This publication provides information and activities for teaching concepts about machines and process skills including observing, classifying, collecting and interpreting data, inferring, measuring, and predicting. There are 15 lessons. Lessons 1 through 5 deal with what machines are, measuring force with a spring scale, working with a lever,…

This publication provides information and activities for identifying objects using the five senses and process skills including observing, classifying, collecting and interpreting data, inferring, and predicting. Lessons 1 through 3 deal with the identification of an unknown substance and the physical properties of powders. Lessons 4 through 6 are…

Some interesting work currently being done in science education research is with scientifically misconceived ideas about the causes and mechanisms of natural phenomena. Though not stated explicitly, it can be inferred from the corpus of this misconception research that an assumption of homogeneity among students is made, even where there is…

This document provides information about Science Unlimited (SU), the elementary school science effort of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. (The philosophy and characteristics of SU continue the earlier Pennsylvania science program effort entitled Investigative Science in Elementary Education.) The document includes: (1) a list of SU…

This document is designed to assist administrators and teachers in planning, developing, and implementing science programs in kindergarten through grade 12. It provides a philosophical foundation and curricular framework from which educators may construct comprehensive science education programs. The materials presented will aid local school…

This guide explains ways in which the computer can be used in the science classroom and laboratory. Further, it suggests many resources that can be tapped to help teachers initiate and improve their own programs. Chapters include: (1) "The Computer as a Tool for Student Inquiry"; (2) "The Computer as a Tool for Teachers"; (3)…

This manual provides suggestions for investigating simple machines and the teaching of certain basic concepts which pertain to them. Many of the lessons are designed to be used with the commercially available LEGO kits, in an effort to teach concepts in a way in which students must translate pictures shown in two dimension into three-dimensional…

Environmental education provides an interdisciplinary approach to connect various curriculum areas, such as science, mathematics, social studies, and reading. This study sought to discover if intermediate grade students who had instruction in environmental education were more positive toward the school curriculum than those who have not. Fourteen…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an electronic geoboard, a computer-software program, could be used to assess youngsters' ability to discover facts and relationships in an unlabled and ambiguous situation. Subjects--108 children, ages 6 to 12--were enrolled in grades 1 to 6 in Norwood, New York. The electronic geoboard served as…

This study sought to determine the cognitive levels of questioning of end-of-chapter test items accompanying selected fifth-grade science textbooks. The extent to which test items emphasized high level questioning and significant differences among texts in the distribution of knowledge and above-knowledge-level test items were also investigated.…

Gender differences have been reported in the United States in the areas of mathematical reasoning favoring males and verbal abilities favoring females. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress Science Assessment also have consistently revealed small gender differences favoring males. This paper reports gender differences in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the 4MAT instructional system on achievement and attitudes in science. Fifty-four academically gifted sixth grade students in three schools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro (North Carolina) City Schools were randomly assigned to two groups, a 4MAT group and a Restricted-Textbook group that…

This paper is based on the work of Thomas Kuhn, a physicist turned philosopher and historian of science. In his book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolution," he posited a new concept of the nature and history of science and strongly criticized the current textbook tradition of science education. This study analyzed Kuhn's concept of…

This document reports on a study which indicated that there are three critical predictors that explain variability in environmental behavior. These predictors are: (1) perceived skill in using environmental action strategies; (2) level of environmental sensitivity; and (3) perceived knowledge of environmental action strategies. From these results,…

This curriculum guide lists science topics and concepts, learning outcomes, and sample learning objectives (in three columns), separately for grades 1-3 and for grades 4-6. Topics/concepts, in the first column, describe the major parts of the subject under consideration. They define broadly the content to be included in the study of each subject…