This paper reviews press coverage of events surrounding the 1977 governmental decision to ban fluorocarbons in spray cans in the United States. The research reported focused on the years 1972 to 1978 and involved a count of the number of items published in selected newspapers and magazines or aired on the three major networks' evening news…

The success of an inservice program was evaluated by comparing and analyzing the results of tests administered to 11 participating (experimental group) and 15 non-participating (reference group) science teachers. Data on the improvement of preparation of the participants were obtained from the results of the Test on Understanding Science, a…

Studied were third and fourth grade children, from schools designated as exclusively serving low, middle, or high social-economic areas in St. Paul, Minnesota, to determine differences in understanding of science concepts and methods. Test items were administered orally and included fifteen questions selected from the school system basic science…

The literature on a priori and empirical weighting of test items and test-item options is reviewed. While multiple regression is the best known technique for deriving fixed empirical weights for component variables (such as tests and test items), other methods allow one to derive weights which equalize the effective weights of the component…

The implications of space science terminology and concepts for elementary science teaching are explored. Twenty-two concepts were identified which elementary and junior high school teachers were invited to introduce in their teaching. Booklets explaining the concepts were distributed together with report forms for teacher feedback. The numbers of…

The author describes a comprehensive science program for the elementary school. The program should include six components: (1) The story of the great generalizing constructs of science, such as the atom, the universe, the layers of the earth, and evolution--even though the students do not have the observational evidence to support the constructs;…

Science and aesthetics are not separate disciplines but rather are, or should be, cohesive parts which only together form the best and proper approach to academic study. The humanistic study of the information sciences--with speech communication as the core--must unify its present emphasis on the scientific with greater concern for the aesthetic.…

The unit presented in this teacher's guide is the first of two developed for the fifth year in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) curriculum. Attention is focused on energy transfers involved in the interaction of matter in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms. The chapters are presented in six parts which include activities for reviewing…

Data collected by testing every senior in 64 high schools affiliated with the Educational Research Council of America will be used as baseline data for science curriculum research and development. Students were randomly assigned one of the following tests: Iowa Tests of Educational Development--Test 2, General Background in the Natural Sciences;…

This second draft of a manuscript for a high school engineering and technology course uses case studies as its format. The principles associated with various engineering problems are presented along with their effects on daily life. Topics include the computer, the automotive power system, satellite communications, the petroleum industry, water…

The Conceptually Oriented Program in Elementary Science (COPES) Test of Science Concepts was administered to all children in a grade four and a grade six class after completion of a unit from the COPES materials. A semi-standardized interview schedule was used to interview selected pupils. Tapes of these interviews were rated independently by…

This report is part of the National Assessment on what children know and can do in science. The results are reported in terms of percentages of respondents who provide correct responses to specific exercises. Among the interesting results are the following: (1) Males performed better than females, increasingly through the four National Assessment…

Eighth-grade students who had been exposed to the Brandwein series "Concepts in Science" exhibited their perceptions of knowledge structures by free-sorting 39 science concept statements. A similarity index was used to measure sorting consistency and to compare individual sort patterns with a condensed Brandwein standard sort pattern.…

Lists objectives for a scientifically literate citizenry and major knowledge components of a definition of scientific literacy. (MLH)

Proposes that the language in which science instruction is given is significant for the understanding it can convey about the nature of science. (MLH)