Contends that the student teaching assignment can be viewed either as the single most important event in teaching or a six-month long nightmare. Discusses the student teaching experience and provides advice on interaction with the supervising teacher, relationships with students, and instructional methods. (CFR)

Examines instructional plans of four beginning teachers preparing to teach familiar and unfamiliar topics in biology. This analysis constitutes one level of a multimethodological study of effects of teacher subject-matter knowledge on high school science teaching. Among conclusions are that teacher's choice of instructional strategies affects…

Presents a course outline for the study of biotechnology at the high school or college level. The outline includes definitions, a history, and the vocabulary of biotechnology. Presents a science experiment to analyze the effects of restriction enzymes on DNA. (MDH)

Discusses the difficulty of reflection in teaching given the norms of the profession and the context of the work. The article describes research on ways teachers adapt and tailor lessons to changing circumstances and class populations, and reports on teachers' reflective practices. (GLR)

Reports a study that used belief statements and lesson plans to examine preservice and inservice secondary teachers' orientations toward content area reading and instruction. Data analysis indicated preservice teachers favored an interactive model of reading but reader-based instruction. Inservice teachers held reader-based beliefs in both areas.…

Presents three experiments that provide examples of how plants modify their surroundings and create microenvironments. Examples demonstrate (1) how types of ground cover influence water quality; (2) how plants can create a thermal microenvironment; and (3) how plants can serve as barriers to wind. (MDH)

Determines and clarifies the differences and similarities between the goals and strategies for science teaching as perceived by elementary school teachers in Japan and the United States. Discusses teaching methods, content, and materials; lesson plans; classroom management; and student evaluation. Concluding comments address staff development in…

Describes a series of activities presented at the 1996 Annual Cultural Diversity Celebration. The activities are designed to provide teachers with ideas that focus on family values, traditions, and homes. These lessons teach children that values such as love, caring, justice, and respect for human dignity are universal. (MJP)

The teaching orientation of a graduating group of students on a BATESL course in Hong Kong is reviewed based on a questionnaire in the five categories of (1) language use; (2) lesson planning and decision making; (3) teaching approach; (4) professional status, relationship, and responsibilities; and (5) perceptions and values. Compares the…

Used the lesson preparation method and interviews to investigate preservice physics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, focusing on their knowledge of pupils' conceptual difficulties with temperature and heat. Results found a relationship between conceptual difficulties preservice teachers expected their pupils to have and conceptual…

Presents a lesson plan that teaches students about the process of polderization (the reclamation of low tracts of land from a body of water). Illustrates how a country can solve a problem by modifying its environment. Includes background information and worksheets on the application of this process in the Netherlands. (MJP)

Presents six curriculum guides for art, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Each guide identifies library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, print and nonprint resources, instructional roles, activities and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up. (AEF)

This instructional design blends a structured learning environment (the physics lesson) with an engaging, playful, simulated environment (roller coaster construction), putting into operation ideas from both cognitive and constructivist theories. Two instructional models are used: a general design model for creating instruction and a lesson design…

This article describes a way to provide systematic connections between mathematics and science for students with disabilities through hands-on lessons, word problems, and opportunities for problem-solving. Sample units are presented that integrate science and mathematics at the K-8 level and explore interrelationships among multiplication and…

Belief in a "web of support" helped a San Diego-area high school make structural adjustments that foster inclusion while challenging all students. Inclusive curriculum design requires planners to develop a central issue or question, identify richly detailed source material, and design a culminating project and interrelated lessons. (MLH)