This essay traces the history of an activity designed to promote the intellectual and social development of elementary-age schoolchildren during the afterschool hours. Following in the footsteps of Urie Bronfenbrenner, I highlight his argument that just as all human development occurs in contexts of varying levels of inclusiveness and mutual…

Stimulus over-selectivity refers to behavior being controlled by one element of the environment at the expense of other equally salient aspects of the environment. Four experiments trained and tested non-clinical participants on a two-component trial-and-error discrimination task to explore the effects of different training regimes on…

In the literature, there has been a focus on the effectiveness of larger sized electronic brainstorming groups; however, mechanisms for its effectiveness still remain open to question and some methodological concerns (e.g., the evaluation of ideas and the typing speed, and the use of different formats) continue to be important problems. To…

The need to determine the value of environmental entities has generated substantial research regarding optimal methods for obtaining valuations from survey respondents. The literature suggests the importance of providing clear, complete descriptions of the entity being valued prior to respondents indicating their valuations. The target entity's…

Two experiments are presented on the planning of ideal towns by undergraduates. The basic approach involved a modified map-sketching technique in which subjects placed sixteen town elements into two-dimensional physical environments. Results were analyzed by information theory, cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling. (BL)

This manual was prepared for the purpose of stimulating the development of effective unit operations and unit processes laboratory courses in environmental engineering. Laboratory activities emphasizing physical operations, biological, and chemical processes are designed for various educational and equipment levels. An introductory section reviews…

Students need a wide range of experiences in considering the biological, social, economic, and psychological aspects of crowding on their lives and on their community. (DF)

Derived from tests presently used by state and federal agencies involved with pollution detection, this Environmental Test Kit contains materials and instructions for ten experiments. Each experiment is designed to test a different aspect of air and water, to find out whether or not the air and water in the tester's immediate area has been…

Reports on four experiments and/or activities that were used to stimulate student interest in environmental science. Makes the case that varying classroom activities in the environmental science classroom makes the teaching and learning experience more alive and vital to both instructor and student. (Author/MM)

This teachers' handbook outlines the philosophy of this program, the methods of teaching it, and the information needed to perform the investigations. The purpose of this program is to encourage students to identify an environmental area to work in and to provide them with the tools to investigate it. The program fosters the idea of unsupervised…

Utilizing scientific processes to build a comprehensive background in the area of air, weather, and man's use and misuse of his environment is the goal of this student text. Basic information introduces each of the 22 chapters, followed by classroom or laboratory experiments when appropriate, review questions, and ideas for further investigations…