Describes a course consisting of undergraduate and/or graduate students who participate in field trips to model community programs. Discusses how the program sites are chosen, types of students involved, a description of the course, and the course evaluation outcomes. (CMK)

Described are activities involving a mathematics trail. Guidelines for organizing a mathematics trail for students are included. Excerpts from worksheets used with easy and hard trails are included and can be modified to fit other trails. (KR)

Describes activities for teaching geology that are appropriate for students in grades 3-8. Highlights include outside speakers; using technology, including computer software, CD-ROM, and laserdisks; e-mail and the Internet; posters; outdoor labs; field trips; and a list of resources for geology. (LRW)

Describes personal experiences of a participant in the National Science Foundation program, Teachers Experiencing Antarctica. Uses the study of the temperature history of Taylor Dome to provide teachers with the experience of research and help other teachers recognize that there are opportunities outside the classroom for personal and professional…

Provides a photographic essay describing the Los Angeles (California) Museum of Contemporary Art outreach education program. Describes three components of the program: (1) community outreach; (2) museum/artist studio visits; and (3) return visits. Outlines how participants engage in interactive discussions and art-making during the eight sessions…

Presents a lesson plan that enables children to identify their community as a nodal region. Includes field trips, map tracing and comparison, discussion, and observation. Emphasizes children's analysis of the effect of rail transportation on their community. Suggests using the students' community as a geographic laboratory for hands-on experience.…

Explains how proper preparation, including giving students specific tasks to accomplish, helps focus a museum or sculpture garden visit. Outlines two basic ways that a teacher might organize a tour: (1) by showing a progression from figurative to abstract sculpture, and (2) by discussing design concepts. Includes pictures of four sculptures,…

A lesson plan, directed at middle school students and older, describes using snow to study the geological processes of solidification of molten material, sedimentation, and metamorphosis. Provides background information on these geological processes. (MCO)

Identifies a variety of methods to introduce constellations and asterisms to students in the classroom and planetarium prior to their study of the night sky. Materials used include transparencies, oatmeal boxes, photographic slides, and tracing paper. Exercises incorporate storytelling and prediction of location, movement, and seasonal patterns of…

Describes a local history project undertaken by fourth graders at Trumansburg Elementary School in Trumansburg, New York. Students studied the architecture of the village by visiting historical structures, sketching buildings, constructing three-dimensional models, and visiting a living history village. (MDM)

Presents ideas for getting the most out of an elementary school trip to the zoo. The article offers before, during, and after lesson plans which touch on biology (the life cycle), geography (continents and regions of the world), conservation (endangered species), ecology (natural communities), and career guidance (zoo jobs). (SM)

Describes Project Marco Polo in which students, teachers, and staff from "National Geographic" and the U.S. Navy traveled to Japan. Reports that they studied Japanese culture, oceanography, and natural science while on the trip. Includes excerpts from field journals kept by the participants, photographs of the trip, and a map. (DK)

Presented are activities in which students can observe dragonflies in their natural environment, capture them for examination, or make dragonfly models. Background information, directions for a field observation activity and making the models, and benefits of dragonfly study are included. (KR)

Promotes value of using animals in therapeutic, vocational, and recreational education for children. Describes educational approaches, suggesting animals promote a sense of affection, understanding, self-worth, and responsibility among children. Discusses safety and hygienic considerations for having animals in both urban and rural environments.…

The headteacher of a British secondary school for students with moderate learning difficulties reports on their experiences in teaching French including obtaining government support, supplementing mainstream instructional material, and a trip to France. The school's experience is related to National Curriculum foreign language requirements. (DB)