The passage of the "Every Student Succeeds" Act (ESSA) provides states the opportunity to craft new goals and strategies for science education. By setting clear goals for science achievement, states can leverage existing policies, including assessments and graduation requirements, to help drive toward set goals. This brief provides a…

This guide provides: (1) background information for teachers on whales; (2) 10 interdisciplinary activities; (3) teacher resources; (4) a bibliography; and (5) "pocket materials." Topic areas addressed in the first section include evolution and adaptation to an aquatic environment, diversity of whales, functional anatomy of feeding and…

This document is a comprehensive directory of Federal offices, programs, and facilities for K-12 education in mathematics and science for the Northeast and Islands Region. The purpose of this directory is to assist educators, parents, and students in attaining the National Education Goals, particularly Goal 4: "By the Year 2000, U.S. students…

Highlights a workshop utilizing a four-volume sourcebook for K-12 science teachers and naturalists. The volumes contain 38 units focusing on land, water, atmosphere and weather, plants, animals, energy, natural ecosystems, urban areas, unusual and rare features, and problems and issues. A sample interdisciplinary activity on bullfrog development…

Described is a study in which scientific research on the Gulf of Maine was used as a framework for establishing the extent of Maine students' knowledge about the nature and management of marine systems. Methodology, frameworks, data analysis, comparisons with other standardized tests, and results are presented. (CW)

A comparison was made of student understandings of marine science and marine resource concepts in two geographically distant but similar sociocultural regions of the United States. The study is based on the nature of ecological events, students' understanding in the context of meaningful learning, and the cultural context in which learning takes…

Since 1992, Maine has received National Science Foundation Statewide Systemic Initiative (SSI) program monies. SSI is a model for improvement of mathematics and science education based on systemic reform. The SSI initiative in Maine has created seven "Beacon School" sites that vary in size and location including high poverty areas, urban…

A hands-on approach to science is highly desirable because an inquiry approach to science greatly promotes learning. However when students and teachers manipulate glassware, chemical, and other materials, accidents will happen. Because of this, risk management and safety procedures become an important, integral part of the science curriculum. This…

This study assessed the level of scientific and natural resource knowledge that 4th, 8th, and 11th grade students in Maine possessed concerning acidic deposition. A representative sample of public school students (n=175) was interviewed on 12 concept principles considered critical to a full understanding of the acidic deposition problem. These…