This book is written for children ages 5 through 10. Part of a series designed to develop their curiosity, fascinate them and educate them, this volume includes information about the history of sheep raising and making cloth from wool, as well as the many uses of wool and methods of producing it. An activity for making a doll from wool is…

Science teaching practices at the Long Island School for the Gifted emphasize hands-on experiments where children do the work and the teacher assists learning. This approach bypasses the reading/writing barrier that prevents some children from learning science. Many science experiments are described, including a first-grade lesson on using…

This digest discusses the inclusion of "sustainability" concept in environmental education. Topics included are: (1) definiton of sustainability; (2) inclusion of the concept in the curriculum using interdisciplinary approaches; and (3) a list of instructional materials containing the concept at the elementary, secondary, and college…

This module provides information about plastics, focusing on the uses of plastic bags in particular. Topic areas considered include: (1) making plastic bags; (2) transparency of plastic bags; (3) plastic bags and food odors; (4) food containers (before and since plastics); and (5) disposing of plastic bags and other plastic products. The text is…

Although the development of process skills has been accepted as being an important part of elementary school curricula in science and in other subjects, few valid and reliable tests exist for their assessment. Therefore, a test is currently being developed to assess these skills. It is designed to meet seven criteria (such as testing process…

This science column includes background information, discussion questions, science activities, writing activities, and a bibliography on a different topic each month. The titles of the five installments included in this compilation are: (1) "Chameleons and Other Quick-Change Artists"; (2) "Niagara Falls and Other Super…

The term weather is commonly used to refer to the condition of the atmosphere as it affects people's activities on the earth's surface. Four weather elements are considered in this unit: clouds, precipitation, temperature, and wind. This publication details the materials, objectives, supplemental materials, background information for the eight…

The life patterns, behaviors, and functions of the social insects, the honeybees, are presented in this publication. Illustrations and information are offered on the topic areas of: (1) the honeybee society (explaining the jobs of the queen, worker, and drone bees); (2) the hive (describing how the hive is constructed, how new bees develop, and…

The 10 lessons presented in this guide are designed to: create an awareness of the present energy situation and its relation to various aspects of transportation systems; provide knowledge of energy resources, choices, and alternative actions; develop critical thinking skills about energy and individual roles in the energy management process;…

Discusses the use of the "Science Journal" by elementary school children as a means of developing effective writing skills and in helping to individualize the science classroom. (JR)

The authors express their concerns about attempts (completed and anticipated) to censor science content in textbooks and provide examples of censorship of material on evolution in biology textbooks. (PEB)

Described is an activity, designed for use with undergraduate elementary science students, which emphasizes certain concepts regarding the origin of measurement. (PEB)

Three elementary school science curriculum projects, Elementary Science Study (ESS), Science - A Process Approach (S-APA), and Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS), are compared concerning the biologic content each project contains. The reviewer found a lack of activities designed to represent functions at the cellular level. Two projects…

One of a series (see SE 511 541, 543, and 544) of articles dealing with views of individual science educators concerning the future of secondary science education as exemplified by developments at the individual's college or university. Briefly described in this paper are some developments at Governors State University which serves an urban,…