This paper discusses the implications of Piaget's theory to science education. The first section of the paper, "What Science Teachers Need To Know: Scientific Knowledge and Its Source," describes three sources of students' knowledge and corresponding educational practices. The second section, "Functions of Intelligence," discusses the concept of…

Examines 11 elementary science texts in terms of conceptual structure and reasoning demands using concept maps. Reports that (1) the conceptual structures vary widely across texts; (2) most of the structures are well defined; and (3) the reasoning demands are above the developmental capabilities of most of primary-level children. (Author/YP)

This report describes the results of an attempt to identify a learning hierarchy for each of a number of science concepts mainly encountered first in the high school grades. The concepts studied relate to stoichiometric calculations and molarity, both from chemistry; to food web relationships and problems involving Mendel's laws from biology; to…

Describes a unit for teaching exponential change in a noncalculus physics course by having students write recursive procedures in LOGO to graphically represent linear and exponential change. Summarizes the experience of implementing the unit in a segment on radioactive decay. Modifications to the unit are suggested for teaching exponential change…

This document addresses some of the factors involved in teaching critical thinking skills in the science classroom. It contains sections that deal with: (1) pair problem solving--creating a Socratic learning environment (emphasizes the role of the teacher); (2) writing to learn science (the thought-process protocol); (3) integrating science…

A unit designed to cover the topic of genetic engineering and its ethical considerations is presented. Students are expected to learn the material while using a debate format. A list of objectives for the unit, the debate format, and the results from an opinion questionnaire are described. (KR)