The purpose of this study was to analyze the extent to which science education objectives in elementary schools addressed to the six basic components of environmental literacy (EL), and how this attention differed from Bulgaria to Turkey. The main method in the study involved comparative content analysis of these objectives. The courses sampled…

This research is concerned with preservice teacher understanding of six earth and space science concepts that are often taught in elementary school: the reason for seasons, phases of the moon, why the wind blows, the rock cycle, soil formation, and earthquakes. Specifically, this study examines the effect of readings, hands-on learning stations,…

Sixty-one normally achieving and at-risk fifth-grade students (of whom three had learning disabilities), in three classrooms, were taught two 5-week science units via experimental or control conditions in which treatment order and unit of instruction were counterbalanced. In the control condition, students received typical instruction, with…

Animal species identification is often emphasized as a basic prerequisite for an understanding of ecology because ecological interactions are based on interactions between species at least as it is taught on the school level. Therefore, training identification skills or using identification books seems a worthwhile task in biology education, and…

Researchers have conducted various studies on applying wireless communication and ubiquitous computing technologies to education, so that the technologies can provide learners and educators with more active and adaptive support. This study proposes a Ubiquitous Performance-support System (UPSS) that can facilitate the seamless use of powerful new…

This observational study examines the effectiveness of graphic organizers two elementary teachers in California, United States use to teach the content and the academic language of science. The study was done during the 2006-2007 school year. The data was collected through field-notes and the audio recording of instructional activities, and they…

This study aims to understand the design and implementation of elementary methods classes focused in science instruction by teacher educators in the colleges and universities in the state of Arkansas. All 18 institutions with an Early Childhood Education program approved by the Arkansas Department of Education were reviewed with interviews, site…

This paper presents the full results from a 2008/2009 research study examining the application of a "learning environment" paradigm to the school library setting. The preliminary results from the examination of the Fifth Grade science classes were presented at the IASL 2009 Research Forum. We now report the process of completing our…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of creative drama-based instruction on seventh graders' science achievements in the ecology and matter cycles unit and their attitudes toward science. The study is an experimental study carried out in one of the public elementary schools in Turkey during 2005-2006 schooling year. An ecological…

Future elementary school teachers often lack self-efficacy for teaching science and technology. They are particularly anxious about encouraging children to carry-out student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry and/or technological design projects. Moreover, because this often also is the case with practising elementary school teachers, it is…

The SPACE (Science Processes and Concept Exploration) project began 21 years ago, just ahead of the National Curriculum. It was a research project whose findings and processes were built into the Nuffield Primary Science classroom guides for teachers, making these the best example of research-informed curriculum materials at the primary level.…

Newspapers often pick the most sensational, the most quirky, the most amusing science stories at the expense of other, perhaps more important, work. Despite offering a distorted window on science and technology, they can still be a useful launch pad for a classroom discussion or exercise. The key to using them is understanding what makes news and…

Albert Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." In order to develop his theories, he had to use his imagination and go beyond the facts generally accepted. He needed time to think and to imagine. Knowledge has a valuable part to play, but the current emphasis in England on end-of-key-stage assessments and…

Many children enjoy collecting items such as seashells, state quarters, and trading cards. Asking students to think about the ways in which similar items differ, how objects can be grouped by a common characteristic, and how groups can be subsets of a larger category leads to an understanding of fundamental mathematics and science concepts: sets,…

Explicit instruction of the nature of science (NOS) may be problematic if the NOS is portrayed as either a solely a cognitive or discursive endeavor, overlooking other aspects of epistemology, such as aesthetic ways of knowing. Here the aesthetic stance refers to individual's responses during reading as they create links between the text and their…