Perspectives on the nature of subject matter in science are offered in this paper. It is proposed that science and its context are better viewed as shifting rather than remaining fixed. The rational, moral, and authentic nature of science is explained in reference to education in general and more specifically to the contexts of the science teacher…

Questions of ethics and social responsibility are considered by many to be important issues in science education. Teachers are being exposed to the difficult task of dealing with global problems and values. This book contains papers which deal with this apparent dilemma, raising questions about the responsibilities of science educators in the…

The activities in this booklet were designed to provide second grade children with opportunities to explore areas of natural interest to them while gaining knowledge and practice in math skills and with science processes. Seasonal activities which are appropriate for the first half of the school year are offered on the topics of: holidays, seeds…

Designed primarily for practicing teachers and for use in pre- and in-service courses in science education, this book focuses on how 10- to 15-year-old children learn science. Findings are analyzed and suggestions are offered for improving the teaching/learning process. Issues are discussed and organized into five major sections. These include:…

People use and extend their knowledge of the physical world constantly. Understanding how this fluency is achieved would be an important milestone in understanding human learning and intelligence, as well as a useful guide for constructing machines that learn. This paper presents a theoretical framework that is being developed in an attempt to…

Forty-five educators, mathematicians, scientists, cognitive scientists, and curriculum and technology experts met during January 16-19, 1986, in an attempt to synthesize the current state of knowledge about science education and to recommend actions designed to strengthen the field. This report describes the themes that emerged from the…

The Science in Action series is designed to teach practical science concepts to special-needs students. It is intended to develop students' problem-solving skills by teaching them to observe, record, analyze, conclude, and predict. This document contains a student workbook which deals with basic principles of life science. Six separate units…

This curriculum guide, developed to establish statewide curriculum standards for the Louisiana Competency-based Education Program, encompasses those standards that must be included in the elementary school (kindergarten to grade 6) science program. It consists of: (1) a rationale for an effective elementary school science program; (2) a list and…

This paper reports on two comprehensive multi-institutional collaborative efforts for school improvement. The two studies demonstrate that collaborative efforts involving multiple agencies and multiple agendas can be successful even when separated by considerable geographical distance. The school systems were concerned with implementing a locally…

Science education has received increasing attention during the 1980s in both professional and public forums. This paper addresses three questions having to do with science teaching. The first question concerns student learning in science classes. The document proposes that science achievement is generally disappointing, especially if student…

This grade 1 science curriculum guide contains three activity units: (1) seeds; (2) patterns; and (3) magnets. Each unit contains a letter introducing the unit to parents, teacher background material, lesson plans, and activity sheets. The lesson plans list the science processes involved, content objectives, time frame, group size, vocabulary,…

In December of 1986 and January of 1987, questionnaires on teaching practices in science and mathematics were sent to elementary school principals in Indiana. The first questionnaire, completed by 301 administrators, concerned manipulative use of materials in science and mathematics. The second questionnaire, completed by 317 administrators,…

The theme of this conference was intended to reflect the changes in the economic and educational environment and the changing perceptions of science educators in the United States and in the United Kingdom since the first such seminar which occurred in 1982. The document includes the text of the keynote address by F. James Rutherford entitled…

Teachers from the United States and several other countries have access to the film library system of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This catalog contains the titles and abstracts for over 150 films that are available from NASA on topics regarding space flight, meteorology, astronomy, NASA programs, satellites, research,…

In order to implement a program to integrate mathematics and science instruction at the middle school level a proposal was developed which cited the need for students to recognize the interdependence of science and mathematics by applying quantitative methods to the analysis and communication of scientific concepts, and, through such application,…