National Academies Press: OpenBook

Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science (1996)

Chapter: 4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science

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Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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CHAPTER 4
MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE

MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE-CORE MATERIALS

4.1 Beginnings. SCIS 3. Herbert D. Thier and Robert C. Knott. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: K Beginnings, a year-long module, introduces kindergartners to a variety of basic scientific concepts and process skills. The major topics of the module's 10 sections, which may be taught in any order, are (1) Life on Land, (2) Color, (3) Shape, (4) Texture, (5) Odor, (6) Life in Water, (7) Sound, (8) Size, (9) Quantity, and (10) Position. The activities develop process skills such as observing, classifying, communicating, comparing, counting, describing, and ordering. Among the activities, children observe plants and animals in terrariums and aquariums; they identify, compare, and sort objects and organisms by color, shape, size, and texture; they describe odors and sounds; they compare quantities; and they describe the relative position of objects.

The 10 sections in Beginnings contain 56 chapters. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each section, and a glossary.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-930-3), $39.50. Kit, $565.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

4.2 Ideas and Inventions. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, III.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1992.

Grades: 3, 4 Ideas and Inventions consists of 4 activities that promote student inventiveness. Each activity provides science content while introducing a conventional technique for revealing the unseen. Students use the techniques from the structured part of the activities—crayon rubbing, chromatography, carbon printing, and mirror imagery—to invent something or to produce games, puzzles, artwork, and other creations. Divergent thinking and creativity are encouraged.

The 4 activities in Ideas and Inventions require a total of at least 10 class sessions. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 4 activity folios, duplication

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×
Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×
822

ABOUT THE ANNOTATIONS IN "MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE—CORE MATERIALS"

Entry Numbers

Curriculum materials are arranged alphabetically by title in each category (Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books) in chapters 1 through 4 of this guide. In addition, each annotation has a two-part entry number. For each entry number, the chapter number is given before the period; the number after the period locates the entry within that chapter.

For example, the first entry number in chapter 1 is 1.1; the second entry in chapter 2 is 2.2, and so on.

The entry numbers within each curriculum chapter run consecutively through Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books.

Order of Bibliographic Information

Following is the arrangement of the facts of publication in the annotations in this section:

  • Title of publication.

  • Series title, or series acronym if commonly used.

  • Authors (either individual names or organizational author).

  • Name and location of developer (in parentheses), if different from publisher.

  • Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication.

Series Acronyms

Following are acronyms of series titles in "Multidisciplinary and Applied Science—Core Materials." (Series titles that are spelled out are not included in this list.)

FOSS

Full Option Science System

SCIS 3

Science Curriculum Improvement Study

Price and Acquisition Information

Ordering information is presented in a block immediately below the annotation. Included are the following:

  • Prices of teacher's guides, activity books, and kits or units.

  • The name of a principal publisher/supplier (not necessarily the sole source) for the items listed in the price category. (The address and phone and fax numbers for each publisher and supplier appear in appendix A, "Publishers and Suppliers.")

  • An indication of the various sources from which one might obtain the required materials.

masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0028-X), $101. Complete module, $279. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

4.3 Interaction and Systems. SCIS 3. Herbert D. Thier and Robert C. Knott. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: 2 Interaction and Systems is a comprehensive, half-year program of physical science and earth science during which students investigate evidence of interaction in a variety of systems. For example, in physical science they investigate batteries interacting with bulbs, and magnets interacting with paper clips and other metallic objects. The systems concept is applied to the earth sciences as students observe and describe the interaction between land and water. Students gain practical experience with the mathematical concepts of ratio and proportion as they experiment with gear and pulley systems. They interpret dissolving, color change, precipitation, and evaporation as evidence of interaction. Through activities with static electricity, magnets, and compasses they investigate interactions between objects that are not in contact. Throughout this unit, students have the opportunity to observe and col-

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

lect data, experiment, hypothesize, interpret findings, discuss results, and make predictions.

Interaction and Systems has 7 sections consisting of a total of 21 chapters. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each section, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-933-8), $39.50. Kit, $650.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

4.4 Models and Designs. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1992.

Grades: 5, 6 The Models and Designs module provides students with experiences that develop the concept of a scientific model and engage them in the processes of design and construction. Students work in cooperative groups to create solutions to a variety of real-world problems as they consider the relationship of structure to function. They use their senses to investigate sealed black boxes, and then they develop conceptual models of the boxes' contents and construct physical models to test their ideas. Students engineer a model that replicates the behavior of another model—a fanciful device called a hum dinger. They construct a self-propelled cart of their own design and modify the cart to perform specific tricks.

The Models and Designs module consists of 4 activities, requiring about 12 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 4 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0075-1), $101. Complete module, $495. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

4.5 Variables. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grades: 5, 6 In Variables, students investigate the concept "variable" as they design and conduct their own experiments with pendulums, airplanes, boats, and catapults. They systematically investigate weight, release position, and length of pendulums to find out which of these variables affects the number of swings completed in a given period of time. They make paper boats of various heights and determine how many pennies each boat can hold before sinking. They build windup airplanes to fly along a string, and then they control variables such as the number of times the propeller is wound, the weight of the plane, and the slope of the string in measuring how far the planes will fly. They catapult objects of various sizes and weights to investigate the variables that contribute to the highest and longest flips.

Variables consists of 4 major activities, requiring a total of about 20 class sessions. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 4 activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for the student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0052-2), $101. Complete module, $319. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE-SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

ABOUT THE ANNOTATIONS IN "MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE—SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS"

Entry Numbers

Curriculum materials are arranged alphabetically by title in each category (Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books) in chapters 1 through 4 of this guide. In addition, each annotation has a two-part entry number. For each entry number, the chapter number is given before the period; the number after the period locates the entry within that chapter.

For example, the first entry number in chapter 1 is 1.1; the second entry in chapter 2 is 2.2, and so on.

The entry numbers within each curriculum chapter run consecutively through Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books.

Order of Bibliographic Information

Following is the arrangement of the facts of publication in the annotations in this section:

  • Title of publication.

  • Series title, or series acronym if commonly used. · Authors (either individual names or organizational author).

  • Name and location of developer (in parentheses), if different from publisher.

  • Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication.

Series Acronyms

Following are acronyms of series titles in "Multidisciplinary and Applied Science—Supplementary Materials." (Series titles that are spelled out are not included in this list.)

DSM

Delta Science Module

GEMS

Great Explorations in Math and Science

REEP

Regional Environmental Education Program

STAR

Science Technology and Reading

Price and Acquisition information

Ordering information is presented in a block immediately below the annotation. Included are the following:

  • Prices of teacher's guides, activity books, and kits or units.

  • The name of a principal publisher/supplier (not necessarily the sole source) for the items listed in the price category. (The address and phone and fax numbers for each publisher and supplier appear in Appendix A, "Publishers and Suppliers.")

  • An indication of the various sources from which one might obtain the required materials.

4.6 Acid Rain. GEMS. Colin Hocking, Jacqueline Barber, and Jan Coonrod. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1990.

Grades: 6+ A unit on an important environmental issue, Acid Rain fosters scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills through varied activity formats. Students develop a working knowledge of the pH scale by measuring the pH of everyday solutions; they make "fake lakes" and determine how the pH changes after an acid rainstorm; and they investigate the effect of buffering to reduce the acidity of lakes. In other activities, students conduct a plant-growth experiment to determine the effect of various dilutions of acid on seed germination; they present a play focusing on the effects of acid rain on aquatic life; they play a "startling statements" game; and they hold a town meeting to discuss possible solutions to the problem of acid rain. The unit provides students with much information on acid rain, encourages them to analyze complex environmental issues, and illustrates interrelationships of science, technology, and society.

The teacher's guide includes background information on acid rain and detailed instructions for conducting each of the 8 sessions, which require 50 minutes each.

Price: $15 (ISBN 0-912511-74-5). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.7 Build It! Festival. GEMS. Philip Gonsalves and Jaine Kopp. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1995.

Grades: K-6 Originally designed as a large-group festival presentation by the Lawrence Hall of Science, Build It! Festival is adapted to the individual classroom in this teacher's guide. Working in pairs or small groups at learning stations, students connect geometry to the real-world experience of building various structures. A preliminary activity involves free exploration with the manipulatives used in Build It! Then, in an introductory activity, students design and build structures using pattern blocks. In the next 8 activities, they construct three-dimensional shapes using two-dimensional paper shapes; they create two-and three-dimensional shapes out of newspaper dowels; they construct three-dimensional structures using snap-together geometric shapes; they explore bilateral symmetry as they make designs with pattern blocks; they figure out patterns and continue them; and they make tessellations and tangrams.

Each activity features an overview, a list of materials needed, instructions for preparing and presenting the activity, extension ideas, and reproducible masters for all patterns used in the unit. Some activities offer two options—one for younger and one for older students. The guide also includes a glossary, a list of resource books and literature connections, sources for the materials used in the book, and a section on how to make Build It! a school-wide event.

Price: $20 (ISBN 0-912511-88-5). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.8 Change Around Us. Life Lab Science. Seattle, Wash.: Videodiscovery, 1992.

Grade: 2 In Change Around Us, children build an outdoor or indoor garden to use as a laboratory for a year. They explore patterns of change in the natural world and learn that resources change as they are used, recycled, or depleted. Investigations are organized in 8 units: (1) Sensing Changes, (2) Investigating Plants, (3) Investigating Water, (4) Investigating Air, (5) Investigating Food, (6) Investigating Food Chains, (7) Investigating Resources, and (8) Conserving Resources. Activities include students working in small groups to create imaginary insects, devising an experiment to test an assumption about plant needs, predicting what will happen to ice cubes placed in various locations, tracing food items to their sources, and making and maintaining a compost pile. Each unit integrates earth, life, and physical science concepts.

The 8 units in Change Around Us include 54 activities, typically 30 to 60 minutes long. For each unit, the teacher's guide provides a planning calendar, an activity chart with a summary of each activity, and a book list. Each lesson plan includes background information, a list of the materials required, step-by-step instructions for preparing for and conducting the activity, suggestions for review and reinforcement, and extension ideas. A student lab book is available in both English and Spanish. A garden log, videodisc, music tape, and tool kit are also available to supplement the teacher's guide.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 156307-200-9), $80. Student Lab Book (ISBN 1-56307-174-6), $9. Life Lab Package, $575. Complete Life Lab Science Kit, $375. Publisher/supplier: Videodiscovery. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from Let's Get Growing.

4.9 Change Over Time. Life Lab Science. Seattle, Wash.: Videodiscovery, 1994.

Grade: 5 In Change Over Time, students build an outdoor or indoor garden to use as a laboratory for a year. They discover that living things have characteristics that enable them to survive and that these characteristics change over time in response to changes in the earth and its atmosphere. The investigations are organized in 8 individual modules: (1) Changes, (2) Adaptations, (3) Energy and Change, (4) Seasonal Change, (5) Weather and Climate Changes, (6) Soil Changes, (7) Growing Together, and (8) Change Over Time. Activities include students investigating physical and chemical changes, exploring how living things survive in their habitats, experimenting with different kinds of insulation, and making a model of the earth's orbit. In other activities they compile data about climate, observe how earthworms affect soil, dissect flowers and identify the parts, and create a garden timeline. Each module integrates earth, life, and physical science concepts.

