Integration and interdisciplinary teaching practices can provide students with meaningful and relevant learning opportunities in the general music classroom. This column presents a couple of examples on how to approach creating integrated lessons.

In science education, there is a need to evaluate the behavior of dynamic systems. Representing and explaining processes through educational models or simulations enables students to perform activities where it is easier to understand these processes and discover the essential properties of a system. Performing modeling or simulation activities…

Changes to the National Curriculum in England in 2014 placed a stronger emphasis on children working scientifically while developing a range of science enquiry skills. As science subject leaders, the authors noticed that colleagues in their schools were only confident when teaching enquiry as a fair test, which the authors now know is not always…

Recent reform efforts in science education have brought scientific literacy to researchers' attention. Researchers have been searching for new instructional models to engage students' variety of scientific practices to fulfil the requirements of scientific literacy. Argument Driven Inquiry (ADI) is a novel instructional model that integrates the…

Here we examine the role art activities play in aesthetic experience and learning of science. We compare recordings of two sequential occurrences in an elementary school class. The purpose of the first sequence was scientific and involved the children in observing leaves with magnifiers. The second sequence had an artistic purpose, where the…

Many teachers and students have experienced the classic pet rock experiment in conjunction with a geology unit. A teacher has students bring in a "pet" rock found outside of school, and the students run geologic tests on the rock. The tests include determining relative hardness using Mohs scale, checking for magnetization, and assessing luster.…

Reptiles and amphibians are a diverse and interesting group of organisms. The four activities described in this article take students' curiosity into the realm of scientific understanding. The activities involve the concepts of species identification; animal adaptations, communication, and habitat; and conservation. (Contains 1 table and 2…

Discover discovery bottles! These wide-mouth plastic containers of any size filled with objects of different kinds can be terrific tools for science explorations and a great way to cultivate science minds in a K-2 science classroom. In addition, the author has found them to be a useful, inexpensive, and engaging way to help students develop skills…

These science activities for elementary students focus on the external structures and functions of the human eye with hands-on object box activities based on the Montessori theory (1966) of concrete learning through manipulation of objects and focus of attention through touch. Object boxes are sets of items and corresponding cards housed in a box.…

The purpose of this study was to create a conceptual awareness in science education for accurate observation of what is happening around us. To correctly understand the conceptual framework of the curriculum currently being implemented and to make us aware of our need to know how to put this framework into practice will serve as a guide for…

This research reports on a study of curriculum materials development and use compared with the use of existing curriculum materials in an elementary classroom. The research explored the effect of explicit attention to epistemic practices in curriculum materials and the enactment of those materials. Epistemic practices include asking questions,…

Primary school pupils in the UK today may be less familiar with natural objects, less exposed to formal natural history teaching and have less time given to school-based observation and discussion of natural objects. This study of children's responses to a "Nature Table" of displayed natural objects was designed to assess pupils'…

A hands-on science activity, which calls for students to perform a physical checkup on a local tree, is described. A reproducible worksheet, "A Tree's Annual Checkup," is included. (IAH)

Activities that use a common fluorescent light as a strobe light to make things appear to slow down, speed up, or stand still are presented. Background information on strobe lights and directions for the activities are provided. (KR)

Illustrates how concepts about the motion and expansion of gases can be taught to elementary school students through experiments based on the opening a bottle of soda. (BB)