Background/purpose: One of the skills that students had to master in science learning was science process skills. However, there has not been much research examining these skills in elementary schools, especially those related to practicum guides integrated with local wisdom. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of a science…

We describe the development, design, implementation, and preliminary classroom results of an innovative curriculum, "Focus on Energy," that supports learning about energy in Grades 4-5. The curriculum is grounded in the concepts of science as practice, model-based reasoning, and learning progressions, and builds on students' pre-existing…

This research aims at comparing the changes in factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge of heat transfer in learning science using YouTube videos accompanied by discovery learning among fifth graders. A pre-and post-test experimental design was conducted by two different groups. One of the groups was randomly assigned to conduct discovery…

This research aims to determine whether Problem-Based Learning (PBL) helps in fostering scientific creativity among fifth graders. Students' scientific creativity (SC) was investigated in the product dimensions of (a) solving scientific problems, (b) understanding scientific phenomena, (c) advancement in scientific knowledge, and (d) improvisation…

Children often associate the study of bones with dinosaurs or crime scenes. This unit introduces students to "zooarchaeology," the study of animal remains from archaeological sites. Students in grades 3-5 engage in hands-on activities examining bones, shells, and other "hard parts" of animals. They use their observations as a starting point for…

This article describes the steps incorporated to teach an engineering design process in a fifth-grade science classroom. The engineering design-based activity was an existing scientific inquiry activity using UV light--detecting beads and purposefully creating a series of engineering design-based challenges around the investigation. The…

Hopscotch, basketball, or hide-and-seek? Children have many choices at recess, and while making these choices they must consider and make trade-offs. The way they make these decisions is not that different from the thought processes engineers use when making design trade-offs. Engineers have to make trade-offs because a design that meets all…

One tool for enhancing students' work with data in the science classroom is the measure line. As a coteacher and curriculum developer for The Inquiry Project, the author has seen how measure lines--a number line in which the numbers refer to units of measure--help students not only represent data but also analyze it in ways that generate…

We all hope our classrooms don't take on a circus-like atmosphere, but juggling can be an engaging way to introduce elementary physics to students. The very act of tossing and catching objects can help students to understand the basic physical principles involved in rotating a set of objects. This article suggests a variety of simple hands-on…

In "Hands-On Science Mysteries for Grades 3-6," the authors connect science to real-world situations by investigating actual mysteries and phenomena, such as the strange heads on Easter Island, the ghost ship "Mary Celeste," and the "Dancing Stones" of Death Valley. The labs are designed to encourage the development…

This research project consists of a randomized experiment in St. Petersburg Catholic Schools. The question being addressed by the research is whether "Scott Foresman Science" is as effective as the current curricula being used in the participating campuses of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg. The research focuses on 3rd, 4th,…

This research project consists of a randomized experiment in Visalia Unified School District. The question being addressed by the research is whether "Scott Foresman Science" is as effective as or more effective than the curriculum being used at each site. Since Scott Foresman Science provides a significant reading component, the authors…

This research project consists of a randomized experiment in Ogden City School District. The primary purpose of this research is to produce scientifically based evidence of the comparative effectiveness of the "Scott Foresman" program. The question being addressed by the research is whether the "Scott Foresman" program is more…

Pearson Education contracted with Empirical Education Inc. to conduct five randomized experiments to determine the effectiveness of its "Scott Foresman Science" ("SFScience") curriculum and associated materials. This report addresses the experiment in Federal Way Public Schools in Washington State. The primary purpose of this…

In this paper, the authors' investigated whether "Scott Foresman Science" program, a year-long curriculum intended for daily use that provides a sequence of structured and supportive inquiry activities and text materials to develop students' independent investigative skills, is more effective than current science programs in five diverse…