Change Over Time has 8 modules, each including 6 to 8 activities of 30 to 90 minutes. The modules may be used in sequence or organized according to an existing curriculum. Each module contains a teacher's resource section and a student lab book. The teacher's resource section provides complete information for setting up and conducting the lessons. It includes a summary of each activity, a unit planner, a list of recommended literature, and an assessment checklist. The student lab book (available in English and Spanish) provides space for students to write notes, draw field sketches, and record data and observations. It

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

also includes pre-and post-assessment lab sheets, a unit calendar, and a student newsletter.

Prices: Teacher's Resource Books (complete set) (ISBN 1-56307-1991), $265. Life Lab package, $300. Science garden kit (complete), $375. Publisher/supplier: Videodiscovery. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from Let's Get Growing.

4.10 Connections. Life Lab Science. Seattle, Wash.: Videodiscovery, 1994.

Grade: 4 In Connections, students build an outdoor or indoor garden that they use as a laboratory for a year. They discover that organisms, the environment, and the interactions between the two are linked together in an ecosystem. They learn how a system sustains itself over time. Connections has 8 individual modules: (1) Interactions, (2) Habitats, (3) Water Interactions, (4) Nutrient Interactions, (5) Light Interactions, (6) Food Webs, (7) Ecosystems, and (8) Sustainable Systems. Activities include the following: students observe interactions in a microhabitat; they experiment with variables affecting plant growth; they create and monitor open and closed terrariums; they analyze compost to understand factors influencing decomposition; and they explore the effects of light on plants and animals. In other activities, students investigate toxins in food chains, create dioramas of ecosystems, and create a sustainable garden plan. Each module integrates earth, life, and physical science concepts.

Each of the 8 modules in Connections has 8 to 9 activities, requiring 30 to 60 minutes each. The modules may be used in sequence or organized according to an existing curriculum. Each module contains a teacher's resource section and a student lab book. The teacher's resource section provides complete information for setting up and conducting the lessons. It includes a summary of each activity, a unit planner, a book list, an endangered species project section, and an assessment checklist. The student lab book (available in English and Spanish) provides space for students to write notes, draw field sketches, and record data and observations. It also includes pre-and post-assessment lab sheets, a unit calendar, and a student newsletter.

Prices: Teacher's Resource Books (complete set) (ISBN 1-56307-198-3), $265. Life Lab package, $300. Science garden kit (complete), $375. Publisher/supplier: Videodiscovery. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from Let's Get Growing.

4.11 Discovering Deserts. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: 3-6 The interdisciplinary activities in Discovering Deserts introduce students to the ecology of arid lands. Through games, songs, stories, drawings, and drama, students explore the following topics: what a desert is, how deserts form, and the different types of deserts; the ways in which plants and animals have adapted to harsh desert conditions; plant and animal relationships in desert communities; and the ways in which people are changing desert habitats.

Discovering Deserts has 5 chapters (each on a broad theme), a craft section, and an appendix. Teachers may choose from the 23 activities or teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and provide games, puzzles, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-34-4). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.12 Diving into Oceans. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6 Diving into Oceans introduces students to the physical properties of the sea, the variety of habitats from deep ocean floor to inter-tidal zone, the variety of plants and animals that live in these habitats, and the interactions between people and the marine environment. Students conduct simulation experiments with saltwater; they play food web and symbiosis games; and they engage in many other activities that integrate art, language arts, mathematics, and social science with study of the ocean.

Diving into Oceans has 4 chapters (each on a broad theme), a craft section, and an appendix. Teachers may choose single activities from among the 19 provided, or they can teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and provide games, puzzles, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-36-0). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.13 Earth Is Home. Life Lab Science. Seattle, Wash.: Videodiscovery, 1992.

Grade: 1 In Earth Is Home, students build an indoor or outdoor garden to use as a laboratory throughout the year. Investigations are organized in 7 units: (1) Sensing Our World, (2) Exploring Soil, (3) Observing Earth's Cycles, (4) Investigating Weather, (5) Exploring Plant Life, (6) Exploring Animal Life, and (7) Investigating Garden Homes. Each unit integrates earth, life, and physical science concepts.

The 7 units have a total of 59 activities, typically 20 to 40 minutes long. For each unit the teacher's guide provides a unit planning calendar, an

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

activity chart with a summary of each activity, and a book list. Each lesson plan includes background information, a list of the materials required, step-by-step instructions on preparing for and conducting the activity, suggestions for review and reinforcement, and extension ideas. A student lab book is available in English and Spanish. A garden log, videodisc, music tape, and tool kit are available to supplement the teacher's guide.

Prices: Teacher's Resource Book (ISBN 1-56307-170-3), $80. Student Lab Book (ISBN 1-56307-169-X), $9. Complete Life Lab Science Kit, $375. Publisher/supplier: Videodiscovery. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from Let's Get Growing.

4.14 Energy, Grade 4. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: 4 Energy, an environmental education unit, introduces students to energy, its various forms, the need for energy to "fuel" both living organisms and machines, and the impact of human actions on nonrenewable energy sources. Activities include the following: students identify the various forms that energy can take; they role-play the main components of the process of photosynthesis; and they test for the presence of starch in leaves. Students also construct models of food chains, dramatize the steps in making coal, and learn to read an electric meter.

The introduction to Energy includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit has 10 lessons that stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.15 Great Explorations. Life Lab Science. Seattle, Wash.: Videodiscovery, 1992.

Grade: K In Great Explorations, kindergartners build an outdoor or indoor garden to use as a laboratory for a year as they utilize their senses to learn about the world around them. The investigations are organized in 6 units: (1) Exploring Our Senses, (2) Exploring Water, (3) Exploring Soil, (4) Exploring Plants, (5) Exploring Garden Animals, and (6) Garden Celebrations. Through the activities, students make discoveries about soil, water, plants, and animals. They use sifters, funnels, and measuring cups to explore the properties of soils; they, search the garden for scented objects; they find and investigate earthworms to discover their habits and how they react to stimuli; and they germinate seeds to learn that seeds become sprouts. The scientific concepts that children study-such as life cycles, weather, decomposition, and habitats-are observed from real life. Each unit integrates earth, life, and physical science concepts.

The 6 units in Great Explorations consist of a total of 69 activities, typically 30 minutes in length. For each unit the teacher's guide provides a unit planning calendar, an activity chart with a summary of each activity, and a book list. Each lesson plan includes background information, a list of the materials required, step-by-step instructions for preparing for and conducting the activity, suggestions for review and reinforcement, and extension ideas. Some activities in each unit are conducted at a free-exploration station. A garden log, videodisc, music tape, and tool kit are available to supplement the teacher's guide.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 156307-163-0), $80. Life Lab Package (ISBN 1-56307-163-0), $430. Complete Life Lab Science Kit, $375. Publisher/supplier: Videodiscovery. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from Let's Get Growing.

4.16 The Growing Classroom: Garden-Based Science. Roberta Jaffe and Gary Appel. New York, N.Y.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1990.

Grades: 3-6 The Growing Classroom is a sourcebook with 13 units of activities for teachers interested in developing a garden-based science program. The book provides general information about the Life Lab program and explains why the garden provides an important, exciting context for learning science. Information on starting a school garden and incorporating it into the classroom is presented. There are suggestions for adapting the Life Lab program to specific needs and resources, management techniques, and ideas for cultivating community support. The activities relate to specific concepts and topics such as "The Living Earth," "Cycles and Changes," "Climate,'' and "Nutrients."

The Growing Classroom includes blackline masters, equipment designs and planting guides, a scope and sequence chart, and a complete materials list for each unit.

Price: $36.32 (ISBN 0-201-21539-X). Distributor: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.17 Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight. GEMS. Alan Gould. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1986.

Grades: 5-6+ In Hot Water and Warm Homes From Sunlight, students perform experiments with model houses and water heating to investigate solar power. An activity on the experimental design and results of a plant-growth study introduces students to the concept and essential elements of a controlled experiment. Students then build model houses to determine how windows affect passive solar heating of the house. They

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

use aluminum pie pans as model water heaters to investigate the effect of clear covers on water-heating efficiency.

Each of the 5 lesson plans (requiring a total of 5 or 6 class sessions of 45 minutes each) includes an overview, a list of materials, suggestions for preparation, directions for the activity, and extensions. Reproducible masters of patterns and student data sheets are included in the teacher's guide.

Price: $10. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.18 How People Get Food: How People Produce, Change, and Move Food. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Ind.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1993.

Grade: 2 Food production, preservation, and distribution are among the topics explored in How People Get Food. The lessons are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) as the human population grows, more food must be produced to feed more people; (2) inventions to solve food problems have caused new problems that people are working to solve; and (3) food must be safely moved from places where it is produced to places where it is bought. Activities include students freezing orange slices to demonstrate the effect of cold on crops, experimenting with hydroponic farming on a small scale, preserving fruit, and researching how their favorite foods get to them.

How People Get Food has 14 lessons. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson has background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0590-26145-2), $20.70. Student Book, $6.50. Complete unit, $375.00. Consumables kit, $29.00. Publisher/supplier : Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

4.19 How People Invent: How Problems and Solutions Change Over Time. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Children's Museum of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 5 In How People Invent, students explore invention from the brainstorming process to the development of a working model. The lessons are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) people use problem-solving methods to invent new processes and devices, (2) new inventions and new applications of existing inventions are developed by observing and thinking about everyday occurrences, and (3) inventors use models to make and test new inventions and to minimize the dangers of untested technologies. Activities include developing and testing hypotheses about the relative speed of falling objects and using trial and error to solve problems involving the load capacity of aluminum foil boats. Students also make scale drawings and then use the drawings to construct a model of a building that could withstand an earthquake. They make model gliders and refine them into model airplanes before exploring jet propulsion.

How People Invent is a 17-lesson unit. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027747-2), $27. Student Book, $10. Complete unit, $450. Consumables kit, $76. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

4.20 How Things Work. Life Lab Science. Seattle, Wash.: Videodiscovery, 1992.

Grades: 2, 3 In How Things Work, students build an indoor or outdoor garden to use as a laboratory throughout the year. They investigate structures in the natural world and discover how the smaller parts contribute to the way the whole structure works. Investigations are organized in 8 units: (1) Sensory Explorations, (2) Seeds, (3) Soil, (4) Weather and Climate, (5) Tools, (6) Plants, (7) Garden Animals, and (8) Habitats. Activities include students working in small groups as they make detailed observations about a plant, comparing seeds that "hitchhike" on fur with those that disperse in other ways, and performing a simple experiment to explore the capacity of various soils to hold water. In other activities, they record measurements from a weather station, explore how garden tools work as levers, compare the roots of watered and unwatered plants, and map animal movements on sand. Each unit integrates earth, life, and physical science concepts.

