As the supply of mathematics and science teachers in the United States falls short of demand, there is a search for ways to increase the supply. The policy responses being tried include making all teaching positions more attractive through improved salaries and professionalization, offering general and targeted college scholarships and loans to…

Evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other sources suggests that both the content and structure of our school science curricula are generally incongruent with the ideals of the scientific enterprise. By neglecting the kinds of instructional activities that make purposeful connections between the study and…

The old ways of doing things are no longer suitable to some of the current conditions faced by the world, such as overpopulation, environmental degradation, unstable economic development, and wasteful consumption of natural resources. In order to achieve a sustainable future, nations must develop better long range planning through combining…

At least 70% of the Earth is covered with water. This packet provides background information on eight areas of concern regarding marine and coastal resources. Considered are: (1) "Coastal Resources"; (2) "Mangroves"; (3) "Coral Reefs"; (4) "Ocean Resources"; (5) "Aquaculture"; (6) "Pollution"; (7) "Marine Debris"; and (8) "The Global Commons."…

This guide features materials and activities about stars for integration into other academic disciplines. Part one describes how to begin to look to the sky, including usage of the camera, binoculars, and telescope. Part two, "Keep Up to Date," introduces information on resource materials, such as astronomy books, magazines, newsletters,…

From March, 1987, through June, 1988, an inservice program took place to help teachers in grades 3 through 6 improve their skills in teaching mathematics and science. The teachers, from central and southern Indiana, met for a week in June, 1987 and for 3 days in June, 1988. From October, 1987, to May, 1988, workshop staff visited classrooms of the…

Presented are 24 activities which focus on various topics related to the Great Lakes. These activities, suitable for students in kindergarten through grade 8, are designed to fit into existing geography, science, language arts, drama, history, social studies, and economics curricula. In addition to providing information about the Great Lakes, the…

This booklet provides suggestions for student activities appropriate for introducing ideas about forces and their relationship to motion at the Form 1 to 4 level. The overall program is divided into five parts and is based on knowledge of views about force, friction, and gravity which children bring with them to science classrooms. An overview of…

This unit consists of four parts. Part 1 contains a five-item instrument designed to help teachers clarify their own views about "burning." Part 2 discusses scientists' views about burning and lists answers to the survey instrument presented in part 1. Part 3 contrasts scientists' views with children's views, using children's comments…

There has been a marked increase in recent years in research studies of the alternative "frameworks of thought" that learners bring to the interpretation of what they meet in school science. Provided are summaries of papers and discussions from a meeting which critically reviewed the methods being used in such research and their…

The first working paper of the Learning in Science Project (Primary)--LISP(P)--"Toward a Framework," outlined what was then seen (1982) as the major aim of the project and proposed a research plan that seemed capable of enabling the project to establish difficulties that teachers have teaching science, to identify difficulties children…

The 1982 Search for Excellence in Science Education project has identified 10 science programs as exemplars in the teaching of science as inquiry. Descriptions of the programs and the criteria used in their selection are presented. Chapter 1 reviews four goal clusters (developed during Project Synthesis) related to the desired state in science as…

This four-part volume examines trends, problems, and issues related to school science equipment. Part 1 focuses on laboratory work and practical activities in science and technology education, considering equipment and curriculum development, equipment development related to curricula in Brazil, uses of local resources for practical work,…

In 1987, the Cheshire Public Schools initiated a science curriculum review. Teachers, parents, and students recognized that the existing textbook-based elementary science program was a dismal portrayal of such a dynamic discipline. There was community consensus that reading about science and acquiring scientific vocabulary words were not the same…

In order to investigate the nature of students' prior knowledge of current electricity and how they applied their knowledge to different problems, 5 middle school science teachers and 11 elementary school teachers were given a written test that required them to: (1) predict what happens to the brightness of a bulb if a change is made to the…