Describes instruction in an urban sixth-grade classroom in which students are learning about mass, volume, and density by attempting to layer three miscible solutions of differing densities atop one another. Contains 24 references. (DDR)

This study investigates the fate of claims made by middle school science students working in collaborative groups in a multicultural urban classroom and the concomitant effects on engagement and understanding. Given problems of a complex and open-ended nature in a learning community setting, students were challenged to establish group positions…

This study examines thought, language, and related action in sixth-graders working to understand concepts related to mass, volume, and density. Students from a heterogeneous urban classroom worked in various social contexts including individually, in pairs, in groups of four, and as a class. Their work was examined via videotapes, field notes,…

Task engagement and conceptual change were studied for 12 sixth graders in 2 classrooms where teachers and instructional materials provided students with extensive support to understand science better. Results indicate that some students recognize the value of science learning and demonstrate cognitive engagement, whereas others pursue alternative…

This paper describes a sequence of lessons based on a modified version of the ESS Colored Solutions problem posed in an urban multicultural middle school setting in which students often worked in collaborative groups. As students encountered observable phenomena, they were encouraged to record techniques and observations, search for patterns in…