The 8 units consist of a total of 59 activities, typically 30 to 45 minutes long. For each unit the teacher's guide provides a planning calendar, an activity chart with a summary of each activity, and a book list. Each lesson plan provides background information, a list of the materials required, step-by-step instructions for preparing for and conducting the

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

activity, suggestions for review and reinforcement, and extension ideas. A student lab book is available in both English and Spanish. A garden log, videodisc, music tape, and tool kit are available to supplement the teacher's guide.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 156307-205-X), $80. Student Lab Book (ISBN 1-56307-204-1), $9. Life Lab Package, $575. Complete Life Lab Science Kit, $375. Publisher/supplier: Videodiscovery. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kits from Let's Get Growing.

4.21 Key Stage 1, Reception Teacher's File. New Horizons Science 5-16. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Grade: K Key Stage 1, Reception Teacher's File, designed to meet British national curriculum standards, provides a range of ideas to give a science aspect to any theme, topic, or area of study in the kindergarten classroom. This teacher's guide is organized into 3 parts. Part 1 describes the use of interactive displays (that is, learning centers) in science activities. Part 2 provides ideas for science activities in 5 areas of "play"—domestic, water, sand, clay, and construction. In part 2, students experiment with objects that float and sink, compare the characteristics of wet and dry sand, and build a wall from toy bricks and test its strength. Part 3 includes science activities organized in 5 themes: living things and their environment, weather, materials, energy and forces, and ourselves. In part 3, students sort, weigh, and cook vegetables; test materials to see if they are waterproof; measure the capacity of a number of different bags; play with toy vehicles that move heavy loads; play a pairing game; and much more.

The teacher's guide for Key Stage 1, Reception Teacher's File, includes numerous photographs and provides complete instructions for each activity. It features 2 appendixes—on multicultural aspects of science education and on construction kits—and several reproducible masters. A set of 5 student workbooks corresponding to the 5 themes presented in part 3 are available.

Price: $53.30 (ISBN 0-521-39794-4). Publisher/supplier: Cambridge University Press. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.22 Key Stage 1, Y1-2, Teacher's File. New Horizons Science 5-16. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Grades: 1, 2 Key Stage 1, Y1-2, Teacher's File, provides an introduction to New Horizons: Science 5-16, a curriculum designed to meet British national curriculum standards at key stage 1. The volume contains essential information about the development and design of the project and about the 22 modules to be used throughout Y1 and Y2 (year 1 and year 2) of the curriculum. This teacher's guide includes 10 of these modules. They focus on the following topics: weather, similarities and differences among humans, physical and chemical characteristics of materials, electricity, pushing and pulling forces, everyday waste products, and health and human safety. Each module contains (1) a plan of the module, (2) a summary of which statements of attainment are covered in the module and where they can be assessed, (3) a "thinking ahead" list of resources that may need to be organized in advance, (4) notes on presenting the module, (5) 5 activities with ideas for extensions, and (6) an exploration. Each module is self-contained and offers a series of scientific learning experiences that can be easily integrated in topics and themes common to primary classes. Several modules may be linked to provide a longer period of study.

Key Stage 1, Y1-2, Teacher's File, includes 10 modules. Copymasters, games, pupils' storybooks, and flip book pictures accompany the modules.

Price: $157 (ISBN 0-521-39795-2). Publisher/supplier: Cambridge University Press. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.23 Once Upon a GEMS Guide: Connecting Young People's Literature to Great Explorations in Math and Science. GEMS/Handbooks. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1993.

Grades: Teacher Resource The Once Upon a GEMS Guide is an annotated bibliography of selected titles of young people's literature. The 3 major sections are (1) GEMS Guides, (2) Math Strands, and (3) Science Themes. The first section makes literature connections for 40 GEMS teacher's guides and provides a synopsis of the activities, including the concepts, skills, and themes addressed in each guide. The second section makes literature connections and provides definitions for 8 mathematics strands. The third section makes literature connections and provides definitions for 10 major themes in science. In each section, literary selections are listed alphabetically by title, with an estimated age range and an annotation. Many of the books consider ways that issues related to multicultural diversity, equality, and gender are involved in science and mathematics education.

Price: $24 (ISBN 0-912511-78-8). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.24 Paper Towel Testing. GEMS. Cary I. Sneider and Jacqueline Barber. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1987.

Grades: 5-6+ In Paper Towel Testing, students design and conduct scientific tests to compare the qualities of several brands of paper towels. Teams of students plan and conduct controlled experiments to determine which brand is most absorbent and which has the greatest wet strength. They discuss their results and plan and conduct follow-up experiments. Results are averaged and compared. After calculating the unit cost of each brand of paper towel, students reexamine their findings and discuss which brand is the best buy.

The guide includes detailed instructions for conducting each extension idea and provides summary outlines of the 4 sessions, which require 30 to 35 minutes each. Reproducible masters of student data sheets are included.

Price: $8.50. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.25 Pollution. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1994.

Grades: 5, 6 This module introduces students to the concept of pollution. They explore solid waste disposal, air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution. Activities include the following: students determine the average volume of paper waste that their classmates generate on a daily basis; they recycle old newspaper; they collect particles from the air and then determine their concentration level and infer their source; they construct a simple water filtration system; they test the pH of water samples; and they take a sound survey in their school.

Pollution includes 12 activities that require about 22 class sessions, typically 30 to 45 minutes long. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, a list of objectives for each activity, a planning schedule, background information, and preparation and materials management strategies. A complete lesson plan is provided for each lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-107-8), $24.95. Kit, $245.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

4.26 Science and Technology by Design: 1. Colin Webb. Sydney, Australia: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

Grades: 3, 4 The activities in Science and Technology by Design: 1 involve investigating, designing, making, and using technology. The more than 100 activities are organized in 11 units. Among these activities, students investigate how things balance, distinguish between living and nonliving things, and explore the properties of water. They make a variety of things that demonstrate their understanding of heat as a form of energy, they explore light and vision, and they investigate the properties of materials and how they can be changed. Other activities include making and calibrating timing devices, designing constructions that explore the properties of air and wind, designing and making sound devices, and using constructions to investigate a number of mechanical principles.

Science and Technology by Design: 1 provides an introduction to each unit. The 2-page activities consist of a reproducible student page that presents the challenge and provides notes for the teacher that explain the scientific concept involved, along with ideas to stimulate discussion.

Price: Aust. $49.95 (ISBN 0-72952849-9). Publisher/supplier: Harcourt Brace, Australia. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.27 Science and Technology by Design: 2. Colin Webb Sydney, Australia: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

Grades: 4-6 The activities in Science and Technology by Design: 2 involve investigating, designing, making, and using technology. The nearly 100 activities are organized in 8 units. Students (1) design and make a variety of simple machines; (2) explore ideas about health, diet, and the need for exercise and sleep, and look at the five senses; (3) explore the properties and shapes of materials as they build various structures; (4) design, investigate, and solve problems using fibers; (5) develop an understanding of the nature of energy, methods of storing energy, uses of energy, and the effect different types of energy have on some materials; (6) investigate flying models, different types of animals that fly, how air can be used to do work, and how to make instruments that can measure the movement of air; (7) investigate playground animals and plants; and (8) consider how animals and people communicate.

Science and Technology bay Design: 2 provides an introduction for each unit. The 2-page activities consist of a reproducible student page that presents the challenge, and provides notes for the teacher explaining the scientific concept involved, along with ideas to stimulate discussion.

Price: Aust. $49.50 (ISBN 0-72952851-0). Publisher/supplier: Harcourt Brace, Australia. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.28 Science and Technology by Design: 3. Colin Webb. Sydney, Australia: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

Grades: 4, 5 The activities in Science and Technology by Design: 3 involve investigating, designing, making, and using technology. The nearly 100 activities are organized in 10 units. Students (1) design and calibrate simple measuring instruments; (2) use the activity of microorganisms in practical ways such as making bread, cottage cheese, and yogurt; (3) investigate structures built by animals, by various civilizations, and by contemporary society; (4) investigate space; (5) explore concepts related to the muscular and skeletal systems, body movement, circulation, respiration, diet, reactions, and learning; (6) investigate the use of levers, wheels, gears, and pulleys performing design tasks; (7) investigate the various forms of energy and the ways people use energy in their homes, for transport, and as food; (8) look at a variety of testing procedures, such as market research surveys; (9) investigate things that are used for entertainment; and (10) examine aspects of packaging.

Science and Technology by Design: 3 provides an introduction for each unit. The 2-page activities consist of a reproducible student page that presents the challenge, and provides notes for the teacher explaining the scientific concept involved, along with ideas to stimulate discussion.

Price: Aust. $49.95 (ISBN 0-72952854-5). Publisher/supplier: Harcourt Brace, Australia. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.29 STAR Mystery Lab. STAR. Washington, D.C.: Reading Is Fundamental, 1994.

Grades: 3, 4 Students use the scientific method to solve a mystery in STAR Mystery Lab. A story narrative sets the scene for a series of investigations. Students use the techniques of fingerprinting and paper chromatography to identify a mysterious classroom intruder. Students sharpen their observation skills as they examine common objects, describe their properties, and provide an eyewitness account of an unexpected event they observe. They investigate the popular genre of mysteries, or detective fiction, to discover connections between detective work and problem solving in the science lab, the crime lab, and mystery reading.

STAR Mystery Lab includes ideas for cross-curricular integration, such as organizing a news team to "cover the case" and plotting a fictional mystery. It also includes a list of resources, including books, computer software, and audiovisual materials.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $21.90. Mentor's Guide, $3.90. Publisher/supplier : Kendall/Hunt. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.30 Vitamin C Testing. GEMS. Jacqueline Barber. Reprinted with revisions. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1990.

Grades: 4-6+ Vitamin C Testing offers an introduction to chemistry and nutrition by providing students with the materials and techniques needed to test the vitamin C content in common juices. Students learn to use the chemical technique titration. They compare the vitamin C content of different juices and graph the results. For more advanced study students examine the effects of heat and freezing (or other treatment) on vitamin C content. The skills developed in this unit include performing chemistry lab techniques, experimenting, analyzing data, and graphing and drawing conclusions. Summary outlines help the teacher guide students through the activities. All materials are available in local stores except for the indicator chemical (indophenol) and plastic vials, which can be ordered from a scientific supply company.

The lesson plan for each of the 4 sessions of 45 minutes each includes an overview, a materials list, and detailed instructions for preparing for and conducting the activity. The guide includes reproducible masters of student data sheets.

Price: $8.50 (ISBN 0-912511-70-2). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.31 The Voyage of the Mimi: Ecosystems With Island Survivors. Bank Street College Project in Science and Mathematics. Scotts Valley, Calif.: Wings for Learning, 1992.

