Teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math; for simplicity, I’ll use STEM in this article) to multilingual learners (MLLs) can be very challenging because STEM vocabularies can be very complex for even the native English speaker—so imagine that same vocabulary for students whose primary language is not English. However, every teacher should understand that a student’s ability to speak English should not be confused with the student’s ability to think scientifically.

This section contains links to the image files for the animal body parts. Cards feature animals with distinguishing body parts such as an animal with fins: goldfish or an animal with hooves: sheep.

These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year. These glossaries may be downloaded, printed and disseminated to educators, parents and ELLs/MLLs.

Can you think of a time when you felt like an outsider or an “other” in the room? We have. As one of only a few girls in an AP Physics class, one of us remembers being told that girls don’t really understand physics, they just know how to get good grades. The other remembers, even as an educator, not having the language to participate in professional learning about “makers” and feeling that work is best left to the other educators present in the room.

In the United States, approaches to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction are aligned with English-speaking, White middle-class norms. STEM courses rarely reflect consideration for the unique backgrounds of Indigenous learners. Because of this devaluing of local cultural, linguistic, and community traditions, whole communities are left behind, resulting in learners’ exclusion from advanced educational and employment tracks.

Routinely engaging all students in the practices of science and engineering is a crucial fixture of the new vision for K-12 science education. The practices can be seen as a barrier to participation for English Learners (ELs), or they can be viewed as an opportunity to provide rich instruction that builds science-related competencies and identities. Certain elements of the practices and related instructional approaches can be beneficial for students learning science while also learning the language of instruction.

The imperative that all students, including English learners (ELs), achieve high academic standards and have opportunities to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning has become even more urgent and complex given shifts in science and mathematics standards. As a group, these students are underrepresented in STEM fields in college and in the workforce at a time when the demand for workers and professionals in STEM fields is unmet and increasing. However, English learners bring a wealth of resources to STEM learning, including knowledge and interest in STEM-related content that is born out of their experiences in their homes and communities, home languages, variation in discourse practices, and, in some cases, experiences with schooling in other countries.
English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives examines the research on ELs' learning, teaching, and assessment in STEM subjects and provides guidance on how to improve learning outcomes in STEM for these students. This report considers the complex social and academic use of language delineated in the new mathematics and science standards, the diversity of the population of ELs, and the integration of English as a second language instruction with core instructional programs in STEM.

Climate change is affecting us all. Young people and low-income communities of color are some of the most heavily impacted populations. As anticipated impacts worsen, people under 30 suffer from increasing levels of sleep disorders, despair, depression and substance abuse. Research has shown that teaching climate science alone contributes to anxieties and phobias. By also introducing students to climate solutions—along with opportunities to take scientific and civic action—climate learning can have a positive effect on students’ well-being and life and employment prospects.

Growing up I recognized the various inequities that are perpetuated in education; therefore, I have dedicated the majority of my career to examining, teaching about, and alleviating educational disparities. As an Educator, for 15+ years, I focus on enlightening students with new knowledge, optimizing their skills, and growing their career potential. I earned my Ph.D. in Education from UCLA and am currently an Associate Professor in Child and Family Studies at Cal State LA. My teaching experiences range across various age groups but I particularly enjoy teaching college students. I teach courses on lifespan development, diversity and resilience, research methods, and child and family advocacy.

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities expected as English language learners
(ELLs) engage with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). We subscribe to a view of
language learning and proficiency that is most concerned with students’ ability to use language
to function in the context of their lives both in and out of school.

Science offers students powerful tools for understanding
the world and engaging with complex issues in their lives
and communities. All students need and have a right to learn
science. The importance of making science accessible to
all students is emphasized in the Call to Action for Science
Education: Building Opportunity for the Future (NASEM, 2021).

As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health

Good science starts with a question. Using inquiry science, children discover answers to their questions in the same way that scientists do — with experiments, predictions, observations, and conjectures.

Okhee talks about what it means to have an asset-oriented view of multilingual learners.

Each Playlist includes a coherent set of lessons with guidance for teachers and commentary from educators.

As a science teacher working with English Language Learners (ELLs), I've sometimes found that developing and implementing language goals for ELL students can be clunky and confining. The focus on traditionally written language goals inserts a certain resistance into my lessons. The goals revolve around a teacher-led agenda that is often unrelated to the organic and student-centered process of sense-making, and they interfere with, rather than foster, the authentic discourse I need my students to engage in during science.

Check out the below websites for cool learning experiences and at-home experiments! List updated regularly; please check back often!

There is growing interest in how to teach English learners (ELs) science in the general education classroom especially because science contains a lot of reading and academic language. The strategies I discuss here, including the four strategies from Part 1 of this series, are intended for you to use immediately use in your classroom. The nine strategies come from the 2008 book Science for English Language Learners: K-12 Classroom Strategies (edited by Fathman & Crowther). Because of the depth and breadth of the reading skills strategy, today we will only be focusing on Skill 5 (Reading Skills), the fifth of the nine strategies to help ELs learn science.

A free virtual webinar for anyone interested in how to make science materials responsive to multilingual learners.

This webinar and brief series was developed for the New York State Education Department. The purpose of this series is to describe how to integrate science and language in instruction and classroom assessment for all students with a focus on English language learners. The series consists of an introduction followed by 7 sets of webinars and briefs, with each webinar being accompanied by a brief. The webinars and briefs can also be accessed on the New York State Education