Science Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain

Bestselling author and educator Marcia L. Tate brings her trademark practicality to teachers seeking the latest brain-compatible tools for bringing science to life in the classroom. Coauthored with award-winning science teacher Warren G. Phillips, here are twenty proven brain-compatible strategies and 250 activities for applying them.

Teachers will find concrete ways to integrate national science content standards into their curriculum with visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile experiences that maximize retention, including:

• Music, rhythm, rhyme, and rap
• Storytelling and humor
• Graphic organizers, semantic maps, and word webs
• Manipulatives, experiments, labs, and models
• Internet and spreadsheet projects

This book covers a full range of K–12 science subjects, including physical, life, earth, and space science, and provides brain-compatible sample lesson plans. Each chapter offers real-life examples; a what, why, and how for each strategy; activities; and note pages for brainstorming how to implement these exciting new ideas.

Marcia L. Tate has worked for over thirty years in the DeKalb County School System in Decatur, Georgia, where she has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, language arts coordinator, and staff development executive director. She received the Distinguished Staff Developer Award for the state of Georgia and her department was chosen to receive the Exemplary Program Award. She has written five best-sellers, including “Sit and Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain and Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Techniques for Managing a Brain-Compatible Classroom.

Warren G. Phillips, Med, is a contributing writer for the Prentice Hall Science Explorer series and has written curriculum for Northeastern University’s Project SEED (science education through experiments and demonstrations) and the Plymouth, Massachusetts public schools. Phillips has won numerous awards, including the Middle School Teacher of the Year by the DisneyHand Teaching Award in 2004. He was recently inducted into the Massachusetts Science Educators Hall of Fame and the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.