Informal science opportunities provide authentic experiences to stimulate students' interests in science and engineering and foster their curiosity through problem-based investigations. STEMulate Engineering Academy was designed to provide children (Grades 3-5) engineering opportunities and offer teachers a unique professional development…

The enthusiasm for science displayed by students in early elementary grades is unparalleled. If not nurtured in elementary school, the spark for learning science diminishes. Unfortunately, the amount of time spent on science in Grades 1-4 has steadily declined since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In 2012, the National…

Bringing Up Girls in Science (BUGS) was an afterschool program for 4th and 5th grade girls that provided authentic learning experiences in environmental science as well as valuable female mentoring opportunities in an effort to increase participants' academic achievement in science. BUGS participants demonstrated significantly greater amounts of…

This paper discusses an initiative called "Scientists in Schools" which was implemented with a group of seventy (n=70) Year 4 and Year 7 students studying in a local school in regional South Australia with the primary objective of raising awareness and interest in the study of sciences. Mezirow's critical reflection was used by the…

Although the microscope is a basic tool in both physical and biological sciences, it is notably absent from most elementary school science programs. One reason teachers find it challenging to introduce microscopy at the elementary level is because children can have a hard time connecting the image of an object seen through a microscope with what…

Two kinds of summer science camp experiences for elementary children are described. The program is intended to provide elementary teachers and preservice teachers with a chance to practice their science teaching skills. The Day Camp (K-3) emphasizes the senses and the Overnight Camp program (4-6) emphasizes instruction in science. (SA)

Discusses the drive to raise science and engineering education's funding in the NSF budget from 9 percent to 20 percent. Notes that the target is $600 million per year. (MVL)

This summary report is a condensation of the British Columbia Science Assessment 1982, General Report, summarizing and highlighting data and recommendations relative to the status of elementary and secondary science education in British Columbia schools. The report is divided into four major sections: (1) purposes and organization of the…

During the spring of 1982, over 80,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers in British Columbia participated in the 1982 Science Assessment, contributing toward understanding of the status and progress of science education in the elementary and secondary schools of the province. The assessment was the second in science, the first occurring in 1978.…