Through this middle school curriculum, students observe bird feeders outside their classrooms, learn to identify birds that visit, and use a simple protocol for counting the birds and collecting other data before sending it to Cornell scientists via the Internet. The activities within the curriculum are inquiry-based and interdisciplinary. This…

Describes an activity that combines learning and assessment of students' measurement skills. Students strive to make measurements accurately and precisely at a series of stations that focus on measuring length, volume, and mass. (DDR)

Collecting weather data is a traditional part of a meteorology unit at the middle level. However, making connections between the data and weather conditions can be a challenge. One way to make these connections clearer is to enter the data into a database. This allows students to quickly compare different fields of data and recognize which…

Constructing model hot air balloons is an activity that captures the imaginations of students, enabling teachers to present required content to minds that are open to receive it. Additionally, there are few activities that lend themselves to integrating so much content across subject areas. In this article, the authors describe how they have…

Introduces an activity on photosynthesis for middle school students involving observation and data collection. (YDS)

When students investigate science, they model, imitate, and perform science much as scientists do. Learning science in this way is best, according to the locus of control research. Based on this research, students need to develop an internal belief that they can control science outcomes and become a part of science through their own hands-on…

One of the most beneficial uses for technology in the science classroom is data manipulation. During labs and other learning experiences, students can quickly put the data they collect into spreadsheets or databases. Then they can make comparisons, create graphs, draw conclusions, sort the data in new ways, and, ultimately, give their data…

Discusses teaching display and presentation skills by incorporating it into an interdisciplinary computer, math, and science lesson on graphing and collecting data which reinforces problem-solving skills and develops students' abilities to graph and interpret data. (ASK)

Presents an interdisciplinary unit in which students ask questions about themselves, gather data, and participate in statistical analysis and graphing activities related to the data. Contains an assessment instrument and data sheet example. (DDR)

Describes an interdisciplinary investigation of air pollution in a school in which students wrote the proposals, set up experiments, analyzed their data, and formulated conclusions. (JRH)

Describes the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) project as a way of teaching astronomy concepts to middle school students. The project provides students opportunities to work with professional scientists. (SOE)

In this article, the author discusses one of the most functional forms of writing to learn, the two-column learning logs. Two-column learning logs are based on the premise that collecting information and processing information are two very different aspects of learning. Two-column logs allow students to connect the facts and theories of science to…

Explains the design and implementation of a student research project called Project SunSHINE. Explores the relationships between ultraviolet light and humidity, temperature, cloud type, and cloud cover. (SOE)

In this article, the authors present a classroom experiment that was developed to introduce middle school learners to the carbon cycle. The experiment deals with transfer of CO[subscript 2] between liquid reservoirs and the effect CO[subscript 2] has on algae growth. It allows students to observe the influence of the carbon cycle on algae growth,…

Focuses on the development of graphing skills through a data collection activity that answers the question of the relationship between rubber band width and flight distance. Includes definitions of terms and instructions for helping students construct line and bar graphs. (DDR)