In June 1997, Tennessee Technological University's Center for Manufacturing Research conducted a one-week program on plastics recycling for science teachers. The purpose of the program was to increase the teachers' basic knowledge about the importance of recycling plastics and to better prepare the teachers for teaching recycling in the classroom.…

Natural Resources for Grade 4 is a "hands-on" environmental activities unit designed for teachers to use with their students. Activities are chosen from natural resource programs such as Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, Aquatic Wild, and Project WET. The activities address natural resource themes and meet the Virginia Standards of…

Ocean Environments for Grade 5 is a 12-week interdisciplinary ocean environmental unit designed for teachers to use with their students. The unit emphasizes investigation and understanding of our ocean environments, including their geological, physical, and biological characteristics. It also stresses awareness of public policy decisions related…

Exploratorium Science Snacks are miniature versions of some of the most popular exhibits at the Exploratorium, San Francisco's (California) museum of science, art, and human perception. Nearly 100 teachers worked with Exploratorium staff members to create scaled-down versions of exhibits that teachers could make using common, inexpensive,…

The purpose of this report is to synthesize two other evaluation reports ascertaining the effectiveness of the Scope, Sequence & Coordination (SS&C) project on ninth and tenth grade student achievement of the National Science Education Standards. The overall evaluation utilized a time lag, post-test-only design in which the perceptions and…

It is not always easy to get a naturalist to visit schools and it is often difficult to transport school groups to a state park. Hence, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Parks and Recreation developed Portapark to provide teachers with educational activities, techniques, and ideas. These activities are aimed specifically…

Contrary to what many students think, heat flows from hot to cold. Working in groups of 3-4, students investigate the properties of insulators in attempts to keep a cup of water from freezing and, once it is frozen, to keep it from melting. This activity requires a 4.5-hour time period for completion. (Author/SOE)

This guide helps teachers use the 15th season of the television program "Newton's Apple" in the classroom and lists show segments on asthma, car engines, glacier climbing, glass blowing, glaucoma, gliders, gold mine, greenhouse effect, kids on Mars, lightning, "Lost World" dinosaurs, mammoth dig, NASA robots, Novocain (TM),…

Biogeography examines questions of organism inventory and pattern, organisms' interactions with the environment, and the processes that create and change inventory, pattern, and interactions. This learning module uses time series maps and simple simulation models to illustrate how human actions alter biological productivity patterns at local and…

Describes an activity that integrates biology and physics concepts by experimenting with the seed dispersal of common milkweed or similar wind-dispersed seeds. Student teams collect seeds and measure several parameters, review principles of trajectory motion, perform experiments, and graph data. Students examine the ideas of…

Teachers can capitalize on young children's natural curiosity about the world around them by including science learning in the preschool curriculum. Science activities provide a rich knowledge base and foster skills in receptive and expressive language, skills in self-regulation, and skills in problem identification, analysis, and solution. (TJQ)

The fair test is predominately used by primary teachers participating in a science-education project with King's College London. Debates whether this level of use of fair test investigations is appropriate. (DDR)

Focuses on a project of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program that explores whether student data are accurate enough to support rigorous scientific investigations. Reports the results of a team investigation. (DDR)

Reports on a course at Saint Thomas University (Florida) for preservice and inservice elementary teachers that emphasizes science content, science-education methods, and technology under the umbrella of environmental science. Finds that students feel more prepared to teach using a hands-on science approach after taking the course. Contains 23…

Describes a field study in a local ecosystem which allows high school students to investigate the edge effect, where a meadow and a forest meet. Students measure soil moisture content, soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, wind intensity, and illumination level. Teachers can help students apply their findings to understand problems…