Explores programs at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. Focuses on the museum's preschool program and the hands-on science facility. (DDR)

Too much classroom work is teacher-initiated, labor-intensive, abstraction-rich, and experience-lean. In contrast, science centers offer students a learner-initiated, discovery-rich opportunity to explore stimulating experiences, especially when second trips are made. Optimal learning occurs with a dynamic blending of abstract and experiential…

Describes "Challenge of Materials," a gallery where visitors can experience a wide variety of materials in different ways. Materials include familiar structural items such as steel and glass, and new materials that can change form and color. The gallery also provides opportunities for work with schools in materials science and…

Describes a unique field experience, an outgrowth of a partnership with Seton Hall University and The Liberty Science Center (New Jersey), that immerses K-12 teachers in innovative methods of learning and teaching science. Notes the program helps teachers gain firsthand experience, use interactive exhibits at a science center, and adopt the…

Framed by a "personal constructivist" perspective, this study analyses visitors' use of spontaneous memories in understanding different types of interactive exhibits, the nature and sources of the retrieved memories, and the way that visitors relate an exhibit analogically to memories of previous exhibits. One hundred and thirteen…

This book presents a variety of activities that enable students to learn how to identify mammals and their unique characteristics. Designed to be used in conjunction with a tour of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the activities in the book are organized around the exhibits. Some activities are appropriate for use before the tour…

A nature center is defined as an organized and permanent nonprofit institution which is essentially educational, scientific, and cultural in purpose with professional staff, and open to the public on some regular schedule. A nature center manages and interprets its lands, native plants and animals and facilities to promote an understanding of…

The 24,000 square foot Alaska State Museum is experiencing a space crisis which hinders its ability to effectively meet present demands. The museum's collection has more than tripled from 5,600 objects 17 years ago to 23,000 objects today. Available storage and exhibition space is filled and only 10% of the collection is on exhibit. The reason for…

This publication on science education programs is the second in a three-part series of reports that summarizes the results of the Association of Science-Technology Centers' (ASTC) Science Center Survey, conducted among nearly 200 science museums and science centers in 1987. Reports on exhibits and on administration and finance comprise the rest of…

Presented are the proceedings, papers, and analysis of papers for the twentieth anniversary Conference of the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center at Michigan State University. The Conference was held to recognize past contributions of the Center and to propose and examine future directions in Science and Mathematics Education. Specific…

The project had two overall goals: (1) to establish and maintain a model marine science facility to be used as a teaching station and a base for research; and (2) to increase student and public awareness about the oceans and the important role they will play in man's future. The project served all the school districts in Kitsap County (Washington)…

Details the personal experiences, accumulated over a 25-year teaching career, of a physics teacher at a private boarding school in New England. (BT)

Inquires into the pre-trip preparation and interaction between elementary teachers and students during a field trip to a discovery center of natural history. Reports that teachers did not specifically prepare students for their visit to the center and many teachers exhibited formal school behaviors in this informal environment. (Author/CCM)