Proposes the use of poetry field trips to provide students with actual experiences on which to base their writing on nature. Provides examples of students writings. (MDH)

Two research courses where teachers explore how scientific enterprise generates new knowledge are described. Teachers are paired with mathematics and science researchers in the public and private sectors so that they experience the culture of the research community and apply research techniques in varied research settings. Concept maps, specific…

Describes the liberal arts, computer laboratory-based economics program at Denison University (Ohio). Includes as goals helping students to (1) understand deductive arguments, (2) learn to apply theory in real-world situations, and (3) test and modify theory when necessary. Notes that the program combines computer laboratory experiments for…

Describes an approach to introductory geology that requires students to go into the field to make observations, collect and analyze data, synthesize those data, and hypothesize about inferred geologic relationships. The product of these laboratories is a paper that requires students to test their hypothesis using specific examples from the data.…

Describes the creation of a glacial park on a university campus. Suggests that the park is a useful instructional resource that helps students relate classroom material to outdoor phenomena by visualizing and identifying glacial landforms, recognizing their spatial relationships, and understanding how glacial features originated. Offers advice for…

Describes a class activity in which New York City high school environmental science students take a field trip to visit an active sewage treatment facility and landfill operation. (MDH)

Reports the results of a questionnaire distributed to randomly selected teachers within the Chicago metropolitan area. Teachers indicated their desire for the availability of various resources, were they to take their students on a field trip to a natural area. Implications for natural area managers, as well as proposed training strategies, are…

Provides a poster containing activities that are part of the International Space Year. Describes activities in which students visit a local planetarium and re-create a National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) space flight using reports, articles, NASA slides, and videos. Lists organizations, publications, and other resources related to…

Describes a collaborative natural history class/science club program designed to offer science-oriented students the chance to expand their classroom knowledge of camping skills, first aid, environmental awareness, and survival techniques by participating in hands-on environmental activities. (MDH)

Describes a local interpretation program in New England that uses a motorcoach to take visitors on a day-long tour of several sites in the region. Explains how to create similar programs elsewhere and gives advice for preparing for the tour, orienting tour members, interpreting on the road, pacing tours over a day, and stopping at tour sites. (PVD)

Describes a South Carolina family-science program featuring nongraded recreational weekend programs conducted by experts at their facilities. The format allows in-depth presentation of topics using community resources, lets elementary students experience real applications of science and see scientists as role models, and strengthens parent/child…

An alternative school in southern Oregon that allows students to make up missing credits offers project-based thematic classes that take students outside the school. One course studied the Klamath Basin's water crisis and involved exploring the area and the perspectives of farmers, biologists, park rangers, and Native Americans. Courses culminate…

Describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a mixed formal-informal Science, Technology and Society (STS) curriculum that incorporates collaborative projects with case studies, field trips, and formal class sessions. (Contains 44 references.) (Author/WRM)

Inquiry can be implemented in various ways, ranging from simple classroom discussions to longterm research projects. In this article, the authors developed a project in which high school students were introduced to the nature and process of scientific discovery through a two-week guided inquiry unit on "limnology"--the study of fresh water, which…

A significant body of research suggests that wide differences in concept and vocabulary knowledge exacerbate the achievement gap among students, especially in schools with large numbers of children of poverty. Educators sometimes attribute this difference to the Matthew effect: the sad reality that having a well-developed vocabulary allows a…