This teacher's guide features step-by-step instructions for activities that use easily-obtained and inexpensive materials as well as background information, literature connections, and assessment ideas. The unit allows students the opportunity to focus on observing and describing the properties and attributes of substances. In these activities,…

The pairing of Mother Goose rhymes and nursery tales with the scientific thinking process is an effective instructional strategy linking reading and science learning at the primary level. This paper presents several such pairings which stress the basic science processes in grades K-3 of observing, communicating, comparing, ordering, and…

This research compared the outcomes of teaching middle school students two different methods of classification and phylogeny. Two classes were randomly selected and taught using traditional methods of instruction. Three classes were taught using the "Pseudozoid" approach, where students learned to classify, develop and read dichotomous keys, and…

This inquiry examines the relationship between the science and writing processes and the implications of that relationship for classroom instruction in the upper elementary grades. Drawing on historical research from constructivism and experiential learning theory, as well as current thought on knowledge and learning process, this study builds a…

This study determined Jamaican high school students' level of performance on five integrated science process skills and if there were significant differences in their performance linked to their gender, grade level, school location, school-type, student-type, and socioeconomic background (SEB). The 305 subjects comprised 133 males, 172 females,…

This paper focuses on the process of knowledge formation and scientific inquiry. Science laboratory settings may provide opportunities for students to participate in scientific inquiry. With scientific inquiry, students develop their beliefs according to experiences in which they use their prior knowledge, experimentation, and problem solving…

Discusses the need for science programs to teach students to use both analytical and creative pathways of inquiry. The first step toward this goal of integrating thinking must be to strengthen the ability to collect both objective and subjective sensory information. Lists teaching practices to accomplish this, such as accepting that the process is…

Presents a study that introduces data logging using portable computers as part of an investigative approach to science. Working with control and experimental classes of 14- and 16-year-olds, results suggest that data logging can have an impact on graphing skills at age 14 which is not necessarily repeatable at age 16. (Author/AIM)

Describes a comparative study project where seventh grade students tested water samples from 10 cave sites that had been tested 24 years ago in a study that had attempted to determine if pollution in the environment had reached cave water. Discusses lab skills and some results of the study. (JRH)

Presents nine science activities to help students improve their thinking and problem solving skills. Activities cover the science process skills of classifying, ordering, space-time relationships, inferring, predicting, and elaborating. (MKR)

Analyzes nine high school biology manuals to determine how well they promote the basic and integrated science process skills that are involved in scientific inquiry. Results indicate that the manuals seldom enable students to use their knowledge and experience to pose questions, solve problems, investigate natural phenomena, or construct answers…

Presents a set of activities for testing consumer products to encourage students to learn how to use scientific investigations in their everyday lives. Describes the penny flip experiment and testing a detergent. Students learn in a hands-on manner the importance of completing accurate laboratory reports, which allows them to analyze results and…

Presents an activity that investigates the reflections on a mirror. Focuses on the relationship between a person's height and the mirror's height. (YDS)

Introduces a PBS science television series called "Dragonfly" which presents students' own experiments and investigations. Describes the content of the TV program including examples of investigating waterslides, rediscovering rivers, and ocean explorations. Includes suggestions on how to use DragonflyTV in classrooms. (YDS)

Discusses the importance of observation in science education, how to foster students' observation skills in the classroom, and how to facilitate what they observe when learning. Includes a list of components of good scientific observing. (KHR)