The purpose of this study was to determine those environmental understandings important for inclusion in the elementary school curriculum and basic to the knowledge of the urban environment. A survey instrument was developed for this study which presented 104 understandings in the general areas of air, land use, man-made resources, water, and…

This three-part document identified 114 currently credible biology concepts judged important for inclusion in the K-12 curriculum. The literature related to the production of lists of scientific concepts was reviewed, emphasizing the techniques available for such studies. The technique for this study was to ask individual biological scientists at…

This teacher's guide to science in grades 4, 5, and 6 in the Buffalo Public Schools, New York, lists content areas for each grade level. Concepts or understandings to be developed for each content area are listed. Appropriate text and teacher guide pages are given to the science series developed by Herman and Nina Schneider to reinforce these…

Two questions about time are considered: Is it meaningful to speak of time stopping? Is it meaningful to speak of altering the past? (BB)

A sample of 75 children from first, third, and fifth grades were each asked a series of questions in 6 topic areas dealing with such issues as conventionality, moral rules, and physical laws. (Author/JMB)

Outlined is the history of superconductivity and described are the physical and chemical principles upon which it rests. Some possible applications of superconductors are considered. (RH)

Although the concept of heat permeates the subject of chemistry, conceptual and semantic inconsistencies related to this concept are found in classroom situations and in the literature. These conceptual and semantic inconsistencies are examined, exploring other problematic areas associated with the concept (such as notation and entropy flow). (JN)

Discusses how to stop a spinning object (such as rotating fan blades) by humming and the perception of curious blue arcs around a light. Background information, relevant research, and activities related to these two topics are provided. (JN)

Discusses new problems arising from the growing observational data through radio telescope arrays, involving the origin of radio sources, apparent superluminal velocities, conversion of radio sources to relativistic particles, and the nature of compact opaque and extended transparent sources. New physics may be needed to answer these cosmological…

Examines the "backward state of technology" in the ancient world and relates social and economic factors, concluding that the level of technology of a nation sets certain limits to social and material development; conclusion of an article begun in the April 1973 issue of "Greece and Rome". (RL)

Second law of thermodynamics is described in several ways. Explanations of the concepts of energy and entropy are provided. (PS)

There were no differences in the types of responses given by children in response to the question What makes clouds move?'' whether they were interviewed by telephone, by a person in normal dress, or by someone wearing clerical dress. The responses were similar to those reported by Piaget. (AL)

Urges rapprochement of poetry and science to study the human condition. (Author/RD)