Presents ideas for spring flower displays. Has students constructing their own interactive flower displays as extra-credit assignments to reinforce vocabulary and scientific concepts, and modeling flowers with household items. (JRH)

Objectives, materials needed, procedures, discussion questions, and follow-up activities are provided for five experiments. They include (1) testing for sugars; (2) comparing sugar to artificial sweeteners; (3) chewing gum scientifically; (4) soap making; and (5) making toothpaste. (JN)

Presents an activity in which water temperature is investigated in relation to water depth, weather patterns, land use, time of year, and other factors students choose to investigate with data collected from the Internet. Uses the Great Lakes as the setting for this investigation and examines how and why the temperature of a body of water changes…

Describes the Science Alliance project, a teacher-scientist collaboration where each teacher is given five non-consecutive days of professional development time to meet with a participating scientist, technician, engineer, mathematician, or environmentalist to develop a module of lesson plans that introduce the real world of industry into the…

Describes the PowerTools Project, a partnership program between schools and research scientists at the University of Texas Health Center. Discusses the beginnings and the scaling up of the project. (JRH)

Discusses watersheds and floods. Includes an insert that provides a visual example of many different watersheds, illustrates a flood and different ways that flood plains are developed, and contains activities designed to assist students in learning about watersheds and floods. Lists water resources available on the World Wide Web. (JRH)

Presents a strategy for teaching students about electricity. Uses concrete activities to enlighten students about electron flow, resistance across a wire, and uses of electrical power. (JRH)

Describes an activity designed to teach students geology vocabulary while challenging them to solve the case of the missing marble. Can be adapted to teach vocabulary for different topics. (JRH)

Describes an atom-building activity where students construct three-dimensional models of atoms using a styrofoam ball as the nucleus and pom-poms, gum drops, minimarshmallows, or other small items of two different colors to represent protons and neutrons attached. Rings of various sizes with pom-poms attached represent electron shells and…

Presents two sample partnership programs between businesses and schools that facilitate opportunities for enhanced field trips and classroom lessons, as well as opportunities for businesses to be involved in the educational process. Discusses key points to establishing partnerships, the importance of involving parents, and the rewards of the…

Describes the Fifth Grade Roadkill Study that was designed to make students aware of the types of animals, chiefly mammals, that live in the central piedmont area of North Carolina. Involves students taking a survey of roadkills. Enables students to learn about animals as well as become more familiar with the scientific process. (JRH)

Offers suggestions for activities in which local weeds and wildflowers are used to study a variety of topics. These topics include classification, ecological succession, and mapping. Also lists the types of experiments students can perform with these plants. (JN)

Describes a project that involved a rocket-design competition where students played the roles of McDonnell Douglas employees competing for NASA contracts. Provides a real world experience involving deadlines, design and performance specifications, and budgets. (JRH)

Describes a project where teams of middle school students share their classroom pets and information about them with elementary students. Provides middle school students with experience in research skills and oral presentations. Provides elementary students with an opportunity to learn about the care and habits of the animals and to observe the…

Discusses the work and inventions of Thomas Edison and their use in making teachers and students aware of the importance of electrotechnology in their lives and in their futures. Enables students to learn about science, experimentation, research, the process of invention, and the thrill of discovery. Describes educational resources available from…