"Hands-on" activities play an important, but controversial, role in early science education. In this study we attempt to clarify some of the issues surrounding the controversy by calling attention to distinctions between: (a) type of instruction (direct or discovery); (b) type of knowledge to be acquired (domain-general or domain-specific); and…

This article describes 6 aids for science instruction, including (1) the use of fudge to represent lava; (2) the "Living by Chemistry" program, designed to make high school chemistry more accessible to a diverse pool of students without sacrificing content; (3) NOAA and NSTA's online coral reef teaching tool, a new web-based "science toolbox" for…

Stereotypical views of scientists portrayed in the media, and how science is currently taught in Australian schools, both contribute to many students not studying science beyond Year 10. Reports on the status of science teaching in primary schools still tend to focus on the individual teacher's lack of confidence and inadequate content knowledge,…

The rapid development of science and technology has become a global issue in modern society, since it will not only bring conveniences into people's lives but it may also cause extensive environmental damage to the planet earth. Therefore, it is important to propagate the notion of Science Technology and Society (STS) and the awareness of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which primary science teachers understand the new reform implemented in Turkey and to examine their perceptions regarding science instruction. Thus, it could be possible to show an accurate picture of what is currently happening in primary science classrooms and identify the kind of…

Science process skills such as observing, classifying, inferring, interpreting, predicting, and hypothesizing can all be classified as a sub category of thinking skills. This book is part of the series "Strategies for Learning" that focuses on the step-by-step development and application of thinking skills as a vehicle for learning science. The…

This study examined the change in preservice teachers' causal attributions for the success or failure of elementary students engaged in a hands-on science activity investigating electrical conductors. Subjects first viewed a videodisc capturing a complete science activity in a real classroom and were asked to indicate whether the elementary…

This curriculum guide accompanies Certified: A Citizen's Step-by-Step Guide to Protecting Vernal Pools which is designed to train volunteers in the process of identifying vernal pool habitat so that as many of these pools as possible can be certified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Vernal pools are a kind of…

A staff development project created a series of family science activities to be used in adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) and family literacy programs and a training guide for staff and volunteers. The training guide provides background principles and concepts for science activities. The activities identify materials and indicate ways the…

This curriculum unit on the ozone is intended for high school students and contains sections on environmental science and chemistry. It has been structured according to a learning cycle model and contains numerous activities, some of which are in a cooperative learning format. Skills emphasized include laboratory procedures, experimental design,…

ChemSource is designed as a strategy to help preservice and inservice high school chemistry teachers promote student learning more effectively. Its major premise is that well-designed laboratory investigations are an important avenue for cultivating student interest, engagement, and meaningful learning in chemistry. The SourceBook component of…

The goals of this curriculum, developed as a summer course for the Young Scholars Program at The Ohio State University-Columbus, are as follows: (1) enable students to develop an understanding of the concept of a system; (2) help students gain an appreciation of the value of systems; (3) develop skills in working with systems; (4) expand skills in…

This resource book, designed for use with pre-kindergarten through grade 2 students, provides an integrated approach to teaching the curriculum. Through investigation of houses as a theme, students are engaged in whole language activities in art, mathematics, science, cooking, poetry, literature, and dramatization. The guide is organized into…

This guide is one of a set of 10 science guides, each covering a separate grade in Manitoba, together covering kindergarten through grade 9. The guides have been designed to provide a framework for building scientific concepts and developing the learning of process skills. They replace an earlier set of guides dated 1979. Each guide is essentially…

This paper discusses four thematic units that teachers can use with preschool and primary grades, along with examples of activities that can be integrated into each unit. The units include "Land of Many Colors," based upon a book of the same name that tells the story of gingerbread-shaped characters who learn to accept each other even…