By: Richard Konicek-Moran
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Everyday Science Mysteries: Stories for Inquiry-Based Science Teaching
|Type of Product:||NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book)
based on 6 reviews
|Publication Title:||Everyday Science Mysteries Series
|Grade Level:||Elementary School, Middle School
|Read Inside:||Read a sample chapter: The Magic Balloon
|Author Blog:||Read Dick Konicek's blog
Our reviewers—top-flight teachers and other outstanding science educators—have determined that this resource is among the best available supplements for science teaching.
[Read the full review]
What causes condensation? Does temperature affect how well a balloon will fly? How do tiny bugs get into oatmeal? Through 15 mystery stories, this book memorably illustrates science concepts for students and reinforces the value of learning science through inquiry. Each mystery presents opportunities for students to create questions, form hypotheses, test their ideas, and come up with explanations. Focused on concepts such as periodic motion, thermodynamics, temperature and energy, and sound, these mysteries draw students into the stories by grounding them in experiences students are familiar with, providing them with a foundation for classroom discussion and inquiry.
The story format is used because it is one of the most effective ways to engage students’ attention right from the start. Each chapter includes a list of science concepts explored, targeted strategies for using the stories with children in grades K–4 and with older students in grades 5–8, and a key matching story concepts with corresponding standards in the NSES.
Ideas For Use
Educators will find this a useful reference on conceptual change teaching and a valuable resource for building content knowledge.
The benefit of pedagogical strategies designed to improve students’ conceptual understanding is one more reason to add this to your teaching library.
(mouse over for full classification)
Phases of the moon
Conservation of energy
Scientific habits of mind
Nature of science and technology
Growth and development
|Intended User Role:||Curriculum Supervisor, Elementary-Level Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Teacher
|Educational Issues:||Classroom management, Curriculum, Inquiry learning, Instructional materials, Learning theory, Professional development, Teacher content knowledge, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies
Introduction: Case Studies on How to Use the Stories in the Classroom
Chapter 1: Theory Behind the Book
Chapter 2: Using the Book and the Stories
Chapter 3: The Link Between Science, Inquiry, and Language Literacy
The Stories and Background Material for Teachers
Matrix for Earth and Space Sciences
Chapter 4: Moon Tricks
Chapter 5: Where Are the Acorns?
Chapter 6: Master Gardener
Chapter 7: Frosty Morning
Chapter 8: The Little Tent That Cried
Matrix for Biological Sciences
Chapter 9: About Me
Chapter 10: Oatmeal Bugs
Chapter 11: Dried Apples
Chapter 12: Seed Bargains
Chapter 13: Trees from Helicopters
Matrix for Physical Sciences
Chapter 14: The Magic Balloon
Chapter 15: Downhill Ride
Chapter 16: Grandfather’s Clock
Chapter 17: The Neighborhood Telephone System
Chapter 18: How Cold is Cold?
Chapter 19: Conclusion
This Title Also Available as Part of a Set:
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National Standards Correlation
This resource has 121 correlations with the National Standards.
- Physical Science
- Properties of objects and materials
- Objects have many observable properties, including the ability to react with other substances. (K-4)
- Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, and temperature. (K-4)
- The observable properties of objects can be measured using tools, such as rulers, balances, and thermometers. (K-4)
- Materials can exist in different states--solid, liquid, and gas. (K-4)
- Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling. (K-4)
- Properties and changes of properties in matter
- A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility. (5-8)
- Position and motion of objects
- The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background. (K-4)
- An object's motion can be described by tracing and measuring its position over time. (velocity) (K-4)
- The size of the change of position and motion is related to the strength of the push or pull. (K-4)
- Sound is produced by vibrating objects. (K-4)
- The pitch of the sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration. (K-4)
- The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. (K-4)
- Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
- Heat can move from one object to another by conduction. (K-4)
- Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, rubbing, or mixing one substance with another. (K-4)
- Transfer of Energy
- Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a chemical. (5-8)
- Energy is transferred in many ways. (5-8)
- Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature. (5-8)
- Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object, light from that object—emitted by or scattered from it—must enter the eye. (5-8) (5-8)
- Heat, light, mechanical motion, or electricity might all be involved in energy transfers. (5-8)
- Motion and Forces
- Catapults are an ancient military device made for hurling projectiles. They are made from a variety of simple machines.
