The "Robot Roadshow Program" is designed to increase the interest of elementary school children in technical disciplines, specifically math and science. The program focuses on children from schools categorized as rural or underserved, which often have limited access to advanced technical resources. We developed the program using robots…

Continuing the theme of the school as a community, the teacher's guide to the science/math strand of unit five presents both instructional and assessment activities for kits 17-20. Focus, materials and objective for each activity are in Spanish and English; teacher instructions are in Spanish only. In kit 17 the science activities deal with the…

The career activities guide in science, part of an Idaho State Department of Vocational Education career exploration series for grades 7, 8, and 9, is designed as supplementary material to enrich the regular curriculum. Any one activity in the guide might be used without involving any other activities. The cross-referenced index indicates grades,…

Explains how a computer uses its vision to determine the area, edge length, width, height, and center of mass in two dimensions from photos of backlit sea shells. Includes HyperCard codes used to instruct the computer to make the calculations. (MDH)

Early adolescents may lack the cognitive and metacognitive skills necessary for effective inquiry learning. In particular, they are likely to have a nonnormative mental model of multivariable causality in which effects of individual variables are neither additive nor consistent. Described here is a software-based intervention designed to…

This document examines how a unit on model rockets, designed to be a "hands-on" activity within the "Mission to Mars" curriculum that was implemented in the Nashville (Tennessee) area middle schools, has been used to investigate children's understanding of experimentation. A literature review explores some of the traditional…

This guide is intended for use as a supplemental science teaching aid with students having diverse medical, learning, and/or behavioral problems in either self-contained or regular elementary classes. Its purpose is to teach observation skills and the scientific method, to stimulate thinking, and to increase interest in science and related…

This course of study is aligned with the California State Science Framework and provides students with the physics content needed to become scientifically and technologically literate and prepared for post-secondary science education. Framework themes incorporated into the course of study include patterns of change, evolution, energy, stability,…

This ERIC Digest presents a brief description of some applications and findings of the microcomputer in science classrooms. It is suggested that microcomputer simulations are at least as effective as hands-on experiences for some cognitive outcomes and may in fact enhance these outcomes when the simulations are sequenced to follow hands-on…

This book addresses some of the methods by which science can be made accessible to children, both in school and non-school settings. It contains information on effective science education for elementary school age children, and includes a catalog of books and other materials. Topics discussed in the book include: (1) planning; (2) approaches to…

THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY IS A CONTINUATION OF THE SERIES OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF COURSES OF STUDY AND TEXTBOOKS IN SCIENCE BEGUN IN 1959 BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION (NSTA). PART 1 LISTS COURSES OF STUDY ALPHABETICALLY BY STATE UNDER THE CATEGORIES OF (1) LONG-RANGE COURSES OF STUDY, GRADES K-12, (2) JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, GRADES 7, 8, 9, (3)…

Every child today is in contact with the results of scientific discovery and should have at least some understanding of the principles of modern science. The increasing complexities of the age in which we live make this imperative. For this reason, the study of science has become an essential part of the curriculum of every elementary rural and…

Each Tuesday during the fall of 2002, teams of high school students from three South Carolina counties conducted a four-hour polymer institute for their peers. In less than two months, over 300 students visited the Charleston County Public Library in Charleston, South Carolina, to explore DNA, nylon, rubber, gluep, and other polymers. Teams of…

This 21-chapter methods textbook provides essential information, practical applications, and resource materials for prospective, beginning, and experienced science teachers, professional science educators, science coordinators, and science supervisors. Major topic areas addressed in the chapters include: the scientific enterprise and science…

A project addressed the lack of rural school laboratory facilities and limited opportunities for staff development by training 22 high school physics teachers in rural Missouri to use videotaped "virtual" laboratory experiments and student data-collection worksheets. Surveys identified 19 topics for which physics teachers reported…