Supporting elementary student understandings of ideas related to Earth's Place in the Universe (ESS1) can be challenging, especially given the large time and distance scales involved with many of the concepts. However, with effective use of crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices, important concepts within this content domain…

The paper addresses itself to the R-L-L Curriculum Model as developed by this Title III ESEA Project. The elements of the model are described: 1) The educational purposes or objectives as defined within the scope of the basic activities of man; 2) The learning experiences necessary for the behavioral objectives stated in terms described by Mager;…

In the planning phase of this ESEA Title III Project, a learning unit was developed to serve as an outline for the first draft of the model. The field-lab approach is stressed in the belief that the "real world" offers a unique learning opportunity, since it includes the "how" of living as well as the inquiry process of…

The major reason for using the outdoor history museum as a field laboratory is to provide for small in depth studies of "real life" problems relevant for today's students. An authentic New England village of 1790-1840 provides the background for the sequential development of various concepts in the social studies learning unit. Concepts are…

One of the major focuses of this project was the revision of existing curriculum guides for grades one through six (the Contra Costa Social Studies Guides) and the development of guides for grades seven and eight. The emphases were: organization of learning activities under significant generalizations of main concepts; sequential treatment;…