This water conservation education program for high schools consists of both stand-alone activities and teacher support materials. Lessons are divided into six broad categories: (1) The Water Cycle; (2) Water and Society; (3) Keeping Water Pure; (4) Visualizing Volumes; (5) The Economics of Water Use; and (6) Domestic Water Conservation. The…

The videos in this educational series, for grades 4-7, help students understand the science behind weather phenomena through dramatic live-action footage, vivid animated graphics, detailed weather maps, and hands-on experiments. This episode (23 minutes) features information on the deadliest and most destructive storms on Earth. Through satellite…

This study examined the differences between preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions of knowledge in instructional planning skills for teaching science in primary grades and identified the skills perceived as most knowledgeable and least knowledgeable by the two groups. Forty-one inservice and preservice African-American teachers from an…

This digest addresses the needs of homeschooling parents teaching science. National and state science standards documents are recommended for deciding what students need to know and should be able to do at different age levels. Sources of science lessons and activities are provided. Science reference materials such as books, magazines, and…

This collection of four essays examines the ways in which biology, as a discipline, reflects ongoing scholarship on gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and sexual orientation. In "Natural Sciences: Molecular Biology," Bonnie B. Spanier examines common ideological distortions in biology, including superimposing stereotypical gender attributes…

This paper provides an account of the instructional design and development process used by a team of students enrolled in a graduate level course in distance education as the team members conceptualized and created two prototype World Wide Web-based instructional modules, aimed at grades 5 through 12, for the Lunar and Planetary Institute's Mars…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was any quantitative or qualitative evidence indicating a need for science curriculum review in aligning district outcomes with the New Hampshire State Science Frameworks. Also examined were such exogenous factors as teachers' perception, attitudes and background preparation pertaining to science…

"How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom" builds on the discoveries detailed in the best-selling "How People Learn." Now these findings are presented in a way that teachers can use immediately, to revitalize their work in the classroom for even greater effectiveness. Organized for utility, the book explores how the principles of learning can…

Discusses various problems in science education, citing evidence of the problems from such sources as testimony given to congressional committees. Includes discussions of current school practices, teacher certification, and the needed action to resolve the problems. (JN)

Criticizes a proposed approach to teaching physics in terms of energy carriers (SE 532 196), arguing that it requires energy to be thought of as a substance which can flow. Discusses problems related to concept formation and logical difficulties with the curriculum, considering several contradictions to physics principles which may arise. (JM)

Describes a four-week summer marine education program for handicapped high school students funded by the National Science Foundation for the last five years. Discusses goals, participants, instructors, facilities, instructional program, special equipment, and problems. (DC)

Discusses San Francisco's Exploratorium, a science teaching center with 500 exhibits focusing on human perception, but extending to everything from the mechanics of voice to the art of illusion, from holograms to harmonics. The Exploratorium emphasizes "simple science" (refractions/resonances, sounds/shadows) to tune in the senses and turn on the…

Investigated effects of limited oral/physical teacher intervention on object manipulation by preschool/early elementary children (N=70). Experimental students had magnets placed in their hands and were orally invited to explore. Results indicated differences between experimental/control groups in time spent with objects, number of activities…

Effects of a sequence of two science content courses (earth science/biology and physical science) on preservice elementary teachers' attitude toward and anxiety about science teaching were examined. Results from two studies (1977-78, N=78 and 1978-79, N=71) indicate attitude/anxiety changed in a positive direction and continued in subsequent…

Suggests that educators and scientists publicize the nature of creationism and expand science education for nonscientists in schools and colleges since the general public lacks sufficient familiarity with science to evaluate misleading creationist claims. Includes comments on the general decline in science education. (JN)