The curriculum, designed for use with gifted students at the junior high level, presents units of instruction which emphasize the higher level thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. An introductory section explains each of the three higher level skills and presents tasks illustrating each one. Four units are presented, complete…

This project examined science education research relating to relative effects of different science programs, teaching systems, instructional methodologies, teacher preparation programs, and relationships between various student outcomes and student/teacher relationships. More than 80 studies were examined providing information on sex-related…

Prompted by the United Nations' International Year of Disabled Persons, personnel from environmental field centers and related facilities attended the Northeastern Conference on Outdoor Science Education for Physically Handicapped Adolescents. The two major purposes of the conference were: (1) to provide information and skills to environmental and…

The use of the two-stage least squares (2 SLS) procedure for estimating nonrecursive social science models is often impractical when multiple feedback linkages are required. This is because 2 SLS is extremely sensitive to multicollinearity. The standard statistical solution to the multicollinearity problem is a biased, variance reduced procedure…

This paper, presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Biology Teachers, is focused on legal and judicial problems in mandating equal time for creationism. Past events provide evidence that legislation, policies, and local resolutions that require science textbooks and curricula to include the Genesis account of creation are…

Developed as one part of the "Learning by Design" environmental education program, this compilation of resource information and materials serves as a guide to current environmental education projects, curriculum materials, books, people and organizations. Designed as a system rather than a one-time publication, the information in this document…

The research reported in this paper concerns the design of instructional materials that represent the content structure of a science discipline and the development of methods of probing and representing the knowledge structure in a student's memory. The science discipline selected for the study was geology. Specifically, the conceptual structures…

This study investigated student variables likely to influence process skill learning. Specifically, relationships were explored concerning the following variables: (1) student engagement and science process achievement, (2) formal reasoning ability and student engagement, (3) formal reasoning ability and science process achievement, (4) student…

The mosquito control projects presented in this manual were prepared from an educational viewpoint and are intended for use by students in 4-H and Scouts and as a supplement to high school and college biology course work. The major emphasis of the projects is on integrated pest management, an approach utilizing cost-effective control methods which…

The present study: (1) identified certain scientific misconceptions possessed by high school and university students; (2) identified, by written and interview means, the origins of these misconceptions; and (3) classified the misconceptions according to their origin. A pilot study using grade 9 high school students showed that, although more…

Presented are middle school level, activity-oriented astronomy activities developed as a result of an earth science workshop for teachers. Topics include: (1) sun and moon position and measurement; (2) daily, yearly, and seasonal changes in the sun's position; (3) shapes and positions of planetary orbits; (4) eclipses; (5) properties of light; (6)…

The results of the first International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement (IEA) survey of science subjects are summarized in this document. The purpose of this survey was to gather data from nationally represented samples of schools, teachers, and pupils from 19 countries and determine the factors accounting for variations…

Reported is a study of the relationship between degree of concept relatedness of an instructional sequence and a person's locus of control orientation. Locus of control orientation for the 541 high school biology students involved in the study was evaluated as measured by the adult Nowicki-Strickland scale. The experimental instructional treatment…

Reported is a research project which investigated whether junior high students in the Ithaca, New York, area can acquire and use the "concept mapping" and "Gowin's 'V' mapping" strategies to facilitate meaningful learning. Concept mapping involves the identification, hierarchical organization, and graphic depiction of…

Presented is a description of the creation of the National Forests system, how trees grow, managing the National Forests, types of management systems, and managing for multiple use, including wildlife, water, recreation and other uses. Included are: (1) photographs; (2) line drawings of typical leaves, cones, flowers, and seeds; and (3)…