Describes a primary-level field geography program in which students explore the geography and archaeology of their rural community. Presents a set of mapping activities to help students understand cardinal directions and use locational skills. Concludes that the program has successfully involved students, parents, and community members in…

Discusses the concept of social mathematics in which numerical information is connected to the people and issues of social studies. Maintains elementary students can learn that data represent information from the real world. Includes class activities using historical timelines, data collection, and database computer programs. (CFR)

Asserts that understanding cross-cultural issues has become one of the most important concepts in multicultural education. Presents two pairs of artworks that each juxtapose African and European religious traditions. Includes four full-page, color depictions of the artworks and teaching suggestions. (CFR)

Describes a classroom activity in which students develop recruitment materials designed to encourage eighteenth-century Europeans to become colonists in North America. Includes instructions for developing assignment sheets and suggests student resources. Contends that this activity always enhances student motivation and enthusiasm. (CFR)

Asserts educators have argued about meaning and purpose of social studies since the field's inception in the early 1900s. Contends that reform efforts associated with the America 2000 program focus on teaching factual information from history and geography. Maintains that the proper content of social studies must be persistent and contemporary…

Describes a unit on demographics for a high school world-history course that addresses questions of uneven population growth and the "problem of global overpopulation." Provides a detailed outline of the two-day unit including unit and daily goals and objectives, daily activities and questions, and ideas for further student research. (DSK)

Outlines the rationale for a course designed to deliver key spatial skills to a large cohort of students using computer-aided learning methods and the World Wide Web. Examines the results in the context of using technology to enhance learning. Follows up by noting and assessing subsequent changes to the course. (DSK)

Five ideas for English-as-a-Second-Language classroom activities are described, including a geography pronunciation drill, a project in which students design retail stores, a real-life business role-playing exercise, student-designed coats of arms, and use of prizes for student motivation, followed by prize-related assignments. (MSE)

The paper describes a national survey of biology teachers visiting Field Studies Council (FSC) centres in England and Wales. It provides data on levels of biology fieldwork at ages 11-16 (Years 7-11), and factors affecting A-level biology fieldwork provision at ages 16-19 (Years 12 and 13). The results are compared with similar data from geography…

This paper investigates changing modes of femininity. It asks: What are the discourses and discursive practices within which new femininities are constructed? What are the social conditions in which they emerge? How are these negotiated and lived by girls? What do these stories tell us about the complications of subject formation and what it means…

A review of the literature in science education shows that most students have difficulties in hypothetico-deductive reasoning. The author's objective in this study was to investigate the abilities of high school teachers and university teachers to understand the difference between the terms "hypothesis" and "prediction" in the…

When elementary students collaborate in active learning projects that integrate the social studies they greatly advance their literacy skills and civic awareness. They can improve their analysis and ability to solve social problems by using reading and writing to construct knowledge about historical events. In the lessons described in this…

This article begins by describing the use of GIS at a local scale within a single school, and builds outwards to review the use of GIS in the contexts of national classrooms. The single school is Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland. It is an independent girls' school for Years 1-13, well resourced with IT staff, computer hardware and software.…

The use of paired placements and collaborative practice is promoted by many university-school partnerships that train teachers in England. This paper reviews the recent literature on the subject and then focuses on some small scale research within initial teacher education in one large university-school partnership. That partnership works with…

The article focuses on the planning and implementation of interim assessment tasks in Key Stage 3 Geography. This research identifies three key dimensions which impact on the planning of assessment in the medium and long term. These are: teachers' emerging conceptualization of "formative assessment"; the statutory requirements for…