Discusses the following questions: (1) What is hands-on science? (2) What does it mean to be engaged in hands-on science activities (HOSA)? (3) How can teachers tell good HOSA? (4) When is a good time to use HOSA? (5) What can students learn from HOSA? (6) What assessment techniques will help teachers understand what students are learning? (PR)

Presents several across-the-curriculum activities for elementary teachers. Math activities include reading a book and dividing with beans. Science activities teach about caves and about the weather. A writing activity explains how to inspire students to write good stories. An art activity focuses on Chinese landscapes. (SM)

Presents the following guidelines to consider before, during, and after hands-on inquiry: (1) plan and prepare; (2) create problem intrigue; (3) give students the responsibility of solving the problem; (4) offer feedback and guidance; (5) debrief; and (6) anticipate, prevent, monitor, and adapt. (PR)

Describes the Houston Elementary Science Alliance. This program uses medical school resources and personnel to provide elementary school science teachers with scientific information and hands-on activities that stress the doing of science and develops teachers to serve as a resource for their colleagues. (MDH)

Describes a contest where sixth-grade students observe the results of a week of planning, folding, testing, and comparing their best paper frog designs and hopping techniques. This integrated unit helps children unleash their imaginations and develop problem-solving skills. (PR)

Describes activities using sensors connected to a computer via a data-logger. Elementary students investigated several scientific questions of sound, light, and temperature sensors including: What is the effect of putting a coat on a snowman? How can you make a hot drink cool down quickly? Do sound, light, and temperature vary in different…

Focuses on three approaches to integrated instruction: (1) literature-based; (2) theme-based; and (3) project-based. Each approach is explained and illustrated through descriptions of successful classroom examples. Literature-based integration utilizes a story to build a unit, thematic units are built around a topic, and project-based integration…

Describes recently published children's books in Spanish that explain basic facts about animals; introduce students to ecology, the environment, popular inventions, and some of the world's most amazing structures; and entice the very young reader into nature. Titles are divided into the areas of biology, ecology, general science, earth and space…

Examined the attitudes of parents whose children participated in an urban, elementary magnet school, emphasizing reasons for selecting that school, participation in school activities, effects of changing schools, and satisfaction with the program. Surveys and interviews indicated that parents were generally very satisfied, though there were…

Surveys 80 women teaching K-16 science regarding their most memorable science classes and teacher behaviors of most significant science teachers. Discusses results in three categories: activity-based instructional techniques, instructor relationships, and knowledge and appreciation of science content. Lists 10 recommendations to promote women's…

Investigated boys' and girls' perceptions of mathematical and scientific higher-order thinking, ways to identify higher order thinking's occurrence, and inquiry methods for developing it in elementary students and preservice teachers. Results indicated that both genders had similar perceptions about inquiry and approaches to higher-order thinking.…

Indicates the importance of preparing prospective teachers who will be elementary science teachers with different methods. Presents the theoretical and practical rationale for developing a constructivist-based elementary science methods course. Discusses the impact student knowledge and understanding of science and student attitudes has on…

Observes a 9-year-old third-grade student at home and at school. Reveals the disparity between Laura's highly contextualized knowledge of science and the school science curriculum. States that teachers do not value Laura's strong observational and analytical proclivities and that both she and her teachers think of Laura as an academic failure. (SR)

Hypothesizes that, if good teaching involves plans and activities derived from a clear philosophical view, as articulated by some philosophers of education, then it should be evident in the practice of teachers held to be outstanding. Describes how two outstanding teachers' classroom behaviors were congruent with their philosophies of teaching.…

Traces the lifecycle of the Primary Science Programme (PSP), 1983-99, a representative South African nongovernmental organization. Shows how the social and economic environment shaped PSP development and demise. Highlights tensions between quality versus quantity, subject versus holistic focus, and participatory versus authoritarian management…