On November 17, 1995 the following news item appeared in "Time Magazine": "Long-lost cave reveals burial tombs of Maccabees." You (the student) are a journalist who has been asked by your editor to follow up that news item with an in-depth feature a two page spread with text and graphics entitled "The Life and Times of…

This guide is one in a series of four resource guides specifically designed for those interested in aviation education. Activities and lessons that can be used in a variety of content areas and grade levels are featured. Grades 4-6 are the focus of this guide, which is organized under the broad topics of properties of air, lighter than air flight,…

The historical Gilgamesh was a Sumarian king of Uruk around 2700 B.C. Sumarian fragments of the legend that grew up around him have been found dating back to about 2000 B.C. These lesson plans on Gilgamesh were developed during the Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) summer institute on history through literature, in…

Middle school students should be involved in seeking and selecting reading materials that ensure the attention of the learner. A wide variety of topics for learners to select from in choosing sequential trade books is a must. Sequential books selected by the middle school student should harmonize with his/her present level of achievement in…

Described is a science curriculum enrichment program where sixth grade students present programs to other students on the topics of pets and exotic animals. The use of live animals in the presentations is emphasized. (KR)

Described is the use of computer software to teach elementary scientific processes to sixth graders. Discussed are materials, manuals, procedures and evaluation. The results of a field trial are described. (CW)

Examined are the global issues of population growth, world hunger, air quality and atmosphere, and water resources in 10 middle school science textbooks. Less than two percent of text pages were devoted to these issues and no significant differences were found between textbook series. (Author/YP)

This article describes activities for developing an understanding of a formula for calculating the volume of a rectangular prism. The core activity concerns determining the volume of water in a backyard skating rink. (Contains 4 figures.)

This study examined the possible gender differences in teachers' scoring and written feedback on two narrative and two persuasive writing samples sent to 108 grade six teachers throughout one Canadian province. Participating teachers read a narrative and a persuasive piece of writing from one boy, and a narrative and persuasive piece written by…

Recently, the authors engaged in a collaborative inquiry with a sixth grade science class to explore mind mapping, a graphic organizer that can be used to generate ideas, take notes, develop concepts and ideas, and improve memory (Buzan 1979). With a very limited body of research available on how to best use mind maps in the classroom, the authors…

This student workbook is designed as a companion to a day of field studies investigating water quality and stream health for sixth grade students in several northeastern Tennessee counties. Nineteen environmental education activities cover topics including wildlife species, wildlife habitats (instream and riparian), connections between water…

This document presents a series of eight lesson plans (or "learning cycles") for teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students about the Anasazi Indians of the southwestern United States. Each lesson sets forth intended grade level, background information on the key idea and goal, time needed, prerequisite skills and concepts, a…

Part of a project to help teachers respond to the challenge of teaching content subjects to a variety of limited-English-proficient (LEP) learners, this report presents the recommendations of a group of master teachers who first identified promising practices for educating minority language students and then supplemented these by selecting…

These instructional materials were produced as part of the project, Developing Computational Estimation Materials for the Middle Grades. The introduction to these sixth grade materials covers the following: why teach estimation; how the materials were developed; and how the lessons are organized. The 15 lessons that follow are designed to teach…

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive Level 1 videodisc program called "Mastering Fractions." The evaluation was conducted in two parts. Part 1 was a controlled study that compared the Mastering Fractions program to a more traditional fractions curriculum while controlling for any novelty effect of the…