The Challenger Learning Center of Kentucky is 1 of 34 Challenger Center sites for space science education nationally and the only one in a rural area. Since the center's opening in March 1999, some 5,500 sixth-graders have "flown" space missions that involved using teamwork and math and science skills to solve problems and complete the…

This activity guide, developed to provide hands-on environmental education activities geared to Pettigrew State Park in North Carolina, is targeted for grades 5, 6, and 7 and meets curriculum objectives of the standard course of study established by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Three types of activities are included:…

These materials were developed for use at the Ocean Institute at Sandy Hook Park in New Jersey. They are used by the students in Brookdale College's Project Impact, an early intervention program for sixth- and seventh- grade students. These activities are designed to help students learn more about the history, geology, biology, and career…

This book is an energy, electricity, and science resource guide for teachers of grades K-3. The types of energy covered are: coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, renewable energy sources, electricity and food. Thirty-one interdisciplinary energy lessons are the heart of the book. Each lesson is teacher tested and can be incorporated into the…

The study described in this article is part of a broader research undertaking developed by the Project ESSA--Sociological Studies of the Classroom--whose main aim is to find pedagogic practices appropriate for all children. This study is mainly based on Bernstein's theory concerning the relation between social class and code and uses his concept…

This study explored the sensitivity of a multilevel approach in detecting outcomes of a hands-on science program, exploring whether the instruction of a hands-on unit had any impact on students' performance and whether the estimated magnitude of the impact was different according to the proximity of the assessments to the unit taught. Also studied…

The mission of the National Center for Improving Science Education, a partnership between the NETWORK, Inc., and the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), is to promote changes in science curricula, science teaching, and assessment of student learning in science. The center analyzes and makes recommendations for policy and practice at the…

This publication, the fifth in a series of seven for elementary schools, is an environmental education curriculum guide with a focus on waste management issues. It contains a unit of exercises selected for fourth grade students focusing on the waste management. Litter is cited as one problem that very young children can comprehend and solve. They…

This publication, the sixth in a series of seven for elementary schools, is an environmental education curriculum guide with a focus on waste management issues. While children may be unable to resolve other environmental problems litter is cited as one pollutant that they can comprehend and solve. They can learn to dispose of waste properly, help…

This publication, the last in a series of seven for elementary schools, is an environmental education curriculum guide with a focus on waste management issues. It contains a unit of exercises selected for sixth grade students focusing on community solutions to solid waste pollution. Waste management activities included in this unit seek to…

This paper reports on a qualitative study of children's discourse-reasoning about knowledge objects emerging when the classroom becomes a community of discourse. Its purpose was to analyze metacognitive reflections with respect to the steps of the argument. Within science education classes, a part of a wider ecological curriculum was implemented…

A number of studies in science education have indicated the general effectiveness of level one videodisc-based programs in improving student knowledge in the sciences. The purpose of the evaluation study was to ascertain the effectiveness of the videodisc-based elementary science program in selected K-6 grade classrooms as determined by the users…

The activities in this book are designed to reinforce the elementary concepts of flight. General background information, suggested activities, questions for discussion, and answers are provided. Twenty-eight reproducible worksheets are contained in this guide. Topics include: hot air balloons, the physics of flight, air resistance, airplane…

Designed to support curriculum and to facilitate instruction and learning at the sixth grade level, this annotated bibliography contains materials found in the library at the Brawley Middle School in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. To foster cooperative planning between teacher and librarian, the bibliography provides sample activities and lessons…

This paper describes the development of a sixth-grade "Matter and Molecules" unit using a new curriculum development model based on conceptual change research, the field testing of this unit in 15 classrooms and the field test results. The development process and the resulting unit are contrasted with the unit's predecessor, the "Models of Matter"…