Presents suggestions to help teachers enhance class trips to the museum, noting today's museum outreach programs are very useful. After describing what museums have to offer, the article explains how to plan such a trip and how to make the trip run smoothly. A list of must-see museums is included. (SM)

An imaginative teacher should encourage students to view history as a process in which they act a part, rather than concentrate on teaching them dead facts. (MB)

The ninth installment of the Science in a Box series (self-contained, hands-on activities for students grades three and up) presents activities for learning to use the sense of touch to determine how different objects conduct heat. All projects in the series are inexpensive and easy to assemble. (SM)

Ordinary household appliances can be used in the classroom to inspire unusual research, artwork, and problem solving. Suggestions on how to organize and collect materials to develop an appliance science unit are offered. (DF)

Presents activities for helping elementary students learn about Newton's third law of motion. Several activity cards demonstrate the concept of the law of action and reaction. The activities require only inexpensive materials that can be found around the house. (SM)

Ideas to help teachers develop motivating lessons that use information from nature for outdoor learning include getting comfortable with the outdoors, choosing familiar sites and subjects, studying several items at once, having a back-up plan ready, choosing open-ended activities, not worrying about students' questions, and listening to common…

A teacher describes how she arranged successful field trips to enhance her students' education. The planning involved brainstorming for topics and destinations, making appropriate arrangements, creating a schedule, deciding upon the destination of choice, researching the subject, taking the trip, and returning to the classroom to review the trip.…

Presents ideas to help elementary teachers encourage their students to discover the excitement of doing descriptive, historical, or experimental research by seeking new information, testing hypotheses, gathering data, drawing conclusions, and using appropriate vocabulary. The article includes questions for children to investigate and words used by…

The article presents inexpensive activities to teach elementary school students about electromagnets. Students learn to make an electromagnet with a battery, nail, and wire, then different activities help them explore the difference between permanent magnets and electromagnets. (SM)

Providing students with realistic problems will facilitate a better understanding of and reason for computation. Specific suggestions for introducing and for increasing problem-solving skills are described. (CJ)

Elementary school children need hands-on experiences to understand science concepts. Computers can be used to store and analyze data collected by students, but educators seem to agree that students need to manipulate data themselves to really comprehend their discoveries. (DF)

Children use creative thinking processes when teachers assign ambiguous rather than specific problems. Suggestions for developing questions that encourage experiential and metaphorical thinking are offered. (DF)

Presents classroom learning activities to help elementary teachers and students learn about and experiment with the sense of taste. One involves tasting an apple while smelling an onion; another involves locating areas of the tongue that respond to salt, sweet, bitter, and sour. (SM)

Hands-on experience lets students explore, discover, and think their way through science. The article explains why hands-on science works, presenting tools for getting started with few resources. Activities have students work with the environment in their backyards and the schoolyard. Resources for hands-on science are presented. (SM)

Elementary teacher describes a two-week project which involved using cooperative learning to teach sixth graders about averages. Cooperative groups worked to find the daily average of a variety of items. Students had real-world examples of averaging to replace standard textbook drill and practice. (SM)