Grades: 5-6+ Ecosystems With Island Survivors, a learning module derived from The Voyage of the Mimi video series, introduces students to the essential elements of ecosystems and the relationships among these systems. Food chains and food webs are emphasized. The software, which is an integral part of this unit, features a game called "Island Survivors," a 2-part program in which students select 8 species—4 that live on land and 4 that live in a pond—to inhabit an island ecosystem. Students can change the population levels of the species and manipulate other variables to test their effects on the ecosystem. The goal is to keep the species alive for a year without destroying the island ecosystem.

This curriculum module features 3 components: a student guide, teacher's guide, and software. The

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

student guide is a book of readings and activities about ecosystems; it contains a description of the software, as well as instructions for using it. The teacher's guide contains discussion questions and activity ideas for the topics covered in the student guide, as well as reproducible masters, extension activities, and lesson plans for using the software and worksheets.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $20.00. Student Guide, $3.95. Complete module, Macintosh/Windows, $99.00; Apple, $79.00. Publisher/supplier: Sunburst Communications. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or from distributor.

4.32 The Voyage of the Mimi: Language Arts Resource Guide. Bank Street College Project in Science and Mathematics. Laurie Weisman. Scotts Valley, Calif.: Wings for Learning, 1990.

Grades: Teacher Resource The Voyage of the Mimi: Language Arts Resource Guide is a guide to using The Voyage of the Mimi video series in language arts lessons. Activities take a variety of forms, such as public speaking, drama, prose, poetry, mapping, writing, and music. They include, for example, writing character descriptions of the Mimi's crew members; keeping a journal of the voyage; discussing how bird songs compare with whale songs; preparing a series of newscasts based on the events of the voyage; and looking analytically at the impact of audiovisual techniques used in the video series.

For each of the 26 video segments in the series, the guide includes a plot summary, discussion questions, several diverse language arts activities, and suggested resources for further investigation. The guide also includes a nautical glossary, a bibliography, and reproducible fact sheets on topics from whaling and Native American culture to "salty yarns."

Price: $39. Publisher/supplier: Sunburst Communications. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or from distributor.

4.33 The Voyage of the Mimi: Maps and Navigation with Navigation Computer Activities. Bank Street College Project in Science and Mathematics. New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.

Grades: 5-6+ Maps and Navigation is a learning module derived from the content of The Voyage of the Mimi video series. Activities relate to the navigation skills and instruments seen in various video segments of the series. Students learn the concepts, skills, and tools that help navigators find their way at sea, then apply those skills in computer-based activities. They learn the fundamentals of navigation to find buried treasure, avoid a hurricane, and pinpoint their ship's location. The culminating activity is a navigation simulation in which students apply map skills and mathematical concepts to find a fishing trawler that has accidentally caught a humpback whale in its net.

The module consists of a teacher's guide, a student guide, and 4 software games.

Prices: Teacher's Guide for Apple (ISBN 0-03-000974-X), $20.00. Student Guide, $3.95. Complete package, Macintosh/Windows, $99.00; Apple, $79.00. Publisher/supplier: Sunburst Communications. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or from distributor.

4.34 The Voyage of the Mimi: Overview Guide. Bank Street College Project in Science and Mathematics. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Sunburst/Wings for Learning, 1985.

Grades: 5-6+ The Voyage of the Mimi: Overview Guide provides lessons and activities for each segment of The Voyage of the Mimi video series. The series consists of 26 segments—13 dramatic episodes, each followed by a documentary-style expedition that takes students to aquariums, museums, and other places where people are doing scientific work related to whales, sailing ships, and oceans. The Overview Guide shows how the various components of the unit are linked. This guide includes a lesson plan for each segment of the video series. Each lesson plan has questions for class discussion, activities and opportunities for making connections with other components of The Voyage of the Mimi materials or other aspects of this curriculum. The guide includes 25 pages of background information on whales, blackline masters for use with student activities, and a metric/English-measurement conversion chart.

Prices: $30. Publisher/supplier: Sunburst Communications. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or from distributor.

4.35 The Voyage of the Mimi: The Book. Bank Street College Project in Science and Mathematics. Scotts Valley, Calif.: Wings for Learning, 1985.

Grades: 5-6+ The Voyage of the Mimi: The Book is the student guide for The Voyage of the Mimi curriculum. Through the video series, computer navigation activities, learning modules, and other components, stu-

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

dents are taken on a voyage to study humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine. Along the way they study such science topics as electricity, sound, animal classification, and ecology. Students identify individual humpback whales by their fluke pattern; they learn how information is gathered from the ocean floor; they learn to construct a solar still to convert seawater into fresh water; they analyze patterns of whale sounds; and they learn how to estimate a whale population.

The student guide contains 13 sections, each including a narrative episode of the story; an account from an aquarium, museum, or other place where people are doing scientific work about whales, sailing ships, or the ocean; and one or more activities. The book has color photographs and illustrations and a glossary of reference terms. This guide must be used in conjunction with The Voyage of the Mimi video series and teacher's guides.

Price: $9.95 (ISBN 1-55826-149-4). Publisher/supplier: Sunburst Communications. Materials: Available locally.

4.36 The Voyage of the Mimi: Whales and Their Environments. Bank Street College Project in Science and Mathematics. Theodore Ducas and Sara Ann Friedman. New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.

Grades: 5-6+ Whales and Their Environments, a learning module derived from The Voyage of the Mimi video series, is about the environments of whales and people. An integral part of this module is The Bank Street Laboratory, a combination of software and hardware that allows students to collect, store, display, and analyze information about 3 physical phenomena—heat and temperature, sound, and light. Students examine the effects of these phenomena on the lives and environment of humans and whales. The activities are designed to explore the properties of the phenomena through a variety of measurement and display formats. Examples of activities include comparing temperature scales, testing insulators, measuring heat loss, exploring the loudness of sound, investigating the frequency of sound, measuring the speed of sound, investigating light intensity and distance from the source, scattering light, and measuring reflection.

Each activity includes the materials needed, steps for procedure, and background information. The Bank Street Laboratory consists of an interface board and 6 sensors, which measure temperature, loudness and pitch of sounds, and the intensity of light.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $20.00. Student Guide, $3.95. Complete module, Macintosh/Windows, $495.00; Apple, $390.00. Publisher/supplier: Sunburst Communications. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or from distributor.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE-SCIENCE ACTIVITY BOOKS

ABOUT THE ANNOTATIONS IN "MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND APPLIED SCIENCE—SCIENCE ACTIVITY BOOKS"

Entry Numbers

Curriculum materials are arranged alphabetically by title in each category (Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books) in chapters 1 through 4 of this guide. In addition, each annotation has a two-part entry number. For each entry number, the chapter number is given before the period; the number after the period locates the entry within that chapter.

For example, the first entry number in chapter 1 is 1.1; the second entry in chapter 2 is 2.2, and so on.

The entry numbers within each curriculum chapter run consecutively through Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books.

Order of Bibliographic Information

Following is the arrangement of the facts of publication in the annotations in this section:

  • Title of publication.

  • Series title, or series acronym if commonly used.

  • Authors (either individual names or organizational author).

  • Name and location of developer (in parentheses), if different from publisher.

  • Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication.

Series Acronyms

Following are acronyms of series titles in "Multidisciplinary and Applied Science—Science Activity Books." (Series titles that are spelled out are not included in this list.)

AIMS

Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science

CEPUP

Chemical Education for Public Understanding Program

CESI

Council for Elementary Science International

ESE

Exciting Science and Engineering

GEMS

Great Explorations in Math and Science

Price and Acquisition Information Ordering information is presented in a block immediately below the annotation. Included are the following:

  • Prices of teacher's guides, activity books, and kits or units.

  • The name of a principal publisher/supplier (not necessarily the sole source) for the items listed in the price category. (The address and phone and fax numbers for each publisher and supplier appear in appendix A, "Publishers and Suppliers.")

  • An indication of the various sources from which one might obtain the required materials.

4.37 The Art and Science Connection: Hands-On Activities for Intermediate Students. Kimberley Trolley. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1994.

Grades: 4-6 The Art and Science Connection for intermediate students is a sourcebook of creative art activities that integrate art and science concepts and processes. The 30 lessons are organized around 3 conceptual themes of science—structure, interactions, and energy. Activities include drawing, painting, sculpture, bas-relief, printmaking, collage, graphic arts, textiles, and mixed media.

Each lesson includes an overview, student objectives, a list of materials, step-by-step teaching instructions, extension ideas, and suggested resources. Blackline masters for activity sheets, tips for classroom management and working with art and science materials, safety precautions, and a glossary are included.

Price: $19.96 (ISBN 0-201-45545-5). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.38 The Art and Science Connection: Hands-On Activities for Primary Students. Kimberley Trolley. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1993.

Grades: K-2 The Art and Science Connection for primary students is a sourcebook of creative art activities that integrate art and science concepts and processes. The 30 lessons are organized around 3 conceptual themes of science—structure, interactions, and energy. Activities include drawing, painting, sculpture, bas-relief, printmaking, collage, graphic arts, and mixed media.

Each lesson includes an overview, student objectives, a list of materials,

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

step-by-step teaching instructions, extension ideas, and suggested resources. Blackline masters for activity sheets and tips for classroom management are also included.

Price: $19.96 (ISBN 0-201-45544-7). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.39 Beyond the Classroom: Exploration of Schoolground and Backyard. Charles E. Roth, Cleti Cervoni, Thomas Wellnitz, and Elizabeth Arms. Rev. ed. Lincoln, Mass.: Massachusetts Audubon Society, 1991.

Grades: K-6+ Beyond the Classroom uses the school's immediate surroundings as a convenient, familiar natural laboratory. Activities in earth science focus on weather, sky phenomena, erosion and deposition, snow studies, and the water cycle. Life science activities concentrate on animal behavior, plant distribution, plant life cycles, and plant and animal adaptations. Physical science activities include those on simple machines, insulation, energy at work, and materials characteristics.

This volume provides a complete lesson plan for each of its 33 activities. Beyond the Classroom was originally entitled Schoolground Science: Activities for Elementary and Middle Schools.

Price: $9.95. Publisher/supplier: Massachusetts Audubon Society. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.40 Chemicals, Health, Environment, and Me (CHEM). CEPUP. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1991.

Grades: 5-6+ Chemicals, Health, Environment, and Me is a series of 10 units on the nature of chemicals and how they interact with the environment. Students learn to collect, process, and analyze information and to use scientific evidence as a basis for life-style-oriented decisions. The units can be used in any order. They focus on (1) the physical and chemical properties of common substances; (2) food additives; (3) sugar and sugar additives; (4) the threshold of toxicity; (5) smoking and health; (6) qualitative tests used to identify chemicals in highway spills; (7) the identification and disposal of potentially hazardous chemicals; (8) waste disposal and reduction; (9) the carbon cycle; and (10) the contribution of carbon dioxide to the "greenhouse effect."

The Chemicals, Health, Environment, and Me program consists of a printed teacher's guide and a complete materials and equipment kit. Each unit contains one or more basic activities as well as ideas for expanding the topic. Each activity has a complete lesson plan and focuses on a single concept. Reproducible blackline masters of student activity sheets are included.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $24.99. Kit, $125.99. Publisher/supplier: Sargent-Welch Scientific Co. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

4.41 Conserve and Renew: An Energy Education Activity Package for Grades 4-6. Leeann Tourtillot. Rohnert Park, Calif.: The Regional School Energy Extension Project, Energy Center, Sonoma State University, 1990.

