Describes a school district's refocusing of lesson plans in the natural sciences to teach students about the structure and function of the earth--a focus all but abandoned in many school programs. Details of the curriculum; the resources used; leadership initiatives; and obstacles to implementation are discussed. (PR)

This annotated bibliography lists 569 documents from local, state, provincial, and national governments and from international organizations that have been selected on the basis of their reference value and/or subject coverage. Topics covered include health sciences, business and economics, government and politics, social problems, education,…

Listed are 27 references about the Hubble Space Telescope project. Included are nontechnical books, nontechnical articles, and technical articles. (CW)

Describes the use of videodisk technology to deliver instruction to preservice and in-service teachers for mastery of earth science concepts, and discusses its use as a research tool to improve teacher preparation in science education instructional methods for elementary schools. A science teaching model that underlies the research program is…

Describes a topographic map exercise designed for lab session of two to three hours in an introductory geology course. Students are taught the basic principles of topographic map construction and are then required to make a map of a section of campus. Author claims the approach has improved student test performance and resulted in a deeper…

A lesson plan, directed at middle school students and older, describes using snow to study the geological processes of solidification of molten material, sedimentation, and metamorphosis. Provides background information on these geological processes. (MCO)

Describes a term paper assignment where students are allowed to pick a topic that interests them based upon the course focus and course format. Authors have found that, if students are interested in a topic and it is relevant to them, some of the onerousness that students associate with writing can be significantly reduced. (PR)

Describes CD-ROM-based program called Joint Education Initiative that was started by U.S. Geological Survey. The culmination of the collaborative effort includes three compact discs and a teacher activity book. The discs contain several databases, geophysical data that can be superimposed over satellite images of North America, images from the…

Provides a summary of atmospheric science resources available to help science teachers develop up-to-date units on weather. Resources include activities of professional organizations involving radio, television, printed materials, inservice workshops, and telecommunications resources. (MDH)

Research concerning the role of stratospheric ozone and the effect of chlorofluorocarbons on stratospheric ozone are discussed. The consequences of global ozone depletion are projected. The Montreal Protocol is reviewed. (CW)

Presents a study where astronomy teachers (n=66) try to predict student (n=330) outcomes on astronomy and related topics pre- and posttest. Suggested findings include a course in astronomy did not result in an overall knowledge gain, teachers fared well at predicting prior student knowledge, and teachers vastly overestimated student gain in…

Summarizes the results of three related studies whose overall purpose was to determine elementary students' conceptions about earthquakes at two widely separated locations in the United States. Certain topics, such as the cause of earthquakes, seemed to cause difficulty for students. New definitional responses emerged in the studies that took…

Discusses and explains early people's fears and explanations of eclipses. Describes the lunar eclipse scheduled for November 28-29. (PR)

Describes science activities for a field trip to the beach for sixth-grade students. Explains how students can save what they find using plaster of Paris to create a sand cast. (PR)

Provides instructions for building a radio telescope for less than $120. (PR)