Provided is a review of a high school/college level computer program (for Apple microcomputers) which consists of six simulations designed to introduce students to simple harmonic motion. Includes a discussion of the six simulations and such information as time needed, probable classroom use, source, and current cost. (JM)

Presents procedures, demonstrations, activities, and teaching suggestions on topics appropriate for middle school science including a simple electrolysis cell, conversion factors, energy, solubilities of salts, condensers, and a worksheet for studying coppice woodlands. (DC)

Reviews research studies that investigated the relationship between attitude and achievement. Concludes that in general and for science the relationship is weak, indicating that science teachers should focus directly on improving achievement and not on improving attitudes towards science as a means of improving achievement. (DC)

Describes a Scottish research project--Technique for Assessment of Practical Skills in Foundation Science (TAPS)--to identify practical laboratory skills that students should acquire and to produce methods of formative and summative evaluation of these skills. Examples of appropriate practical objectives, test items, and evaluation criteria are…

Compared transactions in junior/senior high biology classes and indentified relationships between classroom conditions, lesson format, and instructional activities. Found instruction characterized by inquiry-oriented, laboratory-based learning led and guided by the teacher, with only medium dependence on the textbook. Also found the Structured…

Summarizes results of the meta-analysis of 105 research studies dealing with effects of new science curricula on student performance. Twenty-seven different new science curricula involving one or more measures of student performance were included in the analysis. Positive performance patterns were found in all new curricula examined. (JN)

Discusses sources of energy education materials, including businesses, industries, and private organizations. Provides names/addresses of principle energy trade associations and guidelines for evaluating energy education materials developed by the private sector. (JN)

Examined effects of operational levels of ninth-grade (N=16) and college (N=40) students on causal explanations they recalled after instruction. Results indicate concrete/formal students recalled explanations requiring chaining of two implication statements while formal subjects outperformed concrete subjects in reconstruction of complex…

Investigated influence of sex-related contextual nature of tasks (male-related, female-related, and content-free tasks) and perceived difficulty of these tasks on logical reasoning of Nigerian high school students (N=70). Results indicated that males scored higher than females on male-related tasks and females scored higher on female-related…

Discusses the basic issue between biology and the religious right, focusing on the strategies creationists use. Proposes formation of a symposium on the relationship between science, religious beliefs, and politics, outlining purposes of such a symposium and questions which might be addressed. (JN)

Suggests discussion questions, demonstrations, and activities related to a Public Broadcasting Service documentary ("To Hear"). The basic theme of the program is that people don't realize the dangers of excessive noise because it is pervasive and invisible. (Author/JN)

Coping with the high cost of teaching chemistry, content of organic chemistry, instructional strategies, and approaches in dealing with the changing student population (urban blacks/hispanics, handicapped, and other nontraditional students) are among the topics discussed in 19 papers presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on Chemical…

Following a discussion of the philosophy of and three general approaches to curriculum development for the middle school, four basic components of a marine science curriculum related to the three curriculum approaches are described. Components focus on course themes (ecology, stewardship, interdependence) and attitudes related to early…

Examines creationism/evolution debate in context of philosophy using ontological models in which reality is assigned to one or both natural or transnatural (supernatural) realms. The six models (theistic-teleological dualism; deistic-mechanistic dualism; fundamentalist creationism; atheistic monism; theistic monism; mechanistic monism) deal with…

Points out that the most basic of creationist attacks of geology, their claim that uniformitarianism is an unreliable basis for interpreting the past, fail because the uniformitarianism they describe is no longer a part of geology. Indicates that modern uniformitarianism is merely the philosophical principle of simplicity. (Author/JN)