Grades: 4-6 Conserve and Renew is a collection of energy-education activities on conservation and renewable energy resources. Activities may be used as a unit, or individually, to complement existing curricula. The guide is divided in 6 sections, which focus on (1) what energy is, (2) renewable energy sources, (3) how they are used, (4) energy conservation, (5) recycling, and (6) ethical issues involved in solving energy-related problems. Activities include growing seedlings under varied light conditions and observing their relative growth; analyzing the energy flow and resources used in everyday products; creating strategies for recycling; and role-playing members of the United Nations to debate how to distribute the world's energy resources.

Each section of Conserve and Renew has from 3 to 5 investigative activities and several "paper and pencil" activities. Each investigation includes a complete lesson plan. The guide provides a glossary and an annotated bibliography.

Price: $12. Publisher/supplier: SSU Academic Foundation. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.42 Constructions. Windows on Elementary Science. Joan Westley. Sunnyvale, Calif.: Creative Publications, 1988.

Grades: PreK, K-2 In Constructions, students make walls, ramps, bridges, towers, teeter-totters, and wheeled vehicles as they investigate the physics of force, motion, and equilibrium. They classify building materials by strength, weight, and other properties; they observe objects moving down slopes; they investigate chain reactions; and they build a pulley elevator. The 28 activities are sequenced by increasing level of difficulty but do not need to be done in order.

Each 2-page activity has a summary statement describing the investigation, a list of the skills and necessary materials, and directions on how to set up for instruction. Also included are sections on getting started, guiding children's actions, and stretching their thinking.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 088488-711-1), $13.75. Complete kit, $250.00. Publisher/supplier: Creative Publications. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.43 Cooperative Learning—Science: Activities, Experiments and Games. Esther Weiner. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Professional Books, 1992.

Grades: 3-5 Cooperative Learning—Science brings students together in cooperative working groups and integrates science with other curriculum areas. Expository writing skills are emphasized as students write hypotheses and complete observations and conclusions for experiments ranging from physics to food webs. Activities include using Jello to discover that warmer molecules move more quickly than cooler ones do; using chromatography to discover the chemicals present in a leaf; going on an arthropod hunt; and creating a domino derby to test energy transfer within a system.

Cooperative Learning—Science offers an extensive introduction to combining hands-on science activities with cooperative learning. Included are teaching techniques for cooperative learning, suggestions for division of labor, assessing academic skills, and dealing with shy or uncooperative students. The book offers 20 activities of about 30 to 50 minutes each. Except for the games, each activity includes a statement of the science concepts involved, background information, a section on cooperative group management, a list of materials needed, suggestions for getting started, step-by-step procedures, ideas for integrating science with other curriculum areas, and reproducible data sheets.

Price: $12.95 (ISBN 0-590-49240-3). Publisher/supplier: Scholastic Professional Books. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.44 Discovery Science: Explorations for the Early Years. David A. Winnett, Robert A. Williams, Elizabeth A. Sherwood, and Robert E. Rockwell. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1994.

Grades: K, 1 Discovery Science: Explorations for the Early Years offers more than 100 activities in 4 topic areas—magnets, rocks and soil, animals, and plants. In each of these units, the activities are sequenced to build the science process skills of observing, classifying, organizing, and communicating. Activities include measuring the relative strength of magnets; making soil from sand, clay, and humus; comparing the breathing mechanisms of various animals; and photographing plants over time to explore the growth cycle.

Each unit in Discovery Science includes an introduction with background information, ideas for free discovery, and storytelling activities; a complete lesson plan for each activity; checkpoint activities for assessing student progress; and activities for providing additional stimulation. Lesson plans include suggestions for integrating other areas of the curriculum. The guide also includes guidelines and suggestions for setting up a discovery center, creating charts and journals, and involving families.

Price: $33.63 (ISBN 0-201-29063-4). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.45 The Energy Sourcebook: Elementary Unit. Pat Barnett, Judy Bowman, Nancy Causey, and others. Knoxville, Tenn.: Tennessee Valley Authority, 1992.

Grades: 3-6 In The Energy Sourcebook: Elementary Unit, students learn to define energy and characterize its forms. They investigate the nature, conduction, generation, and use of electrical energy and examine solar energy and energy from wind, water, and wood. Students learn about the environmental effects of producing and using energy, and they identify applications of energy-saving techniques and why they are important. Various resource-use topics pertinent to the Tennessee Valley region are examined. Activities include making energy bulletin board, hunting for examples of unsafe electricity use, constructing a simple solar air heater, and listing major causes of and ways to reduce air pollution. In other activities, students compare average monthly electricity usage and match energy-using devices and activities to their appropriate eras.

The Energy Sourcebook provides a complete lesson plan for each of its 47 activities. Some activities include reproducible masters for transparencies and student worksheets. A set of fact sheets provides teachers with information on energy topics.

Price: $35. Publisher/supplier: Tennessee Valley Authority. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.46 Environmental Education Activity Guide: Pre K-8. Project Learning Tree. Washington, 1).C.: American Forest Foundation, 1993.

Grades: K-6 Project Learning Tree's Environmental Education Activity Guide: Pre K-8 provides activities for investigating environmental issues and encourages students to make informed, responsible decisions. The guide has 5 major themes: (1) diversity, (2) interrelationships, (3) systems, (4) structure and scale, and (5) patterns of change. Each theme has activities in the following areas: environment, resource management and technology, and society and culture. The activities integrate the themes within science, language arts, social studies, art, music, and physical education. Among the activities, for example, students become habitat pen pals and write to each other from the perspective of organisms living in a habitat; they examine rotting logs to learn about decomposition, as well as microhabitats and communities; they role-play managers of a piece of public forest; they learn how land-use decisions and legislation affect wetlands; and they examine the pros and cons of various packaging strategies.

The Environmental Education Activity Guide provides a complete

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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lesson plan for each of its nearly 100 activities. The guide also features a glossary and appendixes, including teaching suggestions for controversial issues, multicultural education, working with exceptional students, and teaching outdoors.

Price: Free to teachers who attend a workshop in their own state. Publisher/supplier: American Forest Foundation. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.47 Exploring Ocean Ecosystems: Curriculum Guide. Zoobooks. San Diego, Calif.: Wildlife Education, 1994.

Grades: 5-6+ This guide tells the story of an ocean ecosystem and how humans interact with it. The module consists of 10 lessons grouped in 3 units—(1) Ocean Ecosystems, (2) Animal Adaptations, and (3) Humans and the Ocean Ecosystems. Students explore the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem by setting up an aquarium or terrarium or by exploring a local mini-ecosystem. Structural and behavioral adaptations are demonstrated and investigated through simulations, games, and classroom projects. In the final unit, students participate in simulations of city council meetings and TV news shows as they examine interactions between humans and ocean ecosystems.

The Exploring Ocean Ecosystems module includes a curriculum guide; 8 Zoobooks titles—Sharks, Whales, Seals and Sea Lions, Seabirds, Dolphins and Porpoises, Sea Otters, Penguins, and Turtles; a teaching strategies supplement; and reproducible student activity sheets.

Prices: Complete Classroom Set, $94.00. Basic Set with one copy each of Curriculum Guide (ISBN 0-93793493-3), Supplement (ISBN 0-93793494-1), and magazines, $59.75. Set with Curriculum Guide and Supplement, $39.95. Publisher/supplier: Wildlife Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.48 Farmer McGregor's Greenhouse. ESE. Heslington, York, UK: Chemical Industry Education Centre, and BP International, 1990.

Grades: 4-6 Farmer McGregor's Greenhouse gives students the opportunity to design, build, and test a model greenhouse. They first discuss the uses of greenhouses and the types of plants that are commonly grown in them. Students explore factors involved in greenhouse design, and then they design and build a scale model using straws or balsa wood and plastic wrap. They test methods of strengthening the structure to withstand potential storms, and they measure temperature inside the greenhouse and consider ways of controlling the temperature. Finally, students test the effectiveness of their greenhouse by germinating seeds and growing plants in it; they monitor plant growth over several weeks. The unit is designed to be planned and executed by a teacher and an engineer working together.

Farmer McGregor's Greenhouse includes an overview, activity outlines, a summary for the engineer, and reproducible masters for transparencies and student worksheets.

Price: US$8 (ISBN 0-86165-203-7). Publisher/supplier: Chemical Industry Education Centre. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.49 Fingerprinting. GEMS. Jeremy J. Ahouse. Reprinted with revisions. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1989.

Grades: 4-6+ Students explore the similarities and variations of fingerprints in Fingerprinting. They take their own fingerprints, devise a scheme for classifying fingerprints, and apply their classification skills to solve a crime. In session 1 students use pencils, paper, and tape to take their fingerprints. In session 2 they group 10 different fingerprints according to the way they look. Students are then introduced to the standard arch-loop-whorl system of fingerprint classification. In the final session, they apply their knowledge of fingerprints to determine which of 5 suspects robbed a safe. The mystery scenario, ''Who Robbed the Safe?" includes plot and character sketches. Examples of extension activities include fingerprint art, an introduction to genetics, and role-playing news reporters covering the crime scene.

Fingerprinting includes 3 or 4 sessions of 30 to 60 minutes each. The lesson plan for each session includes an overview, a list of materials, blackline masters of student worksheets, and complete instructions for planning and conducting the activity.

Price: $8.50. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.50 Hands-On Environmental Science Activities. Eugene Kutscher. Annapolis, Md.: Alpha Publishing Co., 1991.

Grades: 5-6+ Hands-On Environmental Science Activities offers 40 activities organized in 8 sections: (1) Ecology, (2) Energy, (3) Conservation and the Earth's Resources, (4) Human and Animal Populations, (5) Pollution, (6) Making a Difference, (7) Politics and Economics, and (8) Games for Concerned Citizens. Activities include building a model of a fossil fuel generator, monitoring personal consumption of fresh water, and investigating methods of treating oil spills. In other activities, students simulate the greenhouse effect, observe how crowding affects the behavior of insects, and participate in an exercise about a social dilemma.

A teacher's guide is included with each activity in Hands-On Environmental Science Activities. The guide includes the activity's goal, a list of student objectives, suggestions for a prelab discussion, instructions for the

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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investigation, a short vocabulary list, and a list of additional resources and suggestions for further study. Reproducible masters for student data sheets must be purchased separately.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 156506-000-8), $44.95. Student version, $44.95. Publisher/supplier: Alpha. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.51 Helping Your Child Learn Science. Nancy Paulu and Margery Martin. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1991.

