The Rural and Small Schools Conference has made a special effort to address the needs that pertain to science educators in rural and small schools. This publication presents the proceedings from the 1988 science education section of the conference. The content of the conference deals with a diversity of topics. The proceedings include a preface…

This paper discusses the relationship between the work that takes place in science laboratories and the science curriculum that is presented in the schools. The introduction asserts that although science education identifies itself with the scholarly disciplines of science, science educators should devise curricula that fairly represent these…

This teacher's guide presents 12 hands-on laboratory activities for high school science classes that cover the environmental issue of water resources in California. The activities are separated into three sections. Five activities in the section on water quality address the topics of groundwater, water hardness, bottled water, water purity, and…

The purpose of this guide is to help students better understand the science, citizen action, and research issues that are part of the acid rain problem. The guide is designed for students in grades 4-8 and their teachers. Following an introduction, the first seven sections are informative in nature. They include: (1) "Observations about Acidity";…

This book presents information, activities, and paper models related to aviation. Most of the models and activities included use a one page, single concept format. All models and activities are designed to reinforce, clarify, or expand on a concept, easily and quickly. A list of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Center education…

Two typical science activities found in textbooks for elementary and middle school students were analyzed to determine the quality of the written text and the integrity of the science represented in the activity. Each activity was performed and critiqued from a number of perspectives. The framework used to compare and contrast these activities is…

The secondary school level activities contained in this book use the subject of transportation to teach the basic concepts of physics and several areas of human biology. The material is organized into sections including curriculum design, activities, background readings, and resources. Activities focus on such topics as notions of motion stability…

This curriculum unit provides students with real world applications of science as it pertains to toxic releases into the environment. This boxed package contains the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Teacher's Guide, TRI Database Basics guide, comprehensive TRI compact disk with user's guide, "Getting Started: A Guide to Bringing Environmental…

For many educators, gathering, organizing, and maintaining materials involved in inquiry-based science and math activities can seem daunting. This handbook is designed to help teachers in the task of gathering and maintaining materials to make kits for 42 activities derived from the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) Program at the…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of two laboratory environments for introductory chemistry on undergraduate students' inquiry skills. The two laboratory environments are embedded in the same lecture course. The standard laboratory curriculum and instruction are distinct from the curriculum explored in this study, the MORE…

This packet contains three science learning activities that can be used in agricultural education courses. The activities cover these topics: (1) determining the effects of soil particle size on capillary action; (2) measuring levels of eroded soil particles in streams; and (3) determining the effects of soil cover and texture on surface erosion.…

Utilizing simple and inexpensive equipment, elementary and middle school science teachers can conduct interesting, exciting, and productive units on rockets, the oldest form of self-contained vehicles in existence. This teaching guide contains the following: (1) a brief history of experimentation and research on rockets and rocket propulsion from…

This book is designed to be a guide for a hands-on science experience for students in grades 3 through 6. Over 200 students can participate at the same time, moving from one station to another. The activities have been selected to encourage experimentation, creativity, higher-order thinking and fun with science. All activities use multi-modality…

This practicum was designed to improve adult skills in facilitating science learning in preschool children by improving teaching staff and parent understanding of active learning and science processes. A series of workshops was presented to pre-kindergarten teachers, family home child care providers, parents, and college students preparing to…

The Environmental Studies Center Outdoor Science program should represent a continuation of the county science curriculum. However, science teachers were insufficiently involved and generally unprepared to conduct effective classroom follow-up activities with students upon returning from outdoor field excursions sponsored by the Environmental…