Describes opportunities for inquiry-based science learning which can be found in a picture, a set of comparative data, a table, an article, or a phenomenon that illustrates a space/time relationship. Provides a general model of inquiry. (RT)

Lists annotations of books based on accuracy of contents, readability, format, and illustrations. Includes number of pages in each entry, price, and availability. Topics cover animals, biographies, space science, astronomy, archaeology, anthropology, earth and life sciences, medical and health sciences, physics, technology, and engineering. (RT)

Focuses on the characteristics of tropical rain forests, where they grow, and some of the misconceptions about them. Includes six activities on: figuring out forests, jungle journey, tropical trivia trek, forest comparisons, and lost in the jungle. Five copyable sheets are provided. (RT)

Reported are the results of a survey of elementary and secondary school students' portraits of scientists. Discussed are sample demographics, gender and race comparisons, scientists and role models. The positive results of these voluntary submissions are stressed. (CW)

Examines the influence of the use of hands-on materials in elementary school science instruction from a survey of 301 school principals. The rationale for the survey, questions used, and responses are provided. Lists 12 references. (YP)

It is widely accepted among professionals that environmental education should be infused throughout the school curriculum at every grade level. This paper suggests that the failure to infuse environmental education equally throughout the curriculum may be related, in part, to the types of instructional materials available. (Author/CW)

Describes the activities of the Office of Prehigh School Science established by the American Chemical Society to focus on programs and materials designed to benefit elementary and middle school-level science. Provides information on "WonderScience,""Chemist in the Classroom" videotape, and workshops. (YP)

Discusses the controversy involving the effectiveness of elementary science curricula projects of the sixties and seventies. Reports on a synthesis of the research, student performance, implications, and improvements for the future. States that these innovative programs were more effective in raising student performance and attitudes than…

Provides seven fully developed library media activities to be used in conjunction with specific curriculum units in art, health and nutrition, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Grade level(s), objectives, curriculum objectives, resources, instructional roles, activities and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up are…

To assess the effects of discussion on vocabulary learning, 38 children in two intact fifth-grade classes were divided into three subgroups and taught science vocabulary on three successive days. The discussion subgroup outperformed a non-discussion subgroup and a subgroup that anticipated involvement in discussion but was instructed without…

Documents the patterns of coherence and persistence in energy conceptions. Describes the derivation of the Interview Vee technique and the procedure for putting an interview on the Vee. Discusses the production of Vee maps to help understand childrens' learning of concepts. (CW)

States that the responsibility for bringing outdoor education themes into the reading of literature lies with the outdoor educator and not the classroom teacher. Presents a model for introducing such themes into school curricula and uses the works of Thoreau, Brautigan, and Dr. Seuss as examples. (Author/CW)

Examines childrens' (age 8-14) conceptions of shadow formation through interviews. Identifies "the trigger model" of shadows and finds that there are multiple roles that children attribute to light. (YP)

Describes a successful effort by an elementary school and community to convert a classroom into a school science laboratory and stock the laboratory with science materials and apparatus. (PR)

Describes the creation and use of a science magazine, "Science Stew," that circulates among 17,000 elementary students and 900 teachers in a school district in Nova Scotia. The magazine highlights the wide variety of science that occurs in the district and provides opportunities for students and teachers to experience, discuss, and write about…