Grades: K-5 Parents take center stage in Helping tour Child Learn Science, an activity book that brings the classroom into the home and community. The activities in the guide focus on such scientific phenomena as inertia, surface tension, buoyancy, and photosynthesis. Examples of activities include demonstrating capillary action using celery stalks and food coloring; searching the neighborhood for bugs and identifying them; making an adhesive material; and testing the effects of temperature and light on mold. The book's introduction includes tips for parents on teaching science to their children and has a section on the basics of science.

Each of the 16 activities includes a short introduction, a materials list, step-by-step instructions, and an information box explaining the scientific concept being addressed. The book includes a section on science activities in the community, tips on how parents can get involved with their children's school science program, and a list of science books and magazines.

Price: $3.25. Publisher/supplier: U.S. Government Printing Office. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.52 How Sport Works. An Ontario Science Centre Book. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1988.

Grades: 5, 6 How Sport Works is a book of fact-filled articles and science experiments that touch on everything from how baseballs curve to how your brain and body type affect your performance. The book presents facts about muscles, the origin of the racer's crouch, animal athletics, proper warm-up techniques, how dimples affect the flight of golf balls, and other sports/scientific concepts. Activities include students learning about vibration and transfer of energy by determining the sweet spot on a baseball bat; measuring their lung capacity and leaping ability; testing their ability to recognize and respond to patterns like hockey players do; and testing principles of aerodynamics using Frisbees.

How Sport Works features more than 50 activities and articles.

Price: $5.95 (ISBN 1-921103-56-5). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.53 Idea Factory's Super Science Sourcebook II. Sandi Schlichting and Marilyn Blackmer. Riverview, Fla.: Idea Factory, 1989.

Grades: 1-6 The activities and lessons in Idea Factory's Super Science Sourcebook II are in 6 sections: (1) Earth Science, (2) Life Science, (3) Physical Science, (4) Science in the Library, (5) Great Graphing, and (6) Science Trivia. The sections on earth, life, and physical science have 5 or 6 subtopics, with several activities for each subtopic. Activities in these 3 sections include making a wave machine, simulating the ecolocation behavior of bats, and constructing an electrical circuit tester. The section on Science in the Library identifies numerous examples of children's fiction that may be used as a stimulus for science activities. The graphing section contains several graphing activities with blank graph forms. Science Trivia focuses on motivating students to use reference materials and resources.

Idea Factory's Super Science Sourcebook II contains approximately 75 activities in the sections on earth, life, and physical science. Each activity includes an objective, a list of materials, and instructions. Some activities include background information. An index is included.

Price: $19.95. Publisher/supplier: Idea Factory. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.54 The Inventive Thinking Curriculum Project. Project XL, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1990.

Grades: 1-6+ The Inventive Thinking Curriculum Project encourages students to develop their creative potential and synthesize and apply knowledge and skills by creating an invention or innovation to solve a problem. The introduction to this teacher's guide includes 3 models for teaching thinking skills. It presents 12 activities: (1) Introducing Inventive Thinking, (2) Practicing the Creative Part of Inventive Thinking, (3) Practicing Inventive Thinking with the Class, (4) Developing an Invention Idea, (5) Brainstorming for Creative Solutions, (6) Practicing the Critical Parts of Inventive Thinking, (7) Completing the Invention, (8) Naming the Invention, (9) Optional Marketing Activities, (10) Parent Involvement, (11) Young Inventors' Day, and (12) Enrichment—Stories about Great Thinkers and Inventors and Problem-Solving Competitions.

The Inventive Thinking Curriculum Project is designed to be used across all disciplines and grade levels. Copymasters are included.

Price: Free of charge. Publisher/ supplier: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.55 Investigating Your Environment: The MINI Edition. Ogden, Utah: U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Region, 1994.

Grades: 4-6+ Investigating Your Environment: The MINI Edition, a multidisciplinary approach to environmental science activities, contains the 11 most popular chapters from the original 21-chapter version of the volume. The first chapter, on developing an environmental investigation, offers teachers suggestions with respect to developing instructional objectives, question sequences, and lesson plans, among other topics. The remaining chapters focus on forests, interpreting the environment, investigating an environmental issue, land use simulation, natural resources in an urban environment, plant relationships, schoolyard activities, soil, water, and wildlife.

Each chapter includes an introduction, a sketch of its activities, suggestions for combining the activities, a section on curriculum relationships, and fully developed lesson plans, including reproducible planning and data sheets.

Price: Free of charge to educators in response to request on school letterhead. Publisher/supplier: U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Region. Materials: Available locally.

4.56 The Jumbo Book of Science: 136 of the Best Experiments From the Ontario Science Centre. Carol Gold. Ontario Science Centre Books. Toronto, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1994.

Grades: 4-6+ The Jumbo Book of Science contains 136 activities and experiments that demonstrate simple scientific phenomena using inexpensive, easy-to-find materials. The activities in this book originally appeared in Scienceworks, Foodworks, and How Sport Works. They cover topics from how helmets protect one's head to how one becomes a footprint detective. Activities include examining fingerprints under a microscope; using static electricity to pick up pieces of paper and attract water and ping-pong balls; making a solar water cleaner; and building a periscope to see around corners.

The 1- and 2-page activities include lively illustrations, background information, fascinating facts, and step-by-step instructions.

Price: US$10 (ISBN 1-55074-197-7). Publisher/supplier: University of Toronto Press. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.57 Literature-Based Science Activities: An Integrated Approach. Audrey Brainard and Denise II. Wrubel. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Professional Books, 1993.

Grades: K-3 Literature-Based Science Activities links children's books with science concepts. It highlights children's books that can be used to introduce, extend, or enrich the science content for each of 20 topics: shadows, sound, simple machines, time, seeds and plants, trees, apples, seasons, air, weather, eyes-noses-feet, minibeasts, animal homes, birds, whales, dinosaurs, taking care of our world, reduce-reuse-recycle, the Milky Way Galaxy, and inside and outside planet earth. The section for each topic includes a short synopsis of and activities correlated to each highlighted book, as well as background information, a list of other literature tie-ins, relevant pre-and post-reading activities, suggestions for field trips and invited guests, and reproducible student worksheets. The topic of time, for example, highlights The Grouchy Ladybug, by Eric Carle. In the activities related to this book, students measure and compare the length of time required to do certain tasks, measure the size of some of the animals Grouchy Ladybug encounters, find items in the class that are about the same size, and write a class story.

Price: $12.95 (ISBN 0-590-49200-4). Publisher/supplier: Scholastic Professional Books. Materials: Available locally.

4.58 Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention: Grades K-2. Environmental Resource Guides. (Developed by Tennessee Valley Authority, Environmental Education Section.) Pittsburgh, Pa.: Air and Waste Management Association, 1993.

Grades: See this annotation for recommended grade levels. Defining, finding, and preventing or cleaning up nonpoint-source water pollution is the focus of this guide. Its 8 activities and 10 fact sheets provide basic information on the relationships between land use and water quality. It includes activities on agricultural, mining, forestry, and urban sources of pollution. Activities focus on the 4 main types of water pollutants—sediment, nutrients, bacteria, and toxics. Students learn to describe and understand what a water cycle is; they simulate situations where runoff would occur; they observe how pollutants affect water over time; and they observe how groundwater can be polluted by fertilizers, animal wastes, and chemicals. Although the guide identifies the activities as appropriate for grades K through 2, reviewers found them more appropriate for grades 3 and 4.

A complete lesson plan is provided for each activity, including reproducible masters for transparencies and student worksheets. The guide contains an extensive glossary.

Prices: $30. ($20 for A&WMA members). Publisher/supplier: Air and Waste Management Association (A&WMA). Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.59 Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention: Grades 3-5. Environmental Resource Guides. (Developed by Tennessee Valley Authority, Environmental Education Section.) Pittsburgh, Pa.: Air and Waste Management Association, 1993.

Grades: See this annotation for recommended grade levels. Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention focuses on raising awareness of what has become the largest source of water pollution in the United States—nonpoint-source pollution. The guide's 15 activities and 10 fact sheets provide basic information on the relationships between land use and water quality.

It includes activities on agricultural, mining, forest, and urban sources of pollution. Activities focus on the 4 main types of water pollutants—sediment, nutrients, bacteria, and toxics. Students identify water pollutants in a simulated pond; they observe algae growth caused by excess fertilizer use; they trace the movement of water in underground storm sewer systems; and they construct and observe a model landfill. Although the guide identifies the activities as appropriate for grades 3 through 5, reviewers found them more appropriate for grades 4 through 6.

A complete lesson plan is provided for each activity, including reproducible masters for transparencies and student worksheets. It also contains an extensive glossary.

Prices: $30. ($20 for A&WMA members). Publisher/supplier: Air and Waste Management Association (A&WMA). Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.60 Our Wonderful World: Solutions for Math + Science. AIMS. Fresno, Calif.: AIMS Education Foundation, 1986.

Grades: 5-6+ The activities in Our Wonderful World: Solutions for Math + Science focus on understanding the natural environment. Investigations are organized in 6 topic areas—air, water, transpiration, soil, plants, and animals/insects. Students are involved in activities such as analyzing the volume of snow, comparing habitats, classifying soils and categorizing leaves by their characteristics, exploring natural selection and camouflage, and testing clothes as insulators. Many of the activities are more appropriately done outdoors.

Our Wonderful World provides reproducible student worksheets, including data charts, tables, and graphs. A complete lesson plan is included for each of the 19 activities.

Price: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Publisher/supplier: AIMS Education Foundation. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.61 Overhead and Underfoot. AIMS. Carol Bland, Barry Courtney, Susan Dixon, and others. Rev. ed. Fresno, Calif.: AIMS Education Foundation, 1994.

Grades: 3, 4 The activities in Overhead and Underfoot focus on weather and the natural environment. Activities are organized in 4 categories—weather, plants and animals, pollution, and soils and rocks. Examples include the following: students determine how shadows change during the day; they measure wind speed and direction using an anemometer and a wind vane; they measure air pressure and relate readings to weather; and they discover that insects move at a great speed relative to their size. In other activities, they investigate the importance of an animal's coloring in relation to its survival; they identify air pollutants; they classify rocks according to properties; and they explore the components of different soil samples.

Overhead and Underfoot provides reproducible student worksheets, including data charts, tables, and graphs. A complete lesson plan is included for each of the 20 activities.

Price: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 1881431-52-5), $14.95. Publisher/supplier : AIMS Education Foundation. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.62 Science and Literature Together: Thirty Elementary Science Units Highlighting the Best in Contemporary Children's Literature. (Developed by Don Nelson, Don Powers, Nancy Chu, and LaVonne Sanborn, Western Illinois University.) Macomb. III Western Illinois University, 1993.

Grades: K-6 Science and Literature Together consists of 30 science modules that highlight contemporary children's literature. This teacher's guide is organized in 6 subject areas—life science, physical science, earth science, health science, environmental science, and the nature of science. Each section includes from 2 to 8 instructional modules. Each module suggests a children's book to read—for example, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, by Dr. Seuss, or Everybody Needs a Rock, by Byrd Baylor—and provides a synopsis of that book and includes several related activities. Activities include making a butterfly house, making plaster fossils, playing shadow-tag, and adopting a tree to observe and care for during the school year.

