This narrative description of a special program for third-grade students to raise funds for and to construct, launch, and fly their own rockets illustrates benefits of heightened confidence and self-perception among participants, hands-on experience in a highly technical area, and increased community support and involvement. (MM)

Summarizes the results from a questionnaire developed to reflect both local concerns and those of national studies in elementary science education in Kansas. The questionnaire included items concerning methods of science instruction, class time spent on science, teacher preparation, approach to metric system, science textual material, and…

The "Robot Roadshow Program" is designed to increase the interest of elementary school children in technical disciplines, specifically math and science. The program focuses on children from schools categorized as rural or underserved, which often have limited access to advanced technical resources. We developed the program using robots…

To meet the need for improved science instruction in rural schools, a project to identify, honor, and provide training for outstanding rural science teachers in grades 6-9 was designed cooperatively by the National Science Foundation, Kansas State University, Kansas Cosmosphere and Discovery Center, and rural school districts. In order to create a…