The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has assembled this collection of reprints to assist teachers in organizing a science fair, working with students and establishing equitable judging procedures. The NSTA position statement on science fairs is included. The 24 reprints in this volume are geared toward elementary and middle school…

The broad focus of this study was on the role students' existing conceptions play in the process of constructing and understanding mechanics concepts. The study was a naturalistic one, conducted over a number of years, at all grade levels, in one all-boys secondary school in Australia. In particular it was concerned with identifying and…

Classroom teachers frequently express concern that textbooks and other curriculum materials are too difficult for their students. The objectives of this investigation were to develop a method for scoring the Level of Abstraction (LOA) of science reading material, and explore its relationship with certain other known methods for assessing…

During 1985-86 the School Community Education Program (also known as the Umbrella Program), funded by the New York State Legislature, provided a variety of educational and training experiences to some 25,871 participants, including pre-kindergarten children and their parents; and students, teachers and supervisors from kindergarten through grade…

Presented are perspectives on the needs in science and mathematics education and an assessment of the knowledge and skills that will be of the greatest value for students in the future. Issues and trends are organized into six major sections. These include: (1) probable futures (stating predictions related to technological advances,…

This compilation of abstracts represents 39 projects that were funded by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia under Adapter Grants (which involve experimentation with instructional methods or techniques) or Developer Grants (which involve the implementation of a uniquely innovative teaching method or other instructional procedure).…

This curriculum guide lists science topics and concepts, learning outcomes, and sample learning objectives (in three columns) for these secondary school science courses in Alaska: (1) general science (grades 7-12); (2) life science (grades 7-12); (3) physical science (grades 7-12); (4) earth science (grades 8-10); (5) biology (grades 10-12); (6)…

The "Maryland: Mountains to the Sea" exhibit (National Aquarium in Baltimore) consists of four exhibits and eight graphics panels. The exhibits are an Allegheny pond and a salt marsh which are both partially open, Assateague beach which includes birds, and the continental shelf. A variety of Maryland pond and ocean fish, crabs, and water…

Learner and program control of content review within computer assisted instruction (CAI) were studied to determine their effects on the posttest performance and attitudes of eighth grade students. The science-related instructional treatments were completed by 98 students who were blocked by gender and reading ability and randomly assigned to…

This guide was developed with the intention of helping teachers and school site administrators in California review the elementary science curriculum and compare it to an idealized model that is presented in the document. Part I of the guide provides a summary of a number of characteristics considered to be important to a strong elementary science…

This study was designed to determine: (1) the level of understanding of selected science concepts typical of freshmen and senior University of Wyoming elementary education students; (2) relationships between the number and kind of science courses taken by elementary education majors and their level of understanding of science concepts; and (3) if…

Factual and conceptual information dealing with the biology of human populations is offered in this guide for secondary science teachers. Instructional approaches are reviewed and suggestions are offered for use of the problem method approach, the discussion technique, and the project option. Information is organized into an introduction and five…

Developed to help educators locate computer software programs they may want to preview for students in K-12, this guide lists commercially available programs that have been favorably reviewed by members of the Educational Software Evaluation Consortium. Programs are listed alphabetically by title within curriculum areas: art; business education…

This project investigated the effects of increasing teachers' wait times on general questioning skills in science teaching. Variables were separated through the use of four treatment groups, each containing ten science teachers. Schools were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions from a subsampling of middle schools in a central New York…

This longitudinal study was designed to: (1) identify the current status of elementary science teaching and characteristics of science teachers in a sample of 100 public elementary schools (K-6) that participated in a 1970 study; (2) investigate certain changes in the foregoing since 1970; (3) identify principal's and teacher's attitudes…