The 30 modules in Science and Literature Together include a book synopsis, science background information, a list of the materials needed, procedures for conducting the activities, ideas for integrating the children's book, extension ideas, suggestions for curriculum integration, and a list of additional books and curriculum resources.

Price: $15. Publisher/supplier: Curriculum Publications Clearinghouse. Materials: Available locally. or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.63 Science at Play: Fun Ideas for $ to 8 year Olds. Jenny Feely. Victoria, Australia: Dellasta, 1990.

Grades: 2, 3 Science at Play is divided into 8 sections--air, bubbles, heat, light, magnets, mixtures, snails, and ~vater. Each includes from 4 to 9 activities, such as using warm air from a lightbulb to move a spiral of paper, predicting how long a bubble will last, and seeing how changes in temperature affect the size of a balloon. In other activities, students create rainbows by shining sunlight through a glass of water, magnetize nails, test liquids to determine which do and do not mix, watch snails eat, and discover what makes objects float and sink. The sections of the guide may' be used as complete units over several weeks, or activities may be used independently.

Each activity in Science at Play includes a list of equipment needed and step-by-step instructions. Most include reproducible student worksheets.

Price: $10.95 (ISBN 0-947138-47-1). Publisher/supplier: Mondo. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.64 Science Comes Alive withReading Rainbow. Reading Rain-bow. Lincoln, Nebr.: Great Plains National (GPN), 1995.

Grades:K-6 Science Comes Alive with Reading Rainbow is a teacher's guide designed to supplement the Reading Rainbow science programs. Reading Rainbow is an educational television series that features a book in each episode; all programs are available on videocasseries. The teacher's guide provides specific activities to use in the days before and after showing each science program. The activities provide opportunities for students to explore the science elements of the program themes and encourage reading for discovery. Examples of activities for the program on the book entitled The Salamander Room, by Anne Mazer, include creating animal dioramas, using food samples to attract insects, taking a tree-focused nature trip, and using an old bed sheet under an overhanging branch of a tree or bush to collect small animals. Twenty science programs are featured. A science activity is also included for each of 9 other programs that inelude a science segment.

Price: $5. Publisher/supplier: GPN. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.65 Science for Me: IndividualRecipes for Young Children. AGood Apple Science Activity Book.Linda Diebert. Carthage, Ill.: GoodApple, 1991.

Grades: K-2 Science for Me is an activTry book for young children. It features step-by-step instructions for experiments on crystals, seeds, magnets, bubbles, water, and color. Students turn metal objects into temporaW magnets, discover why bubbles pop, experiment with surface tension, and observe that colors can be mixed together to form other colors. Each set of activity cards is cut out of the book and used in sequence by students worMng at learning centers or stations. The cards are printed on heaW stock but can be laminated for extra durability.

Each of 15 activities in Science for Me includes a stated objective, teacher's notes, a list of supplies needed, and appropriate "recipe' cards.

Price: $11.99 (ISBN 0-86653-597-7). Publisher/supplier: Good Apple. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.66 Science in Your Backward.Robert Gardner and David Webster.New York, N.Y.: Julian MessneffSimon & Schuster, 19S7.

Grades: 4-6 Science in Your Backyard encourages students to use their backyards, parks, and playgrounds as sites for scientific investigations about animals, plants, weather, light, astronomy, and physics. Examples of activities include collecting insects, preserving leaves, growing trees from seeds, making weather instruments, making a pinhole camera, mapping the sun's path, and investigating friction by sliding down a slide wearing different fabrics and materials. Teachers may wish to supplement the life science activities in this book with a lesson on the proper care and handling of living organisms.

Science in Your Bachyard is organized in 8 sections, each of ~vhich includes a short introduction followed by a series of activities.

Price: $11.95 (ISBN 0-671-55565-0). Publisher/supplier: Silver Burdett Ginn. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.67 Science Is... Susan V. Bosak. 2nd ed. Richmond Hill, Ontario, and Markham, Ontario, Canada: Scholastic Canada and The Communication Project, 1991.

Grades: :t-O+ Science Is... is a com-prehensive collection of activities, experiments, and projects organized by type of activity, subject area, and topic. The 3 types of activities are as follows: (1) Quickies are short activities that require few or no materials and may be done on the spur of the moment. These may be used to introduce basic concepts in a subject area. (2) Make Time activities require alitde planning, some readily availableand inexpensive materials, and atleast 30 minutes to complete. These activities often deal with key subject area concepts in depth. (3) Onebeads to Another--activities within a

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

subject area that build upon one another, emphasize a key theme for the subject area, or result in a completed project, and require some planning. Within each type, activities are organized in 10 subject areas: discovering science, matter and energy, humans, the environment, rocks, plants, living creatures, weather, the heavens, and applying science. In addition to the 10 subject areas, activities are organized into 40 topics; topics interrelate activities within and between subject areas. A master chart shows where items on the 40 topics can be found in the 10 subject areas.

Science Is. . . includes more than 450 experiments, projects, games, puzzles, and stories. Each activity includes a two-line introduction, a materials list, and procedures, as well as appropriate background information and other fact-filled boxes. This sourcebook also includes a section for teachers on how to use the book, an extensive list of resources, and an index.

Price: $29.95 (ISBN 0-590-74070-9). Publisher/supplier: Scholastic Canada. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.68 Science on a Shoestring. Herb Strongin. 2nd ed., by Kara Strongin and Gloria Strongin. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1991.

Grades: K-6+ This second edition of Science on a Shoestring includes 62 investigations grouped under 3 themes—matter, change, and energy. Students investigate how matter behaves, interacts, and how it can change; they become aware of the changes occurring in themselves and in their environment; and they increase their awareness of the effects of gravity, magnetism, electricity, sound, and light upon them and their environment. Most investigations may be introduced without regard to sequence, although a few are sequential.

Each lesson in Science on a Shoestring includes a suggested grade level; a list of the materials required to complete the activity (all inexpensive and easily obtainable); a short vocabulary list; a brief overview of the activity, including an explanation of the concepts involved; and step-by-step procedures for conducting the activity. Most lessons also include ideas for home investigations, and questions for discussion and/or evaluation. A master list of materials is included.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0201-25760-2), $18. Basic Kit, $149. Intermediate Kit, $110. Publisher/supplier: Learning Spectrum. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

4.69 Science Process Skills: Assessing Hands-On Student Performance. Karen L. Ostlund. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1992.

Grades: 1-6 Science Process Skills is a collection of activities designed to serve as process-skill assessments at 6 levels of difficulty. Each appraisal is designed to give teachers information about a students knowledge of and ability to use a particular process skill. Activities may be used to assess students' progress throughout the year, after a specific unit of instruction, or as a year-end evaluation. Examples of activities at various levels include the following: matching buttons, classifying small stones, describing apples from the inside out, predicting how many paper clips a magnet will pick up, using a balance and gram weights to weigh various objects, recording and charting the number of seeds inside green beans, classifying various screws and bolts, investigating which of four different kinds of balls bounce the highest, hypothesizing about how long it will take various objects to fall through liquid, estimating the number of words in a book, and making models to show how air particles move as air is heated and cooled. Blackline masters for recording answers are included.

Price: $14.36 (ISBN 0-201-29092-8). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.70 Shapes, Loops and Images. GEMS/Exhibit Guides. Susan Jagoda, David Buller, Larry Malone, and Cary Sneider. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1987.

Grades: K-6+ Students construct interactive exhibits in Shapes, Loops and Images, a GEMS exhibit guide. The module offers 10 exhibits in 4 groups: (1) Tessellations (arrangements of one or more shapes that create a repeating pattern with no overlaps or spaces in between), (2) Giant Pole Puzzles, (3) Single-Mirror Exhibits, and (4) Multi-Mirror Exhibits. The activities are designed to help students develop such skills as observing, comparing, matching, finding patterns, analyzing, relating, visualizing, predicting, experimenting, and inferring. Activities include students testing polygonal shapes to determine which ones tessellate as single shapes, creating their own tessellation shapes, and observing how one tessellating shape can form many different designs. In other activities, students separate rope loops of 3-foot-tall pole puzzles, trace simple shapes while only seeing their hands in a mirror, discover the axes of symmetry of complex forms, and use a three-mirror arrangement to create a kaleidoscope.

The guide features detailed instructions with illustrations for constructing all exhibits and reproducible masters needed for specific exhibits.

Price: $20 (ISBN 0-912511-68-0). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.71 Solar Energy. Alice Moseby. Victoria, Australia: Dellasta, 1993.

Grades: K-4 Solar Energy is a small book that includes activities and games as well as text explanations about the sun and solar energy. Its sections focus on the life cycle of a star, tracking the sun, the heat of the sun, the sun as the source of energy for the chain of life, energy-efficient housing, insulation, and solar heaters. Activities include students testing the effect of color on heat absorption, role-playing water molecules, designing solar heaters and energy-efficient houses, and testing the insulating character of various materials.

Price: $14.50 (ISBN 1-875627-32-4). Publisher/supplier: Mondo. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.72 Sunshine Science: Primary Science and Technology Activities, Years K-7. Osborne Park, Western Australia: Science Teachers' Association of Western Australia, 1992.

Grades: K-6+ Sunshine Science, a resource book of activities, focuses on the solar aspects of energy, plants, and animals. A product of the Solar Energy Education Project at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, Sunshine Science uses its activities to develop 3 concepts: (1) the sun is a source of energy, (2) sunshine is essential for plant growth, and (3) sunshine is essential for animal life. Process skills are emphasized as students carry out the following activities: they investigate the rate at which flowers wither, explore the relationship between the position of the sun and time of day, classify seeds according to their optimum planting period, and collect and interpret data on the water drinking habits of animals. In other activities, students design, construct, and calibrate a thermometer; monitor the activity of lizards under varying temperatures; and use a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun's radiation (close supervision is required).

The activities in Sunshine Science are organized according to grade level, with 6 or 7 activities provided for each. The guide includes an introduction and a complete lesson plan for each of its 53 activities, and reproducible masters of charts, data tables, and graphing worksheets.

Price: Aust. $30 (ISBN 0-949820-18-6). Publisher/supplier: Science Teachers' Association of Western Australia. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.73 Super Science Activities: Favorite Lessons from Master Teachers. Rob Beattie, Diane Bredt, Jean Lyford, and others. Palo Alto, Calif.: Dale Seymour Publications, 1988.

Grades: 5-6+ Super Science Activities includes lessons in the physical, earth, and life sciences from the repertoires of eight science teachers. Topics include plate tectonics, earthquakes, genetics, ecology, electricity, and chromatography. Examples of activities include the following: students invent a seismograph, use chromatography to identify the author of a mystery note, build a working battery, and create a balanced ecosystem in an aquarium.

Super Science Activities contains 6 units, each with 3 to 5 lessons and a bibliography. Each lesson has background information, vocabulary, a list of materials, classroom management suggestions, step-by-step procedures, and enrichment activities.

