Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) are pedagogical approaches that allow teachers to integrate multiple subjects into creative multi-day learning experiences that captivate students' curiosity and engage them in real-life problem solving. MEAs are known in the fields of mathematics and engineering (Gilat and Amit 2014), but despite their ability to…

In recent years, the integration of science and mathematics has become popular among educators because of its potential benefits for student learning. The purpose of this study is to introduce a two-day interdisciplinary lesson that brings science and mathematics concepts together, actively engaging students in working with percentages of the…

In the western half of the United States, fire bombers are not an uncommon sight. During the "fire season," which can extend from June through November, these specially modified aircraft are used to drop fire retardant chemicals or water on wildfires. It can be an entertaining and instructive classroom exercise to use pictures of these…

Pairing an inquiry lesson with a traditional reading activity creates a jarring philosophical mismatch between the interaction, deep thinking, and scientific reasoning that drives meaningful inquiry instruction and the "scan the text, copy the answers" response often obtained from elementary nonfiction readers. Realizing that there must be a…

"Glimpses of Science" is the outcome of collaboration between the University of New South Wales and four primary schools in the Sydney metropolitan region. A prototype kit on the topic of sound was developed and demonstrated by the team. This kit formed the basis for further science activities to be designed and produced in conjunction…

In order to create student interest and promote new connections to the understanding of fundamental physics concepts, there is a need for new approaches and methods that are both contemporary and relevant. Dr Skateboard's Action Science, a curriculum supplement comprising video instruction and classroom activities, is an example that focuses on…

This guide provides teachers and students many opportunities. Chapters within the guide present the history of rocketry, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) 21st Century Space Exploration Policy, rocketry principles, and practical rocketry. These topics lay the foundation for what follows--a wealth of dynamic rocket science…

This document contains a series of six modules which illustrate selected concepts of mechanics with hands-on activities and audiovisual materials. Following the modules is a collection of readings which give detailed explanations of the concepts presented in the activities. A guide for teachers and workshop leaders is provided for use in planning…

Technology for Science is a National Science Foundation funded program that is developing and testing curriculum units for teacher materials built around a series of design-oriented science problems called "challenges," mainly for ninth-grade general and physical science classes. Technology for science challenges have a clear connection…

Presents an integrated math/science activity in which families work together at an activity station and design and make a track for a marble to travel down using rules attached to a board. (MKR)

Describes an experiment where elementary students determine the optimum angle of inclination for the greatest amount of distance a marble will roll when accelerated down an inclined plane. (PR)

Explains reasons why students have misconceptions concerning pendulum swings. Presents a series of 10 pendulum task cards to provide middle-school students with a solid mental scaffolding upon which to build their knowledge of kinetic energy and pendulums. (PR)

Describes how students can make and use Hooey Machines to learn how mechanical energy can be transferred from one object to another within a system. The Hooey Machine is made using a pencil, eight thumbtacks, one pushpin, tape, scissors, graph paper, and a plastic lid. (PR)

Project Spectrum is a collaborative research and development project that offers an alternative approach to assessment and curriculum development for preschool and early primary years. The project, based on Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory and David Henry Feldman's nonuniversal development theory, emphasizes observing children…

In 1990, the New Jersey Department of Education awarded the Randolph Township Board of Education a grant to evaluate the effectiveness of an existing technology learning activity called the "Magic Box", as part of the Teacher Developed Technology Education for the Nineties grant project. This document is comprised of three publications:…