Mathematics teachers are trained to assess students' abilities and instruction needs. Many teachers use creative teaching strategies, games, and various media to meet those needs. Teachers, though, are constantly searching for instructional strategies, time savers, games, materials, and other ways to improve teaching in mathematics classrooms.…

This booklet integrates science, history, and environmental education to help students acquire a basic understanding of the importance of the Great Lakes located in the United States. The packet also contains a Great Lakes Basin resource map and a sand dune poster. These materials introduce students to a brief history of the lakes, the diversity…

This booklet contains simple movements and activities that are used with students in Educational Kinesiology to enhance their experience of whole brain learning. Whole brain learning through movement repatterning and Brain Gym activities enable students to access those parts of the brain previously unavailable to them. These movements of body and…

The purpose of this study was to compare empirical and subjective procedures for identifying science test items which discriminate against males or females in a fifth grade population (n=926). Techniques such as the Mantel-Haenszel procedure enable test developers to use both a priori and ex post facto procedures to identify specific items that…

This paper aims to clarify and describe the process of change in learners' conceptual understanding of natural phenomena. It begins by reviewing the existing literature on models of conceptual change and on children's conceptions in a number of selected topic areas. Strategies for exploring and developing children's ideas in these areas have also…

Developed in accordance with "Rules, Regulations, and Minimum Standards" of the Tennessee State Board of Education, this publication serves as a basis for developing science curriculum guides for teachers of science in grades K-8. In this framework, science skills are listed by grade groups: K-2; 3-4; 5-6; and 7-8. These skills are…

The study and use of kites have contributed to science through the development of aeronautics. This document traces some of the history of kites and provides teachers and students with basic information about kite components and flight dynamics. The major portion of the book provides students with 18 projects which deal with: (1) shapes that will…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides awards for education and research in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. This publication contains information on fiscal year 1986 awards. An introductory section reviews the goals of NSF's education program and the long-range goals of the Directorate for Science and Engineering Education.…

This study was designed to identify the variables that are the strongest predictors of elementary school science achievement in selected schools in the Republic of China. Thirty-eight schools (2950 students) were selected for the study and were representative of large and middle size schools throughout the country. Variables investigated included:…

The naive conceptions that children develop tacitly or explicitly, outside the classroom, contribute to their interpretation of the teacher's words, paragraphs in a book, or the results of an experiment. These conceptions (or "alternative frameworks") may persist even in the face of systematic teaching of competing scientific concepts…

Year one of a three-year curriculum implementation effort focused on facilitating curriculum implementation through diagnostic-prescriptive staff development guided by the concepts and tenets of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model. This curriculum implementation effort involved 12 kindergarten through sixth grade generalist teachers in an isolated…

This document provides a unit of lessons and activities on thunder storms and blizzards that are intended to provide students with a basic understanding of the causes and consequences of these natural disasters. The booklet is designed to be used in correlation with a science unit or as a supplement to an elementary science curriculum. The lessons…

Developed to serve as a comprehensive science methods text for elementary school teachers, this book combines method with content and presents 294 science activities for classroom use. The activities are organized by content areas into 20 chapters and address topics such as sound, weather, plants and animals, oceans, nutrition, and the…

This ERIC Digest describes the parameters of misconception research as it relates to the learning of science and highlights some of its implications for the teaching of science in the elementary school. The document reviews terminology associated with misconception research, identifies common characteristics of misconceptions, and specifies…

Designed to arouse interest in students about animals, this document was developed to provide teachers with a variety of information and teaching activities. The booklet is intended to enable students to become knowledgeable about science concepts relating to animals without the use of expensive equipment. The teaching activities deal with: (1)…