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Your High School Classroom

The Science Teacher

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In the current issue:

Today’s students are dazzlingly fluent digital natives. They text, blog, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. They use search engines; they ask their smartphones for answers to questions that, in a different era, might have required a trip to the library. But a recent study of middle school, high school, and college students found that many students—over 80% in some cases—couldn’t tell the difference between an advertisement and a news story, distinguish between a real and fake news source, identify bias in a tweet, or determine if a website could be trusted. It is imperative that students learn to think critically and engage in argument based on reliable evidence. What better place for them to learn this than in science class? This issue offers tips and techniques for engaging students in reading critically—including classic science books such as those on this month’s cover—and writing clearly.

Featured articles:

Full Table of Contents

The Science Teacher is now available to NSTA members in a digital version. Same great content, but now NSTA members can read it on the computer as well as the Kindle Fire, Android tablet/phone, and Apple devices. For more information, please go to our digital journals page. Questions? e-mail us at digitaljournals@nsta.org.

Student Competitions

Looking for ways to engage your students in the fun of science? NSTA-sponsored competitions encourage teamwork while tapping into their natural curiosity.

Learn more

NSTA Position Statements

NSTA has developed several position statements of particular interest to high school teachers:

All position statements

Grants and Fellowships

  • 1/30/2017 - 2/24/2017
    Bank of America Foundation Educational Grants  More »
  • 2/1/2017 - 3/15/2017
    Braitmayer Foundation's K-12 Education Grants  More »
  • 2/1/2017 - 4/1/2017
    ACS-Hach Second Career Teacher Scholarship  More »
  • 2/1/2017 - 4/14/2017
    ACS-Hach High School Chemistry Classroom Grant  More »

To see more science education events and programs, visit the NSTA calendar.

Freebies for Science Teachers

The staff of NSTA Reports has collected hundreds of free resources for you. Take a moment to browse the listings—we think you'll find something to reward the effort.

Resources and Opportunities for Your High School Classroom

Guidelines for Classroom Safety

This four-page document should be given to students at the beginning of the school year to help them understand their role in ensuring a safe and productive science experience.

Download Safety in the Science Classroom

Reward Yourself!

You could win a trip to the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. Apply for NSTA Teacher Awards to showcase your hard work! At the high school level, DuPont/Pioneer, Frey Scientific, PASCO, SeaWorld, Shell, and Vernier sponsor awards. In addition, the Mohling Aerospace Educator Award and the Maitland P. Simmons scholarships for new teachers have niches for the high school science educator.

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Blick on Flicks

Prof. Jacob Clark Blickenstaff helps you turn the "bad science" in movies and TV into teachable science.

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NSTA New ScienceTeacher Academy

NSTA and the Amgen Foundation have launched the NSTA New Science Teacher Academy, which will help to support and encourage middle and secondary school science educators in their first years of teaching.

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Need Help Selecting Resources?

NSTA Recommends®

Our panel of top-flight teachers and other outstanding science educators has designated the best available supplements for your science teaching.

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Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12

Since 1973, NSTA and the Children's Book Council have compiled a yearly list of outstanding children's science trade books. The results from 1996 on are available online.

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Blick's Pick: Touching the sky

TV towers need to be tall to increase the range of their signals (though now, most folks in the US probably get their television signals through a wire coming into their homes). There must be a light at the top so that pilots recognize that the tower is there and can avoid it. That's also the reason for the red and white paint scheme. Shot with a drone, this video gives an impression of what it is like to climb to the top of a TV tower to change the light bulb. Wow. YouTube link | Archive