- Unbalanced forces will cause changes in the speed or direction of an object's motion. (Acceleration) (5-8)
- The motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed. (5-8)
- Motion can be measured and represented on a graph.
- An object that is not being subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight line. (inertia) (5-8)
- If more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancel one another, depending on their direction and magnitude. (5-8)
- Life Science
- The characteristics of organisms
- Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. (K-4)
- Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. (K-4)
- Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking. (K-4)
- Humans and other organisms have senses that help them detect internal and external cues. (K-4)
- The behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (such as hunger) and by external cues (such as a change in the environment). (K-4)
- The world has many different environments, and distinct
environments support the life of different types of organisms. (K-4)
- Life cycles of organisms
- Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. (K-4)
- Plants and animals closely resemble their parents. (K-4)
- Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents of the organism, but other characteristics result from an individual's interactions with the environment. Inherited characteristics include the color of flowers and the number of limbs of an animal. (K-4)
- Organisms and environments
- All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.
- An organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment.
- Structure and function in living systems
- Living systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function (5-8)
- Important levels of organization for structure and function include cells, organs, tissues, organ systems, whole organisms, and ecosystems (5-8)
- Reproduction and heredity
- Reproduction is a characteristic of all living systems; because no individual organism lives forever, reproduction is essential to the continuation of every species. (5-8)
- Some organisms reproduce asexually (5-8)
- Some organisms reproduce sexually. (5-8)
- In many species, including humans, females produce eggs and males produce sperm. (5-8)
- Plants also reproduce sexually--the egg and sperm are produced in the flowers of flowering plants. (5-8)
- An egg and sperm unite to begin development of a new individual. That new individual receives genetic information from its mother (via the egg) and its father (via the sperm). (5-8)
- Sexually produced offspring never are identical to either of their parents. (5-8)
- Every organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits (5-8)
- Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another. (5-8)
- Each gene carries a single unit of information. (5-8)
- Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell. (5-8)
- The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits. (5-8)
- Some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment. (5-8)
- Regulation and behavior
- All organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment. (5-8)
- Diversity and adaptations of organisms
- Millions of species of animals, plants, and microorganisms are alive today. (5-8)
- Although different species might look dissimilar, the unity among organisms becomes apparent from an analysis of internal structures, the similarity of their chemical processes, and the evidence of common ancestry. (5-8)
- Species acquire many of their unique characteristics through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally occurring variations in populations. (5-8)
- Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment (5-8)
- Earth Science
- Properties of earth materials
- Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere.
- The varied Earth materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food.
- Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.
- Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply.
- Objects in the sky
- The sun, moon, stars, clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described.
- The sun provides the light and heat necessary to maintain the temperature of the earth.
- Changes in earth and sky
- The surface of the earth changes.
- Some changes to the surface of the Earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering
- Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.
- Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.
- Objects in the sky have patterns of movement.
- The sun appears to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes slowly over the seasons.
- The moon moves across the sky on a daily basis much like the sun.
- The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.
- Structure of the earth system
- Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. (5-8)
- Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment. (5-8)
- Destructive forces include weathering and erosion. (5-8)
- Some changes in the solid earth can be described as the "rock cycle." (5-8)
- Old rocks at the earth's surface weather, forming sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallized into new rock. Eventually, those new rocks may be brought to the surface by the forces that drive plate motions, and the rock cycle continues. (5-8)
- Soil consists of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material from dead plants, animals, and bacteria. (5-8)
- Soils are often found in layers, with each having a different chemical composition and texture. (5-8)
- Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." (5-8)
- Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground. (5-8)
- The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. (5-8)
- The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations. (5-8)
- Earth in the solar system
- The earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. (5-8)
- Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion. (5-8)
- The motions of most objects in the solar system explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the moon, and eclipses.
