"Stepping Up to Science and Math" invites teachers to step back and rethink the way they teach both of these essential subjects. Then it illustrates how teachers can step up the pace with Standards-based activities that make learning more effective and efficient. (New lessons featuring gummy worms, school buses, or the planet Mars help teachers…

This paper reviews the history of the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program, an international environmental science education program. The goals of the program are to: enhance the environmental awareness of individuals around the world; contribute to the scientific understanding of the earth; and to help all…

The activities in this collection are designed to help teachers bring the worlds of science and art into the classroom. Each activity is both a hands-on science investigation and an art experience. As students create satisfying art projects, they utilize science skills such as observing, predicting, investigating, and communicating. The projects…

This paper describes a longitudinal case study that examined the various products that a primary grade student created as he co-researched with his teacher how to implement self-selected science inquiry in a suburban first grade classroom in New Jersey. Transcriptions of science presentations and interviews, parent and student reflection, and the…

This activity is designed to build creative skills based on an everyday problem. The scenario that sometimes packages are dropped and letters get bent is used. How can a special delivery be protected from such unfortunate mishaps? Students use their creative skills to determine a way to mail raw spaghetti. A way to safely package the raw spaghetti…

In this activity, students investigate the accuracy of sundials and the discrepancy that lies between "real time" and "clock time". The position of the sun is tracked over the course of a relatively short period of time as students make a shadow plot, a horizontal sundial, and a diptych sundial. This activity requires…

This curriculum unit revolves around the intriguing nature of dry ice and the incessant curiosity it provokes in all those who have the opportunity to interact with it. The activities featured in this book guide students toward being able to conduct their own independent scientific inquiry while presenting strong scientific content. Activities…

This digest presents a summary discussion of the value of holding science fairs in the elementary school context. Reasons for conducting science fairs for elementary students are discussed in terms of several learning theories. Developmentally appropriate types of elementary science projects are suggested. Goals for elementary school science fairs…

Traces change in conception of gravity in a boy from kindergarten until second grade, focusing on the process by which persons restructure ideas that differ from accepted scientific understandings, and acquire scientific ideas. Provides criteria for defining an alternative conception; suggests how conditions in the initial interview may have…

Outlines a strategy for the teaching of science in developing countries that breaks investigations down into individual processes, some of which do not require an apparatus. Outlines some difficulties that science teachers in developing countries face. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

Provides an in-depth look at what it means to be scientifically literate. Argues that if teachers are going to help students achieve true scientific literacy, they must agree upon a definition and reach a common understanding of the nature of scientific literacy. (DDR)

Presents the topic of linking the presence of life on Earth with the chemical evolution of the universe as a whole. The approach involves examining issues related to the biochemical unity of living matter and the chemical evolution of the galaxy. (DDR)

Explains how to implement an activity in which students measure the volume of their oral cavities. Enables students to develop skills in estimation, measurement, connections, statistics, applying concepts and procedures, and communication. (DDR)

Describes the reform of an introductory biology curriculum to reverse high attrition rates. Objectives include fostering self-directed learning, emphasizing process over content, and offering laboratory experiences that model the way to acquire scientific knowledge. Teaching methods include discussion, group mentoring, laboratory sections, and…

Recommends that teachers use real life opportunities and experiences to design experiments to motivate middle school science students. Focuses on the use of consumer testing to engage students in using the scientific method. (DDR)