Describes Team Science, a child-centered, activity-based science program for middle school students that evolved over a 25-year period. Three key components for success include educational philosophy, teaching and modeling respect, and a quality science program. Philosophy stresses maintaining natural curiosity and developing skills for lifelong…

Describes a 12-day teacher inservice course in oceanography and coastal processes that focuses on enhanced content knowledge, improved teaching strategies, role modeling, and leadership development. The primary objective is improving the teaching techniques of elementary and middle school teachers of predominantly minority students. Strategies…

Demonstrating wave processes quantitatively in the classroom using standard classroom tools (such as Slinkys and wave tanks) can be difficult. For example, waves often travel too fast for students to actually measure amplitude or wavelength. Also, when teaching propagating waves, reflections from the ends set up standing waves, which can confuse…

This book contains 22 lessons using hands-on activities designed to present some aspect of biotechnology in a usable form that teachers can adapt for their classrooms. The introductory section serves as a resource that introduces the teacher and student to the history of biotechnology. The activities are divided into five units that group lessons…

The project PARK-IT! represents a unique partnership between a public elementary school and a city park in which students and teachers utilize a small naturalized area of the park as a Land Laboratory, and in return become its stewards. The project also includes this curriculum activity guide which can assist teachers in using the Land Lab with…

This report describes the development of an educational software program to assist youth with disabilities in participating in discourse in regular school settings. The software was designed to manage cooperative groups as students engaged in hands-on science activities and was specifically developed for teaching the subject of batteries and…

A growing body of evidence indicates that activity-based approaches to teaching science are more effective than traditional methods in producing a wide range of desirable student outcomes at all grade levels. The Elementary Science Education Institute (ESEI) was designed to train elementary science teachers in the use of hands-on science…

The purpose of a study was to explore the link between conceptual understanding, free exploration of hands-on science center exhibits, and Piagetian cognitive developmental levels. In this primarily qualitative study, which is based upon interview and observational data, patterns in children's behavior relating to specific hands-on science center…

In a sweeping effort to improve science education in Tennessee, a new curriculum framework was developed that mandated "hands-on" experiences for students, beginning in kindergarten. To smooth out problems in elementary science instruction arising from the mandate, the Center of Excellence for the Enrichment of Science and Mathematics…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in the NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. The sample was designed to represent the 8th grade public school population in a state or territory. In 1996, 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam,…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in the NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. The sample was designed to represent the 8th grade public school population in a state or territory. In 1996, 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam,…

The U.S. Naval Academy oceanography major is bucking the nationwide trend toward declining enrollments in science majors study tracks. Nontraditional approaches used include interdisciplinary and applied science, significant instructor experience in applying the major outside academia, hands-on laboratories in all classes, and an oceanography…

Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 were used to identify factors related to gender differences in tenth-grade science performance. The advantage found for eighth-grade boys had widened by tenth grade. Findings emphasize the importance of active classroom involvement as a way of promoting gender equity. (SLD)

Children with special learning needs participate fully in the authors' science classes every day; their job as teachers is to bring about meaningful science connections for all students, including those who do not communicate their knowledge most effectively through the ways most typically associated with classroom learning (i.e., reading,…

In May 2005, the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop curricular units for Grades K-12 on Space Exploration. The units focus on aspects of the themes that NASA Engineers and Scientists--as well as future generations of explorers--must consider, such…