- The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth's surface, such as growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle. (5-8)
- Seasons result from variations in the amount of the sun's energy hitting the surface, due to the tilt of the earth's rotation on its axis and the length of the day. (5-8)
- Science as Inquiry
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
- Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment. (K-4)
- Plan and conduct a simple investigation. (K-4)
- Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses. (K-4)
- Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
- Communicate investigations and explanations.
- Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
- Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
- Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
- Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
- Understandings about scientific inquiry
- Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
- Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations. (K-4)
- Science and Technology
- Abilities of technological design
- Identify a simple problem.
- Propose a solution.
- Implementing proposed solutions
- Communicate a problem, design, and solution.
- Identify appropriate problems for technological design.
- Design a solution or product.
- Implement a proposed design.
- Evaluate completed technological designs or products
- Understanding about science and technology
- People have always had problems and invented tools and techniques (ways of doing something) to solve problems.
- Trying to determine the effects of solutions helps people avoid some new problems.
- Tools help scientists make better observations, measurements, and equipment for investigations. They help scientists see, measure, and do things that they could not otherwise see, measure, and do.
- Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All technological solutions have trade-offs, such as safety, cost, efficiency, and appearance. (5-8)
- Distinguish between natural and human made objects
- Some objects occur in nature; others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems and enhance the quality of life.
- Process Standards for Professional Development
- Introduce teachers to scientific literature, media, and technological resources that expand their science knowledge and their ability to access further knowledge. (NSES)
- Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (NSDC)
- Incorporate ongoing reflection on the process and outcomes of understanding science through inquiry. (NSES)
- Content Standards
- Quality Teaching
- Deepens educators’ content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (NSDC)
- Teaching Standards
- Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
- Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students.
- Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. In doing this, teachers
- Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that characterize science.
- Focus and support inquiries while interacting with students.
- Orchestrate discourse among students about scientific ideas.
- Recognize and respond to student diversity and encourage all students to participate fully in science learning.
- Teachers provide students with the time, space, and resources needed to learn science.
- Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.
||Good book but too juvenile
||Reviewed by: Kimberly (Decherd, TN) on July 17, 2008
||I really like the idea for the book but I teach middle school science and the stories were more for younger students. I know it talks about adapting them for older students, but I was hoping for something else. I do think elementary students would love the stories and mysteries.
||Reviewed by: Rhonda (Sioux Falls, SD) on July 17, 2008
||This book had lots of connections for reading/science. Our accelerated science teachers will be using it to enhance our new curriculum.
||Everyday Science Mysyteries
||Reviewed by: Heather (Howell, MI) on July 16, 2008
||My students love these stories! They have proven to be an exciting and interesting method of introducing new ideas.
||A very useful tool!
||Reviewed by: David M (Sioux Center, IA) on July 15, 2008
||I found Everyday Science Mysteries to be an enjoyable read. I'll be very likely to use several of the "mysteries" included in the book this coming school year with my 7th grade students. Great tips for using the mysteries are included, and clear explanations of the science behind the story will help novices or teachers who don't see themselves as science experts to use the book effectively. I'd definitely recommend reading!
||Everyday Science Mysteries: Stories for Inquiry
||Reviewed by: Katherine B (, ) on July 15, 2008
||This book provides stories that can be used as hooks into lesson. For instance if you are teaching about matter expansion and contraction there is a story about how the gas in a balloon will contract making the balloon appear as if it has a leak, only to expand again once it has warmed up. This is a good tool for teaching. The contents are set up well in that the different areas of science are identified. If you are looking for physical science it has them listed in such a format.
||Storytelling - - A great concept
||Reviewed by: Robert Gilmore (Milford, MA) on July 15, 2008
||Tapping into the innately human interest in storytelling is pure genius. This book is very well organized and relates well with other useful resources (such as the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series) that are frequently mentioned throughout the text.
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