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This qualitative study examined how three teachers of upper elementary students used science vocabulary in their lessons. The data revealed that teachers used vocabulary to label science phenomena and interpret scientific concepts for students. The practice of labeling was used more extensively than interpreting. Teachers did not help their students understand why scientists use language in these two ways or how one informs the other. Implications for science educators include using inquiry to explicitly teach the purposes of scientific language in order to enhance elementary teachers' knowledge of how vocabulary can aid student understanding of science. (Contains 3 tables.)

Existing research on the development of graduate students' teaching competency focuses on the need for their learning opportunities to be contextualized to their specific content area and course structure. A group of graduate teaching assistants collaborated with a biology professor and a science educator in a Japanese Lesson Study to directly address this need for contextualized learning. During this lesson study collaboration, the participants designed a new laboratory focused on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. This article overviews our application of lesson study and data we gathered about participants' learning. We found that the participants were able to articulate two types of rationales for their teaching: rationales for lesson design and rationales for the importance of including Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in undergraduate biology. We conclude with implications of lesson study for graduate teaching assistant development.

One of the largest challenges of teaching astronomy is bringing the infinite scale of the universe into the four walls of a classroom. However, concepts of astronomy are often the most interesting to students. This article focuses on an alternative method for learning about stars by exploring visible characteristics of the constellation Orion and applying these observations to an inquiry-based modeling project. (Contains 7 figures and 1 resource.)

Differentiation can begin with a single lesson, expand to a unit, and finally grow to be a natural part of a teacher's daily practice. The Think-Tac-Toe, described in this article, can evaluate students' learning during and at the conclusion of a unit. Prior to its creation, teachers should preassess students to be certain that the content of the Think-Tac-Toe will capture the array of readiness and skills present in the classroom. As with any new teaching skill, implementation is best achieved when teachers tackle a differentiation project of manageable size. (Contains 2 figures.)

Eight Earth science graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) participated in a semester-long seminar designed to facilitate change in their practice. The seminar used lesson-study methodology to facilitate discussion of GTAs' beliefs about teaching while planning a research lesson for implementation in their laboratory. This article reports the results regarding GTAs' consensus perspectives about interactions with faculty in the context of laboratory teaching and discusses eight themes that emerged from the consensus-establishing process. The article concludes with implications for faculty teaching large lecture classes and their interactions with GTAs teaching the associated laboratories.

Students' difficulties with accurately conceptualizing the relationships among the Earth, Moon, and Sun are well documented. Any teacher who has seen the film "A Private Universe" (Schneps and Sadler 1988) will remember the challenge the interviewees experienced when trying to explain their understanding of this phenomenon. This paper describes a strategy to help students develop a model of the Earth/Moon relationship that is correct both in terms of the scale sizes and the distances between them and extends previous work present in "Science Scope" (see Wallace, Dickerson, and Hopkins 2007: Riddle 2006a). (Contains 4 figures.)

What would your students say if you told them they could lift you off the ground using a block and a board? Using a simple machine, they'll find out they can, and they'll learn about work, energy, and motion in the process! In addition, this integrated lesson gives students the opportunity to investigate variables while practicing measurement skills, using technology, and communicating their ideas. As with the other simple machines, studying levers provides students with an opportunity to apply their developing mathematical skills to problems with real-world application. (Contains 8 figures.)

Training preservice teachers to develop a predisposition toward constructivist instruction is a major goal for many faculty in teacher education. One critical attribute of a constructivist teacher is a strong hold on pedagogical content knowledge. This study examined the prior knowledge of preservice science teachers and how that knowledge aligned with INTASC Standard I and the NSTA Core Knowledge Standards for science teachers. Basic content knowledge of twenty-four preservice teachers in an introductory science education course was assessed through released items from the grade 8 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. Kruskal-Wallis analysis showed no significant differences in content knowledge across 3 content domains.