality science experiences for all students in a section entitled, "All Standards, All Students" (NGSS Lead States 2013; Appendix D), which describes the manner in which the Standards support students from traditionally underrepresented groups, including students with disabilities. Over 6.5 million students with disabilities receive special education services under the IDEA, so ensuring that teachers have effective strategies for implementing the "NGSS" with students with disabilities is critical for reaching the "Science for All" goal. In this article the authors present two typical elementary science investigations to illustrate the importance of accommodations for students with physical disabilities. They chose these particular investigations because they represent different disciplines (i.e., physical and life sciences) and involve a range of science content and process skills. They intentionally present the lesson plans without accommodations or regard for accessibility to highlight the challenges they present and necessitate the accommodations they subsequently recommended. The authors feel this is an important illustration for teachers, as many lesson plans presented in curriculum guides fail to consider the needs of students with disabilities, so it is up to the teacher to recognize the challenges within each lesson and develop accommodations accordingly. Lesson summaries are discussed here, while complete lesson plans in 5E Learning Cycle format, including assessment rubrics, are available online (see NSTA Connection). Note that while each lesson's content is aligned with "NGSS" grade bands, the practices demonstrated and adapted are applicable to all elementary grades.