Creating Scientists

“Telling children how scientists do science does not necessarily lead to far-reaching changes in how children do science.”

– Seymour Papert

Welcome to Creating Scientists, the online home of Dr. Christopher Moore, the Dr. George F. Haddix Community Chair of Physical Science and professor of physics education at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Dr. Moore is author of the books Creating Scientists and Teaching Science Thinking, which show you how to re-think your teaching in the context of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). He is also co-author of Experience Chemistry and Experience Physics, NGSS high school curriculums based on the 5E Instructional Model.

Books

A top 100 Amazon bestseller in “Instruction Methods in STEM!”

This book shows you how to create living, breathing scientists by shifting your teaching from a content focus to a hands-on, practice focus, where students discover science by doing science. As required by the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this practical book provides a clear, research verified framework for building lessons that teach science practice abilities, such as gathering and making sense of data, constructing explanations, designing experiments, and communicating information.
Available now. Routledge, Amazon

Teaching scientific reasoning is actually pretty hard. This book will make it a bit easier.

Teaching Science Thinking shows you practical ways to incorporate science thinking in your classroom. Your students will learn how to be creative and make connections using the simple “Thinking Tasks” discussed in this book. What is science thinking, and how can you possibly teach and assess it? How is science thinking incorporated into the NGSS, and how can it be weaved into your curriculum? This book answers these questions.
Avaliable now. Routledge, Amazon

Experience Chemistry is the science of doing. Built from the ground up for the NGSS.

Meet the all-new Experience Chemistry high-school program. It gets students to investigate real, compelling phenomena – and experience how chemistry relates to their everyday lives. Is there chemistry in water, food, medicine, or the latest sports shoe? Hands-on and digital activities encourage students to figure things out. Experience Chemistry was built from the ground up for the NGSS and designed using the research-verified 5E Instructional Model.
Available now. Savvas Learning Company

Experience Physics is the science of doing. Built from the ground up for the NGSS.

Meet the all-new Experience Physics high-school program. It gets students to investigate real, compelling phenomena – and experience how physics relates to their everyday lives. How will we get to mars? Why can't we walk through walls? Hands-on and digital activities encourage students to figure things out. Experience Physics was built from the ground up for the NGSS and designed using the research-verified 5E Instructional Model.
Coming Soon! Savvas Learning Company

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Get Chris to Speak at your event!

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I have developed workshops and lecture series for science teachers working with the elementary, middle, secondary, and higher education populations. I can also provide engaging talks on science education for your conference or event. With the introduction of the NGSS, teachers are faced with the responsibility of teaching scientific reasoning and process skills and then assessing student development in these skills. I can help! I can tailor an entire program for your group on the subject of science thinking and practice or provide an expert speaker for your event on a topic in science education.

TESTIMONIALS

"I liked the approach that author Christopher Moore uses in the opening chapter of Creating Scientists. He introduces the idea that 'creating scientists' should be the goal of any good science teacher and also the goal of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Moore helps readers better understand the reasoning behind the NGSS and how to bring their challenging vision to life in our classrooms. If teachers focus science lessons with his goals in mind, students will benefit."

Joyce Depenbusch

Middle School Science Teacher, Kansas

"This is the book I have been waiting for! I can’t wait to use it in my work promoting cognitive apprenticeship in the context of collaborative inquiry between teachers and their students.

This book offers an exceptionally clear guide for navigating the complexity of teaching for deep understanding, transfer and use. It makes use of generative principles and threshold knowledge that are unconstrained and can be used at any grade level and in any scientific domain – in fact, I’d argue, in any and all disciplines."

Jeffrey Wilhelm

Inquiry Expert, Boise State University