Contained in this issue is a variety of creative crafts involving nature. Each of the 17 ideas contains directions, a list of materials, and an illustration of the finished craft. A final section lists different craft books and includes an index to NatureScope and Ranger Rick crafts. (CW)

Discusses classroom uses of scientific CD-ROMs. Highlights include the effect on students, including stimulating interest and promoting scientific thinking; compact disc technology; sources of CD-ROMs, including NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration); obtaining CD-ROM data using the Internet; and an example of elementary students…

Describes a long-term project, Moonwatch, which introduces the relationships between the earth, sun, and moon, highlighting the broad conceptual themes of patterns and change. (MKR)

Describes a soap-solution activity involving formation of bubbles encasing the students that requires only readily available materials and can be adapted easily for use with various grade levels. Discusses student learning outcomes including qualitative and quantitative observations and the concept of surface tension. (JRH)

Describes a theory of metaphor and analogy and discusses its implications for enhancing teacher understanding of scientific inquiry and inquiry teaching at the elementary level. Discusses uses of analogy in classrooms: Scientific Theory, Learning Styles and Modes, Children's Ideas, Generative Teaching Strategies, Graphic Organizers, and…

Presents elementary school science activities with a Halloween orientation. One activity teaches students to appreciate and understand bats. A second activity has students group and classify monsters by individual characteristics. Activities for integrating science across the curriculum include creating monster myths, conducting surveys of…

Described is the background and methodology of this study including the sample and the instrument development. Copies of the instruments are included. The success of the program as measured by these instruments is reported. (CW)

Presents simple experiments to study the basic properties of light utilizing a flashlight, small mirrors, a magnifying lens, a plastic comb, paper and pencil, and a pair of eyeglasses. (JJK)

Presents summer science activities for elementary students which focus on sunlight and other natural and artificial light sources (e.g., fire, flashlights, and fireflies). Related activities which involve language arts, art, and math are included. A reproducible page teaches children Morse Code using a flashlight. (SM)

A curriculum assessment instrument designed to determine how well curriculum materials reflect the accepted goals of environmental education is presented. The instrument is divided into the following goals: ecological foundations, issues and values, investigation and evaluation, environmental action, and teaching methods and practices. Directions…

Presents classroom learning activities to help elementary teachers and students learn about and experiment with the sense of taste. One involves tasting an apple while smelling an onion; another involves locating areas of the tongue that respond to salt, sweet, bitter, and sour. (SM)

This form is used as a measurement of student's on-task activities. It indicates the incorporation of science skills into each individual student's repertoire and provides a record of the activity to assure parents, board members, and teachers that learning is taking place in the classroom. (PR)

This article offers quick, inexpensive activities for teaching concepts in three basic areas of the elementary science curriculum (air, sound, and light) with instructions for assembling more sophisticated laboratory tools (e.g., an electroscope and a balance scale). Hands-on science activities that use household items are described. (SM)

Information about the recycling and reuse of plastics, aluminum, steel, glass, and newspapers is presented. The phases of recycling are described. An activity that allows students to separate recyclable materials is included. The objectives, a list of needed materials, and procedure are provided. (KR)

Consumer chemistry projects using houseplant fertilizers are described. Background information on fertilizer elements and different brands are discussed. The procedures for the activities (reading fertilizer labels, calculating the cost of various fertilizers, and calculating the amount of nitrogen in solution) are included. (KR)