Advances the argument that science educators have a pivotal role as orthographers in preserving and promoting science for all. Interviews Keiyo elders and students (n=748) to determine indigenous names for snakes and how Keiyo oral narratives of snakes are used in teaching and learning. Uses the data to document Keiyo language and construct…

Examines children's and adults' knowledge of the ozone layer and its depletion, whether this knowledge increases with age, and how the ozone layer and ozone hole might be structured as scientific concepts. Uses a standardized set of questions to interview children and adults in Canada. Discusses implications of the results for health…

Reports on a study to elicit junior secondary students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS) through peer collaboration instruction based on science stories specifically developed to present several aspects of NOS. Investigates how students reacted to the stories and whether they were able to extract the aspects of NOS presented in the…

Notes case study evidence that points to some success in using writing frames to encourage pupils to both develop and express their procedural understanding in science. Suggests that fundamental to the success of such frames in encouraging pupils' expression of understanding is the teacher's active promotion of learning as a social process in…

Describes an approach to the teaching of electricity that uses box and AVOW diagrams, novel representations of the properties of the electric circuit that portray current, voltage, resistance, and power. The diagrams were developed as aids in learning, understanding, and problem solving and to promote conceptual change by challenging a number of…

Describes the AstraZeneca-Exeter Science through Telematics (AZEST) project and reports that the Internet has much potential as a communication channel for the provision and discussion of INSET materials for primary science in the UK. Evaluates websites dedicated to primary science at the local level, concept mapping for stimulating discussion,…

Examines senior high school students' cognitive orientation toward scientific or social information, designated as information preference, and associated preferential reasoning modes when presented with an environmental issue concerning nuclear energy usage. Investigates the association of information preference variable with academic and personal…

Investigates gender issues in Israeli advanced placement physics classes. Analyzes matriculation exam scores from approximately 400 high schools over 12 years. Conducts semi-constructed interviews with 50 advanced placement physics students (25 girls and 25 boys). Discusses changes in the ratio of girls, performance, and factors that are…

Presents ideas and conceptual problems of high school students with regard to the cell, its processes, structure, and relation to functions of multicellular organisms. Shows that students have an analogical mechanism that establishes an isomorphism between the representation of the functioning of multicellular organisms of cell processes.…

Evaluates the effect of a training and teaching program for outdoor environmental education on preservice teachers' self-efficacy--a teacher's belief that he or she can teach environmental education effectively. Suggests that preservice teachers' self-efficacy was high before the program and remained unchanged by the training and teaching…

Describes the Draw-a-Scientist Test-Checklist (DAST-C) and discusses concerns regarding stereotypical images and their specific influences on students' perceptions. Reports on a study examining the difference between the drawings of 8th grade students from different ethnic backgrounds using the DAST-C. (Contains 21 references.) (Author/YDS)

Presents a study to design and conduct a three-hour field experience for 3rd and 4th grade students on forestry and forest products, and to determine the cognitive effects of participation in this field trip on the children. Reports an increase in student knowledge after participating in this experience. Discusses the reasons for students'…

Reports on a qualitative case study of four teachers researching current factors influencing the teaching of elementary science. Indicates that previously documented constraining factors continue to be obstacles to teaching elementary school science. Pressure to meet district science standards and benchmarks is a new external factor, and…

"Hands-on Current Electricity" gives K-8 teachers the opportunity to experience inquiry learning about current electricity by (1) experimenting with current electricity through a variety of activities, (2) discovering preconceived mental models of electricity used to understand their observations, (3) creating new mental models that have greater…

"Elementary Science: Where are We Now?" is a review of Elementary Science Education from the 1960s to 1999. Curriculum moved from uniform programs in the 1960s based on two assumptions to a wide diversity of goals, philosophies, and types of materials in the 1970s. The two assumptions behind the elementary science curriculum programs of the 1960s…