This guide was prepared as a tool useful for informal education venues (4-H, Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc.), science clubs and related programs, and can be adopted for formal education settings. An exciting and productive study in rocket science can be implemented using the selected activities for the above-mentioned…

Research has shown that technology-enhanced visualizations can improve inquiry learning in science when they are designed to support knowledge integration. Visualizations play an especially important role in supporting science learning at elementary and middle school levels because they can make unseen and complex processes visible. We identify 4…

The Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middle School Science II project (TEEMSS), funded by the National Science Foundation, produced 15 inquiry-based instructional science units for teaching in grades 3-8. Each unit uses computers and probeware to support students' investigations of real-world phenomena using probes (e.g., for temperature or…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

The focus of this study was elementary preservice teachers' development as effective teachers of science and mathematics as influenced by their participation in elementary science and mathematics methods courses. Preservice teachers' reports of factors that influenced their perception of their teaching abilities were analyzed according to…

In this study our purpose is to determine how the teachers are applying the structuralist approach in their classes by classifying the teachers according to graduated faculty, department and their years in the duty. Besides understanding the difference of the effects of structuralist approach and traditional education method on student's success…

This collection of instructional materials and class activities emphasizes five different situations in which courage is a necessary quality. For each section, lessons are planned to extend the theme through a cross-curricular approach. The topics include: a definition of courage; the courage to resist in the context of the Holocaust; mythical…

National professional organizations have increasingly emphasized the need for active involvement of elementary school children in thinking, decision making, and problem solving situations. Educators are calling for role playing, writing, reading, drawing, and use of manipulatives, to name but a few activities, to become part of an integrated…

An increasing number of schools and businesses are entering into more collaborative partnerships focusing on frequent classroom interactions centered around active learning. The "Authentic Assessment Project" was developed by the Science and Mathematics Network of Central Ohio to assist teachers and business partners in designing innovative…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that if selected instruction materials were more culturally-relevant, Native American students should be more motivated and better able to make connections between school learning and their own lives. This increased motivation and improved connections between school learning and their own…

This guide is one of a set of 10 science guides, each covering a separate grade in Manitoba, together covering kindergarten through grade 9. The guides have been designed to provide a framework for building scientific concepts and developing the learning of process skills. They replace an earlier set of guides dated 1979. Each guide is essentially…

The NASA-Industry Education Initiative (NIEI) is the response of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its private-sector contractors to the education crisis. Findings from the initial survey show that support for NIEI appears to be strong among the organizations surveyed and there is a significant level of cooperation…

Spacewalking has captured the imagination of generations of children and adults since science-fiction authors first placed their characters on the moon. This publication is an activity guide for teachers interested in using the intense interest many children have in space exploration as a launching point for exciting hands-on learning…

A study investigated changes in prospective elementary teachers' conceptions about projectile motion. The preservice teachers (enrolled in reading methods courses) were either told or not told that they were expected to teach a videotaped lesson on projectile motion. In addition, they either participated in a combined demonstration-reading or in a…

This booklet provides information and five worksheets for elementary students studying the solar system. Fact sheets provide information on the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and comets. The worksheets are entitled: (1) Astronomical Unit; (2) Solar System Trivia; (3) Solar System Flash…