Recommended for grades 9-12 social studies and/or physical science classes, this 4-8 day unit focuses on four topics: (1) the background and history of atomic development; (2) two common types of nuclear reactors (boiling water and pressurized water reactors); (3) disposal of radioactive waste; and (4) the future of nuclear energy. Each topic…

Recommended for grades 7-12 language arts, science, and social studies classes, this 5-7 day unit encourages students to investigate alternative energy sources through research. Focusing on geothermal energy, tide and ocean, fusion, wind, biomass, and solar energy as possible areas of consideration, the unit attempts to create an awareness of the…

This study investigated the implementation of a 7th grade biology curriculum ("Animal and its Environment") in Israel. The curriculum has seven parts, each one with a dictated sequence including well-defined objectives, suitable activities, and assigned materials, with little degree of freedom for the teacher. A primary concern for the…

Two experiments were conducted to characterize the system of beliefs that make up the naive impetus theory of motion and to determine what effects physics instruction has on students' conceptions of motion. Thirteen college students were asked to solve several quantitative problems and were interviewed about their answers in the first experiment.…

The tables, graphs, articles, and other sources of information in this document are designed to provide teachers with additional resources to supplement the unit "Motions and Collisions." The information is coordinated with the unit objectives specified in "Science 100, 101," the currently (1982) approved provincial guide for…

This booklet provides background information and five experiments which focus on how energy is lost. Section I contains two experiments to help students discover how energy is lost in their homes. These experiments involve determining a home's location and the weather forces acting on it and completing a home energy audit. Section II contains two…

Data gathered from large-scale assessments in the Ontario Assessment Instrument Pool (OAIP) are examined. Implications for science instruction are to be found at the item level; the items should not involve more than two or three steps if the responses are to be informative. Items are collected and linked to provincial curriculum guidelines. These…

This study investigated the contributions of the professional qualification of biology teachers, laboratory facilities, and biology textbooks to the teaching of biology in 10 government and 10 harambee schools in Kenya. Biology is currently a compulsory subject in all secondary schools in this country. Data were obtained from questionnaires…

A sample of 217 students (from grades 4 to 8) who were enrolled in an elementary school science-oriented gifted and talented program were compared to 91 mainstreamed subjects in grades 7 through 10. Assessement instruments included: a battery of Piagetian measures designed to assess combinatorial reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, and the ability…

This module for middle/junior high school students examines human genetics from the perspective of variability and diversity. It consists of five sections containing a total of 25 activities. Many of these activities use students as "raw materials" and ask that they observe, record and interpret the variability that surrounds them; they…

To provide information to support school district considerations of changes in mathematics and science instruction, three issues were considered: (1) the adequacy of the California Basic Education Data System (CBEDS) for supporting an analysis of subject matter instruction; (2) the distribution of teaching effort and student enrollments among…

Listed in this science syllabus are concepts and understandings in eight major areas: (1) forces, motion, and work; (2) introduction to energy; (3) mechanical energy and machines; (4) sound energy; (5) electromagnetic energy and light energy; (6) heat energy; (7) electric and magnetic energy; and (8) nuclear energy. The booklet also includes…

Twenty-three activities dealing with various aspects of groundwater are provided in this manual. The activities are arranged under four headings: (1) the water cycle; (2) water distribution in soils (considering such topics as calculating water table depth and purifying water by filtering); (3) water quality (considering such topics as acid rain,…

This unit is one of a group of units written to fit the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS) chemistry course, but it could be used in most Sixth Form courses. The format for this unit is a decision-making or role playing situation. It includes: (1) background information for the teacher, with descriptions of the three roles for individuals or…

Four classes of high school chemistry students (N=108) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups to investigate the effectiveness of a computer assisted instruction (CAI) package during a unit on writing/naming of chemical formulas and balancing equations. Students in the experimental group received drill, review, and reinforcement…