Classrooms across the United States increasingly find immigrant science teachers paired with urban minority students, but few of these teachers are prepared for the challenges such cultural assimilation presents. This is particularly true in secondary science education. Identifying potential prospects for culturally adaptive pedagogy in science…

Determined if the number of operational questions asked by fifth- and sixth-grade students (N=72) increased by teacher modeling or by practice at writing such questions. One finding is that students experiencing two types of teacher modeling asked more operational questions than students in a control group. (JN)

Presents an inexpensive class activity to teach elementary students about light reflection off various surfaces. The activity involves aluminum foil, waxed paper, magazine pages, newspapers, overhead transparency film, construction paper, fabric, and a hand lens. A student page includes questions to make students think about reflection. (SM)

Sixty fifth-grade students were randomly assigned to a group to be trained in solving Inhelder and Piaget's pendulum problem by Siegler's method or to a control group. A significant training effect was found. A weak transfer effect was found, but delayed performance showed no training effect. (Author/BW)

Reports a single case design study on the exam performance in science of fifth and sixth graders (n=27) using note taking combined with self-questioning. Authors found gains in science exams when notetaking/self-questioning strategies were in effect. (PR)

Presents a series of investigations focusing on the biodegradable packing materials ("peanuts"), which provide a method for exploring science through experimentation. These activities can help fourth through sixth graders sharpen their critical thinking and science process skills. (PR)

Describes an outreach program in which college students plan, develop, and present hands-on workshops to fourth-grade students and their parents. Provides an overview of the pedagogical aims of this approach and a sense of the timeline for putting the program together. (CCM)

This research, proposing that the teacher is the pivotal component between the student receiving a mediocre science education or a dynamic science education, was designed to observe and to analyze the science teaching strategies and methods of recognized, exemplary, fifth-grade teachers. Six teachers from six different public schools in two…

This book was designed for middle and junior high school science classes and focuses on island biogeography, ecology, and evolution. Sections include: (1) "Galapagos: Frame of Reference"; (2) "Ecology and Islands"; and (3) "Evolution." Nineteen standards-based activities use the Galapagos Islands as a running theme…

Presents activities designed to allow students with backgrounds in states of matter and measurement to have a very concrete hands-on, minds-on experience with both physical and chemical changes and to compare and contrast the end products of each type of change in a concrete way. (PR)

The approach to finding a solution to underachievement in the area of problem solving has been of a fundamental psychological basis. Contrary to such a trend, this study takes into account the sociological processes of learning and transmission by both the family and the school. The research is based on Bernstein's theory in the sociology of…

Describes two one-week chemistry courses for intermediate-grade children and the principles upon which the courses are based. Includes course outlines which give course content, sequence, and the amount of time spent on each activity. (JN)

Cognitive and affective outcomes of a class visit to a participatory science museum were examined by comparing responses of 416 fifth and sixth graders randomly assigned to four conditions (control, exhibit, lesson, exhibit followed by lesson) and two tests (verbal and visual). Results and implications for science education are presented.…

Student questioning within the Search, Solve, Create, and Share (SSCS) problem solving instructional model was investigated. The results suggest that the SSCS problem-solving instructional model increases student questioning in the presence of the teacher (n=22) when compared to a teacher-directed laboratory instructional model. The implications…

Six sixth-grade science textbooks were examined for conceptual structure and readability. Hierarchical concept maps were composed on text segments for chosen topics and maps were scored. Reading analyses were also computed. Two trends were visually but not statistically evident. The Fry readability scores were higher than sixth grade, but no…