The 4-H Youth Development Program, the youth development program for the United States Cooperative Extension service, is a nonformal education program with more than 100 years of history providing experiential learning activities for youth. As growing evidence supports the critical role of nonformal education in STEM literacy (National Research…

Teaching and learning of many undergraduate science courses often remains confined within the boundaries of classrooms rendering learning of these subjects irrelevant and detached from students' lived experiences. Community-based experiential learning (CBEL) is one way to address this issue. This paper reports the development and implementation of…

How do teachers and schools create meaningful learning experiences for students with diverse skills, abilities, and cultures? How can teachers authentically assess the learning of their students and build on their strengths and interests in ways that enrich the larger community? How can schools become places where everyone is learning from each…

Recently, schools nationwide have expressed a renewed interest in school gardens (California School Garden Network, 2010), viewing them as innovative educational tools. Most of the scant studies on these settings investigate the health/nutritional impacts, environmental attitudes, or emotional dispositions of students. However, few studies examine…

Teacher education for sustainability is a central part of integrating sustainability into classrooms and schools. However, educating for sustainability is not limited to increased content knowledge; rather it encompasses different forms of knowledge that embrace the normative, dynamic and action-oriented nature of sustainability. Curriculum for a…

The authors demonstrate how to tailor curriculum to support the varied interests, abilities, and talents of the children in a kindergarten class. Through words and photographs, they describe an in-depth study of rocks and sand, a topic of great interest to the children. The teachers posed open-ended questions that fostered high-level discussions.…

An early childhood specialist teaching kindergarten classes in a small city in the northeast designed this practicum to improve the science instruction provided kindedrgarten children. Practicum goals were to: (1) increase the effectiveness of the kindergarten science program by providing science experiences based on the recognition of the…

Describes some recent science education developments that might make scientific literacy a reachable goal for all students, not just the academically elite. Instead of inculcating "factoids," educators must stress depth over breadth, link concepts to instructional themes, and engage students through direct experiences and cooperative learning.…

After two decades of efforts at curriculum reform, the United States has yet seriously to embark on the task of developing an active learning approach to mathematics in the elementary schools. (Author)

A new science program for elementary schools (developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) emphasizes concrete experiences, providing students with opportunities to observe phenomena, record their observations, and discuss them with other students. Cooperative learning is a primary program component because it enhances children's ability…

Profiles Art Turner, head of an interdisciplinary team of four curriculum specialists in the Oxford Hills (Maine) Schools. Originally hired to ensure elementary students' readiness for junior high school, the specialists are continuing as agents of curriculum improvement in science, mathematics, social studies, and language arts. Cooperative and…

Discusses the implications of the Kellogg Commission's "Report on Curriculum". Presents an historical perspective of the engagement of institutions in curriculum development. Discusses the major changes promoted by the Kellogg Commission and evaluates environmental studies programs. Describes a prototype program by the Institute for Conversation…

The purpose of this study was to document the iterative development of a design-based science curriculum called Learning Science by Designing Artifacts (LSDA). The study refers to the enactment of the Safer Cell Phones curriculum in a high school located in the Midwest. The curriculum was a 5- or 9-week unit in an 18-week science elective course.…

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)

This document describes the curriculum model developed by the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES). The FES Model is based on connected concepts of "environment" and "study." In this approach "environmental" not only is the focus of what is to be studied but also describes the experiential way in which the study is…