This brochure provides information about Project 2061's Benchmarks for Science Literacy. It includes background information on the development of Benchmarks, a rationale for developing scientific literacy in the general public, a list of those individuals and groups who could benefit most from using Benchmarks, a comparison of Benchmarks and the…

Opportunities to learn and discover surround a young child every day. The activities and ideas within this book have been formulated to encourage a child's natural curiosity and sense of wonder and to engage all the child's senses in learning and discovery. The activities focus on the child as a natural explorer and involve children in identifying…

Often elementary and junior high teachers search for effective, inexpensive, and easy-to-understand science activities. This document was designed with those teachers and their students in mind. It provides hands-on science activities that focus around three components: (1) themes--broad, unifying ideas that pervade science, math and technology;…

This paper presents a rubric developed as a continuum for assessing elementary students' science process knowledge. The continuum was designed to capture the growth of an individual student's knowledge of processes that are essential to learning science. The assessment tool is meant to document changes in science processes that are incremental and…

Students and educators in chemical engineering, are you aware of the paper industry and its impact in our society? With retirements and with changing technology there is a continual need for new technical and scientific skills to face the challenging goals of our times. The purpose of this article is to introduce some intriguing aspects of…

The ever-increasing global demand for energy has sparked renewed interest within the engineering community in the study of sustainable alternative energy sources. This paper discusses a power generation system which uses biomass as "fuel" to illustrate the concepts taught to students taking a graduate level chemical engineering process…

This paper is a review of literature about the use of computer simulations in science education. This review examines types and examples of computer simulations. The literature review indicated that although computer simulations cannot replace science classroom and laboratory activities completely, they offer various advantages both for classroom…

This paper describes a project meant to develop a standard for Hong Kong students' work in biology. The process involves defining students' work and setting standards for students aged 9, 12, and 16. Besides defining the academic and scientific knowledge to be achieved at various levels, the analysis also includes desirable skills and attitudes…

Assessment of elementary school students' knowledge about science is essential. Despite the existence of curricular materials and assessment tools for science content and concepts at all grade levels, there is very little information on how to assess the science process skills that students are expected to learn through science instruction. This…

Research indicates that the effectiveness of instruction in the elementary classroom is enhanced when it incorporates materials that actively engage students in the generation of scientific explanations. To this end, this document describes an exercise that allows Kindergarten students to explore the basic principles of animal behavior in an…

This study seeks answers for the questions: How do young children express wonder and curiosity in the classroom culture? and How do teachers of young children foster wonder and curiosity? Teacher behavior has an effect on students, fostering students' curiosity and wonder or the opposite. This study also explores the efficiency of an observation…

Argues for the need to provide students with independent scientific research experiences to explore scientific developments that have changed their world. Enables students to develop minds-on science skills through scientific inquiry. (DDR)

Reports on a study that assesses the effects of the application of visual information-processing theory to the design of a laboratory manual for chemistry. Focuses on the effects on content learning, practical skill mastery, and attitudes of university students enrolled in a general chemistry course. Contains 41 references. (DDR)

Presents an exercise to demonstrate two fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics: the Reynolds number and the Principle of Continuity. The exercise demonstrates flow in a major blood vessel, such as the aorta, with and without a stenosis. Students observe the transition from laminar to turbulent flow as well as downstream persistence of turbulence.…

Explains how basic mapping skills are taught in a large lab space using various arrangements of books to portray structural information. Reports an increase in student confidence and ability to synthesize data during field work. (DDR)