Students have difficulty understanding ecosystem concepts. This article argues that the difficulty stems partly from not grasping the underlying causality that structures the concepts. We report on an intervention study designed to teach eight- and nine-year-olds to reason about domino, cyclic, and mutual causality by infusing causally focused…

The purpose of the investigation was to determine the meanings attached by students to the different kinds of molecular structure representations used in chemistry teaching. The students (n = 124) were from primary (aged 13-14 years) and secondary (aged 17-18 years) schools and a university (aged 21-25 years). A computerised "Chemical…

This guide is one of a set of 10 science guides, each covering a separate grade in Manitoba, together covering kindergarten through grade 9. The guides have been designed to provide a framework for building scientific concepts and developing the learning of process skills. They replace an earlier set of guides dated 1979. Each guide is essentially…

This product of an annual meeting presents abstracts of symposia, contributed papers, paper sets, discussion groups, reports, poster sessions, and panel presentations. Topics include: science teaching, gender differences, science education reform, constructivism, biological concepts, concept mapping, attitude/behavior change, conceptual…

Protection of existing water supplies is critical to ensuring good health for people and animals alike. This program is aligned with the Izaak Walton League of American's Save Our Streams program which is based on the concept that students can greatly improve the quality of a nearby stream, pond, or river by regular visits and monitoring. The…

A resource handbook for rural Alaskan teachers covers village science, to make basic science concepts relevant to the physical environment in villages. Material is intended for use as filler for weeks that come up short on science materials, to provide stimulation for students who cannot see the relevance of science in their lives, and to help…

Designed to serve as a preliminary guide for curriculum development and science instruction in South Carolina, this booklet identifies basic skill objectives in science for grades one through eight. Categories of South Carolina's Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) for science include: (1) science concepts; (2) science process skills; (3)…

Guidance for the development, assessment and/or improvement of science education programs in Michigan is provided in this handbook for teachers, administrators, and parents. It provides a philosophical foundation and curricular framework from which educators could construct comprehensive local science education programs. The nature of science is…

Research has established that students generally possess conceptions relevant to curricular topics before they begin to study them and that these preconceptions often persist despite instruction on scientific theories which contradict them. Discrepancies between students' post instruction conceptions and the scientific theories as taught often…

In the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, four groups of people worked on problems identified in the project's second (in-depth) phase. The Physics action-research group considered problems related to the teaching and learning of ideas associated with force and motion, suggesting that children's ideas of these concepts might…

This handbook is a product of a research project conducted in North Carolina to identify science competencies taught in vocational agriculture programs. Specifically, two vocational agriculture courses were included in the study: Introduction to Agriculture/National Resources and Ornamental Horticulture I. Of the 60 competencies in the…

The effectiveness of teaching academic courses such as mathematics and science in a foreign language has been investigated by several international studies in the literature. Even though the studies conducted have brought up contradictory results, most of them reveal that learning academic courses through a foreign language medium may pose…

Common misconceptions of children that may interfere with their learning science are discussed, including three aspects of science programs: complexity, fragility, and unclear learning outcomes. Special attention is given to the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). Methods for solving problems dealing with students' misconceptions are then…

A retreat from verbal communication has occurred in contemporary society because of new emphases on ritual and the apparent inadequacy of verbal expression in science and art. Formal ritual surrounds people and involves all human senses; but printed matter or words separate the senses and reduce reality to a one-dimensional, sequential…

This curriculum guide was developed for use with public television's Nature series. The materials in the guide are designed to help students actively participate in the study and experience of nature. Students are encouraged to view the programs as a scientist would, observing natural phenomena and drawing conclusions. Each lesson in the Teacher's…