Outdoor learning activities often cause problems in class control. Organizing children into game-playing activities that emphasize ecological and biological themes helps reinforce learning with play. Several activities are described. (DF)

Four elementary teachers describe how they support an interdisciplinary curriculum using integrated units. One builds tall towers of spaghetti. Another touches on all subjects using baseball card games. The third turns the playground into an archeological dig. The last sails the ocean along with the Pilgrims. (SM)

Children learn best when given opportunities to connect facts and figures with real-world situations. The article describes two class projects that demonstrate authentic, holistic learning. One project involves planting a classroom garden, and the other explores the desert of the Southwest. (SM)

An intermediate school teacher describes a successful integrated curriculum unit that taught students basic geography, technology, and writing skills as they pretended to travel across the United States. The project required a large map, a resource library, a computer, and word processing, database, spreadsheet, and drawing software. (SM)

Describes a Louisiana elementary school's multidisciplinary geography program. The class selects a destination to which they travel by imaginary plane (created in the classroom), and the teacher integrates cross-curricular skills. Students research and discuss the trip (resources, flight plans, passports, and travel logs) and write descriptive…

Presents suggestions for teaching children the science of physical fitness along with cross-curricular activities that help them stay in shape. Activities include making a fitness log to keep track of newly learned daily exercises, teaching about the Appalachian Trail then calculating and walking the equivalent distance, and charting family…

Article discusses the four elements of good elementary science programs and offers ideas for creative hands-on science and across-the-curriculum activities (e.g., a please touch science center, curriculum planning chart, and getting to know you water activity). It notes science-related events and describes four science reference books. (SM)

Describes the winners of the Prentice Hall/National Middle School Association Teaching Team Awards (established to recognize exceptional interdisciplinary projects by middle school teaching teams). Students designed a new school, simulated a journey over the Oregon trail, conducted oral histories, and turned a local river into a learning…

Presents middle school-level interdisciplinary activities for exploring medieval life. Students conduct research then create their own castles, design personal coats of arms, learn about jousting, go through a typical castle dweller's day, learn about carousels, discuss castle life from Mark Twain's perspective, and attend a medieval feast. (SM)