Investigated whether preservice elementary teachers in Argentina and Israel held scientific views that enabled them to correctly nstruct their future students to achieve a concept of energy, noting differences between the scientific concepts of students in the two countries. Questionnaire data indicated that students were very similar, but their…

Describes elementary and secondary school projects in Victoria, Australia using telematics and interactive television. Provides an overview of telematics management and implementation and discusses lessons learned, professional communication, teaching materials, and future developments. Outlines programs enriching primary school science,…

Presents four elementary hands-on science activities that highlight animal adaptation (how birds' beaks are adapted to suit their habitats), the water cycle (how nature cleans rainwater that seeps into the ground), aquatic ecosystems (changes over time in an aquatic habitat), and animal habitats (all living beings' need for food, water, shelter,…

This paper examines the use of students' lived experiences in an urban elementary science classroom. Students bring different funds of knowledge that are accumulated through their lived experiences into the classroom, and I examine what those funds of knowledge mean to an elementary science teacher working in an urban school. I describe how a…

A lot of good elementary science involves studying solids, liquids, and gases, and some inquiry-based activities that are easy to set up and do. In this article, the author presents activities pertaining to simple phase change. Using water as the example, these activities introduce upper-grade students to the idea of the arrangement of molecules…

While few disagree that science fair projects have great potential for student learning, the preparation and execution of projects can be stressful for teachers, students, and parents alike. While working as a fourth-grade teacher, the author's goal was to provide students with a science fair experience minus the pressure of trying to figure out…

In this article, the authors present hands-on activities and demonstrations using readily available materials that help students learn how to prevent soil erosion. With this series of active-learning exercises, the students will be able to practice scientific inquiry while learning about soil as a valuable resource. After demonstrations on the…

The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council [NRC], 1996) call for a greater emphasis on scientific inquiry in K-12 science classes. The Inquiry Standards recommend that students be engaged with scientific questions in which they collect and interpret data, give priority to evidence to construct explanations, test those…

Some time ago a flyer on "Medics in Primary School" came the author's way. It described a programme for making placements in primary schools available to medical students. The benefits of the program to medical students and participating schools were highlighted, including opportunities to develop communication skills and demystify…

Observing young children learning is an indispensable part of teaching in the early years and this is clearly acknowledged in the "Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage." It is through observing and assessing learning that one can find out what children know and what skills and concepts they appear to have acquired. In this…

A paper was published in JBE in 2001 which examined the background of the education reform launched in 2000 in Hong Kong, and reviewed existing practices as well as beliefs in science and biology assessment among secondary teachers in Hong Kong. The direction of the reform was to take the emphasis away from public examinations as the sole…

The study and utilisation of pendulum motion has had immense scientific, cultural, horological, philosophical, and educational impact. The International Pendulum Project (IPP) is a collaborative research effort examining this impact, and demonstrating how historical studies of pendulum motion can assist teachers to improve science education by…

This study reviews allied literature and specific teacher educator behaviors that promote preservice teachers' development of a personalized, research-based elementary science teaching rationale (STR). Declaring absolutes is not the goal of the rationale. Rather, the goal is to initiate, among preservice teachers, the lifelong professional…

Assistive Technology (AT) helps a person with a physical, cognitive, learning, or speech disability perform tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. There are hundreds of specialized AT devices on the market, but their price tags often prevent their use in elementary science classrooms. Fortunately, affordable technologies "are"…

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences? "Ready, Set, Science!" guides the way with an…