Presents an interdisciplinary unit on tabloids that includes English and science components. Aims to develop informed customers who can analyze and research information using process skills. Emphasizes writing, critical thinking, and process skills. (YDS)

Reports on a study designed to reveal the contents of the conversations of two main age groups of primary children who visited three types of animal exhibits: (1) at a museum; (2) live animals at the zoo; and (3) animated dinosaurs and preserved animals. The results raise concerns about whether effective science teaching is occurring in these…

Presents a rationale for including experiences that draw profound reactions of pleasure or revulsion in the science classroom. Provides some suggestions for using them effectively. Discusses content knowledge, process skills, language development, scientific attitudes, tips for using novel experiences, and marveling at mysteries. (JRH)

Compares whole language and process-oriented science and discusses the similarities between them. (KHR)

Discusses the use of direct demonstration of the connections among the science process skills and the content areas of science. (MKR)

Discusses the implications of Wallis Suchting's comprehensive search for a definition of the nature of scientific thought for helping students develop scientific thinking skills and an adequate understanding of the nature of science. Discusses implications that relate specifically to the science education community's current conceptions of science…

A new model for problem solving is broken down into four overlapping and interactive processes: Problem Posing, Problem Approach, Problem Solutions, and Communication. Figures illustrate the skills used in this new image of science problem solving, and a ninth-grade science investigation employing the processes is described. (LZ)

Students (n=46) were assigned to one of three instructional groups (descriptive, question design, and hypothesis testing) to test the hypothesis that descriptive learning cycles are not sufficient to stimulate students to reason at a formal operational level. Analyses indicated that the hypothesis-testing group exhibited a significant increase on…

Describes an assessment tool called the 4P's (pretest, posttest, portfolio, and performance) designed to assess hands-on science. (ZWH)

Discusses ways for teachers to help science students understand what makes a good description of a problem in a scientific investigation. (WRM)

Computer-based simulations of scientific phenomena provide learner-centered environments within which students can explore systems, manipulate variables, and test hypotheses. Explains how simulations fit into the big picture of instruction and offers recommendations for developing a written guide for students, determining student accountability,…

In this classroom simulation of a crime, students take on the challenge presented in the article To Catch a Thief. Students witnessing a surprising event learn to question the nature of how criminals get identified and generate ideas about how criminals can be better identified. A key component of the evidence is an unusual distinguishing…

Explains the goals of a course to teach non-science majors how scientists think. Approaches science primarily as a way of knowing rather than as a body of knowledge and conveys the scientific method as an empirical endeavor. (DDR)

Introduces the Magic in a Tube activity in which students formulate questions and practice science skills. (YDS)

Defines adaptive inquiry and argues for employing this method which allows lessons to be shaped in response to student needs. Illustrates this idea by detailing an activity in which teams of students build rockets. (DDR)