Describes an integrated thematic unit designed for readers in grades 8 to 10. Contains a four- to six-week plan that encompasses reading strategies, inquiry projects, and assessment tools and includes an activity map (based on Jennifer Armstrong's "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the…

Suggests that because controlled experiments are used extensively by professional ecologists to solve both theoretical and applied problems, experimentation should be a key component of secondary school ecology curricula. Describes five teaching principles to guide secondary school biology teachers in providing a more realistic view of the…

Integrates guided reading into the science curriculum to promote inquiry-based, hands-on learning. Describes the components and instructional strategies for a guided-reading lesson model and presents example activities. (YDS)

Describes the Geographic Information System (GIS) which is capable of storing, manipulating, and displaying data allowing students to explore complex relationships through scientific inquiry. Explains applications of GIS in middle school classrooms and includes assessment strategies. (YDS)

Describes an inquiry-based course that emphasizes integration of the sciences. Student teams pursue research projects of their own design using mathematics and physics to study biological phenomena. (Author/KHR)

Focuses on professional practice schools as contexts for the continuing professional development of experienced inservice teachers. A framework for developing a culture of inquiry in a school is provided, appropriate professional growth activities are considered, and problems and dilemmas associated with teacher development in professional…

The complexity of social interaction in classrooms leads many students to perform poorly because they do not understand what behavior the teachers expect. It appears that some students learn from their school experience to be less active in obtaining relevant academic information through questioning. (JD)

Describes learning processes of inquiry and discovery involving six steps of teacher-student interaction: questioning, investigating, analyzing, interpreting, understanding, and answering. Presents examples of dialogue in adventure education that illustrate four learning styles within the inquiry/discovery approach: guided, shared, consultative,…

Discussed are two contrasting views about the nature of scientific thinking including Pearson's and Collingwood's. The contexts of questions, methods, problems, experiments, and history are described as contexts of inquiry. The physical thoughts of scientists from pre-Aristotelian times to the present are outlined in relation to contexts of…

The emergence of reflectivity in teacher education is discussed. Four forms of action (describing, informing, confronting, and reconstructing) are suggested to uncover the forces that inhibit and constrain teachers and teacher educators in their efforts to implement critical reflection in their curricula. (IAH)

Compares a broad cross-section of high school biology laboratory manuals with respect to several standard features as well as the degree to which they engage students in scientific inquiry. Discusses comparisons with respect to topics contained in the manuals, types of activities, lab exercises, and features of activities. (JRH)

Contains three demonstrations to help students develop an adequate understanding of the nature of science. Two use the inquiry method to show students the importance of evidence in formulating explanations, and the third uses the history of science to show that science is tentative as well as based on evidence. (LZ)

Changes in children's understanding of experimentation are examined. Sixteen fifth and sixth graders worked on two experimentation problems consistent with an engineering and science model, respectively. The science model was associated with broader exploration, more selectiveness about evidence interpreted, and greater attention to establishing…

Ways in which linear lesson sequences can be modified to provide increased opportunities for open-ended activities especially with problem solving are considered. Examples drawn from chemistry and plant reproduction, seeds, and germination are given. (KR)

Investigated the extent to which form-focused instruction and corrective feedback (i.e., "input enhancement"), provided within a primarily communicative program, contribute to learners' accuracy in question formation. Study results are interpreted as evidence that input enhancement can bring about genuine changes in learners' interlanguage…