"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 curriculum guide is all about otters and provides information on both sea and river otters. Included are activities related to the diet of sea otters, the adaptations sea otters have made to live in the sea, their tool-using abilities, where they live and how to spot them, comparative anatomy of sea and river otters, and otter movement. The…

This curriculum guide is all about wolves and provides information through the telling of a story about wolves and their history and folklore. The 14 activities contained in this guide employ an interdisciplinary approach and use mazes, puzzles, model-building, and board games to motivate students. Activity topics include building a wolf,…

The activities in this book are designed to encourage children's scientific curiosity as well as their creativity. Activities include puppet making, word scrambles, matching exercises, crossword and jigsaw puzzles, mobiles, games, mini books, coloring activities, Venn diagrams, and plays. These activities are intended as a foundation for children…

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 laboratory manual introduces the idea of Green Chemistry, which is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Instructional samples are included to help teachers integrate green chemistry into the college chemistry curriculum. Each laboratory includes: (1) a…

This issue of ENC Focus focuses on the topic of inquiry and problem solving. Featured articles include: (1) "Inquiry in the Everyday World of Schools" (Ronald D. Anderson); (2) "In the Cascade Reservoir Restoration Project Students Tackle Real-World Problems" (Clint Kennedy with Advanced Biology Students from Cascade High…

This book brings Alaskan Native understanding of science and ecology to the elementary classroom by showing teachers how to present local and ecosystem knowledge held by long-time inhabitants of southeast Alaska. The goal is to increase the self-esteem of Native students who traditionally perform low in science and to introduce non-Native students…

This booklet introduces guidelines for teachers at any grade level to set up and maintain a simple aquarium and through it introduce simple biological ideas to their students. Natural and cost-saving aquarium-running strategies are discussed and common, hardy fish and plant choices are described. Many demonstrations and experiments are included on…

This 23-minute videotape gives children, grades K-4, a close-up look at the moon in order to answer the following questions: (1) Why does the moon appear different every night? (2) What does the moon look like up close? (3) What is it like to walk on the moon? and (4) Could we live on the moon someday? A hands-on activity designed to demonstrate…

This 23-minute videotape aims to give children, grades K-4, a broad understanding of the center of our solar system, the sun. It explains how the sun provides us with life-giving light and heat, how it's responsible for our seasons and weather, and why it's the primary source of energy on Earth. A hands-on activity in which children create their…

This 23-minute videotape gives children (grades K-4) a close-up look at what makes the third planet from the sun so special. The answers to the following questions are discussed: (1) Why is there life on Earth? (2) What is our planet made of? and (3) How does the Earth fit into the rest of the universe? A hands-on activity that describes how to…

The videos in this educational series, for grades 4-7, help students understand the science behind weather phenomena through dramatic live-action footage, vivid animated graphics, detailed weather maps, and hands-on experiments. This episode (23 minutes) gives concise explanations of the various types of precipitation and describes how the water…

The videos in this educational series, for grades 4-7, help students understand the science behind weather phenomena through dramatic live-action footage, vivid animated graphics, detailed weather maps, and hands-on experiments. This episode (23 minutes) discusses how clouds form, the different types of clouds, and the important role they play in…

This paper reports on a case study that was part of a 3-year longitudinal study about classroom discourse during a learning sequence related to environmental values and concepts. The lesson was planned and enacted by students in a fourth grade classroom during a field study. Whole class and small group classroom conversations and a field trip to a…