Price: $16.95 (ISBN 0-86651-445-7). Publisher/supplier: Dale Seymour Publications. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.74 The Tapwater Tour. LaMotte Co. Chestertown, Md.: LaMotte Co., 1989.

Grades: 4-6+ Students perform a water analysis in The Tapwater Tour, which is a test kit and "minicurriculum" for exploring drinking water. The unit is designed to be teacher-directed, but it has hands-on activities throughout. Students determine the pH I of various solutions; they test water samples for the presence of chlorine, iron, and copper; and they use a soap solution to determine the "hardness" of water samples. They also summarize results in a water quality report. Chemical test tablets and plastic bags required for the activities accompany the teachers guide.

Prices: Complete kit, $44.00. Replacement kit, $33.35. Publisher/ supplier: LaMotte. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

4.75 3-2-1 Classroom Contact. Produced by Children's Television Workshop. Lincoln, Nebr.: Great Plains National (GPN), 1991.

Grades: 4-6 The 3-2-1-Classroom Contact teacher's guide is designed to accompany the television science series by the same name, which is available via on-air broadcasts and pre-recorded videocassettes. Each 15-minute program in the series explores a single topic in earth science, life science, physical science, or scientific investigation.

For each program, the guide provides background information, a program synopsis, 2 lessons (each 40 minutes long), blackline masters of student data sheets, and suggestions for extending the lessons into other curricular areas. The first of these 2 lessons for each program provides a framework for viewing and discussion and includes a before-viewing demonstration or class discussion, suggestions to help direct students' viewing, and an after-viewing activity. The second lesson is a hands-on activity to enhance student understanding of scientific principles addressed in the program.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $12. Video programs, $15 each. Complete set of 30 video programs, $360. Publisher/ supplier: GPN. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.76 Through the Rainbow—Children, Science, and Literature. CESI Sourcebook VIII. Washington, D.C.: Council for Elementary Science International (CESI), 1995.

Grades: K-6 Through the Rainbow—Children, Science, and Literature is designed to be used as a framework for a literature-based approach to elementary science instruction. This sourcebook contains 45 activities to link science concepts with children's literature. Topics range from tornados to butterflies to fossils. For example, during an activity entitled "You're Bugging Me," students observe the life cycle of butterflies from egg to adult and monitor the activity in a cricket colony; students compare the two types of insects as they grow and develop. During this activity, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Quiet Cricket are used to initiate discussion and related activities.

Each topic presented in Through the Rainbow includes a focus (which summarizes and explains the core science concepts and skills developed in the activities), questions to motivate and stimulate learning, an outline of the key steps in performing the activities, assessment options, additional challenges for students, and suggestions for related literature titles.

Price: $16.50. Publisher/supplier: CESI. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.77 Tons of Scientifically Provocative and Socially Acceptable Things to Do With Balloons under the Guise of Teaching Science. Glenn McGlathery and Larry Malone. Englewood, Colo.: Teacher Ideas Press/Libraries Unlimited, 1991.

Grades: K-6+ Tons of. . . Things to Do With Balloons. . . is a collection of activities that use the ever-popular balloon to teach a variety of science concepts in 83 activities. The activities are organized in 9 topic areas: (1) air pressure, (2) chemical reactions, (3) density, (4) gravity and momentum, (5) membranes, (6) propulsion, (7) sound, (8) static electricity, and (9) models and miscellany. Examples of the activities include using differences in air pressure to put a water balloon into a bottle; inflating a balloon using Alka-Seltzer tablets; challenging students to inflate one balloon inside another balloon; pouring pungent liquids into balloons to demonstrate semipermeable membranes; and making multistage balloon rockets.

The guide presents a short history of balloons and a few tips on buying, storing, and inflating them. Each topic area begins with a mini-essay on the concept involved in its activities. Each activity includes a list of materials, advance preparation, instructions for the activity, and a brief explanation of the science concepts and principles involved.

Price: $18 (ISBN 0-87287-783-3). Publisher/supplier: Teacher Ideas Press. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.78 Tracks: Language-Conscious Primary Science. Kay Freer and Mitch O'Toole. Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Grades: K-3 Tracks: Language-Conscious Primary Science uses real-world scientific explorations as a tool for developing language skills in young learners. Activities are presented in 6 sections on the topics (1) animal traces, (2) color and shade, (3) animal survival and habitats, (4) sound, (5) movement and forces, and (6) physical and chemical change. Examples of activities include hunting for animal traces; exploring mirror images and reflective surfaces; classifying animals on the basis of similarities and differences; investigating the transmission of sound through materials; and determining how loads can be moved with rollers, wheels, and ramps.

Each of 6 sections in Tracks features 4 units, and each unit contains 4 to 10 activities. The guide has a total of 174 activities. Each activity includes an objective, a materials list, and steps for procedure and follow-up. Some of the activities are completed outdoors. The teacher's guide also includes unit overviews, background information, resource sheets, and reproducible masters for student worksheets.

Price: Aust. $39.95 (ISBN 0-52134904-4). Publisher/supplier: Cambridge University Press. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.79 25 Science Mini-Books. Esther B. Weiner. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Professional Books, 1994.

Grades: PreK, K-3 25 Science Mini-Books is actually 25 books in 1. Each page is designed to be removed from the activity book and folded into a 6- to 8-page mini-book on a topic or concept in life, earth, or physical science. A description of the concept involved and several suggested mini-activities are included for each mini-book. Examples of the activities include students making a model of the earth's mantle and crust; using water and a plastic bag to make a mini-water-cycle; and bird watching to observe beaks and claws.

This volume includes directions on how to reproduce, fold, and cut the mini-books. It provides suggestions on how to use the books both with pre-reading children and with children older than the suggested grade levels.

Price: $8.95 (ISBN 0-590-49507-0). Publisher/supplier: Scholastic Professional Books. Materials: Available locally.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

4.80 200 Gooey, Slippery, Slimy, Weird and Fun Experiments. Janice Pratt VanCleave. New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Sons, 1993.

Grades: 3-6 200 Gooey, Slippery, Slimy, Weird and Fun Experiments is a collection of simple demonstrations, activities, and projects that explain basic science principles in the fields of astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. The activities include the following: students demonstrate why a satellite remains in orbit, determine the age of a fish, test materials for the presence of starch, demonstrate how the composition of the earth affects its motion, and use a vibrating string to produce a sound. The activities require inexpensive, common materials, and can be performed at home or in the classroom.

Each experiment in this guide includes a statement of purpose, a materials list, step-by-step instructions, a statement of expected results, and brief explanation.

Price: $12.95 (ISBN 0-471-57921-1). Publisher/supplier: Wiley. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.81 Waste Away: A Curriculum on Solid Waste. Woodstock, Vt.: Vermont Institute of Natural Science, 1989.

Grades: 5-6+ In Waste Away students learn about the problems associated with solid waste disposal. They are encouraged to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials. The 4 lessons define our society's waste problem, investigate its underlying causes, explore the role of waste in our lives, and suggest solutions to waste generation. Classroom activities include discussion groups, pantomime, a puppet show, a slide show, trash-and product-sorting exercises, games, paper recycling, composting, songs, schoolyard trash hunts, puzzles, and role-playing.

Each lesson in Waste Away includes background information, detailed instructions for activities, and extensive follow-up activities for the classroom, school, community, or home. Appendixes provide a pre-/postunit survey, information on organizing a "trash festival," ideas for setting up a school recycling program, and a reproducible family booklet of information and activities.

Price: $18.95 (ISBN 0-9617627-2-1). Publisher/supplier: Whitman Distribution Center. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.82 Waste in Place: Elementary Curriculum Guide. Stamford, Conn.: Keep America Beautiful, 1993.

Grades: 1-6 Waste in Place takes an interdisciplinary approach to developing environmental awareness in students. Its activities—several for each grade level—focus on litter prevention and solid waste management. For example, students collect and smash beverage cans to demonstrate preparation for recycling; design and use a "reuse box" for potential waste materials; and "plant" waste items in soil and compare their differing rates of decomposition. In other activities they write songs to encourage people to keep their communities clean, rank litter items from "most harmful" to "least harmful" and discuss their reasoning, compete in a "trash trivia'' game, and discuss resource recovery as a solid waste management option. Activities are grouped by grade level, but the guide provides master lists grouped by solid waste concept (litter prevention, reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, recover, hazardous waste, and bury) and by subject area (science, social studies, language arts, mathematics, and art/music).

Waste in Place includes an introduction, background information, a complete lesson plan for each of the 35 activities, a glossary of solid waste terms, implementation recommendations, and an overview of solid waste disposal alternatives.

Price: $35. Publisher/supplier: Keep America Beautiful. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

4.83 Wind-Aid. ESE. Heslington, York, UK: Chemical Industry Education Centre, and BP International, 1990.

Grades: 3-5 Designing a windmill to lift water from a well is the ultimate goal of Wind-Aid, a science and engineering activity. The unit begins with students constructing a simple toy windmill. Students then receive a (fictitious) letter from a school in Swaziland asking for ideas on how to design and build a machine to lift water from a nearby well. Following a discussion of the limited technology and resources available, students make and test a model windmill. They refine the model by changing one or more design features and investigating changes in performance. Finally, they put their recommendations in the form of a design report for the school in Swaziland. The unit is designed to be planned and executed by an engineer and a teacher working together.

Wind-Aid includes an overview, activity outlines, a summary for the engineer, and reproducible masters for transparencies and student worksheets.

Price: US$8 (ISBN 0-86165-203-7). Publisher/supplier: Chemical Industry Education Centre. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"4. Multidisciplinary and Applied Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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What activities might a teacher use to help children explore the life cycle of butterflies? What does a science teacher need to conduct a "leaf safari" for students? Where can children safely enjoy hands-on experience with life in an estuary? Selecting resources to teach elementary school science can be confusing and difficult, but few decisions have greater impact on the effectiveness of science teaching.

Educators will find a wealth of information and expert guidance to meet this need in Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. A completely revised edition of the best-selling resource guide Science for Children: Resources for Teachers, this new book is an annotated guide to hands-on, inquiry-centered curriculum materials and sources of help in teaching science from kindergarten through sixth grade. (Companion volumes for middle and high school are planned.)

The guide annotates about 350 curriculum packages, describing the activities involved and what students learn. Each annotation lists recommended grade levels, accompanying materials and kits or suggested equipment, and ordering information.

These 400 entries were reviewed by both educators and scientists to ensure that they are accurate and current and offer students the opportunity to:

  • Ask questions and find their own answers.
  • Experiment productively.
  • Develop patience, persistence, and confidence in their own ability to solve real problems.

The entries in the curriculum section are grouped by scientific area—Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science, and Multidisciplinary and Applied Science—and by type—core materials, supplementary materials, and science activity books. Additionally, a section of references for teachers provides annotated listings of books about science and teaching, directories and guides to science trade books, and magazines that will help teachers enhance their students' science education.

Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science also lists by region and state about 600 science centers, museums, and zoos where teachers can take students for interactive science experiences. Annotations highlight almost 300 facilities that make significant efforts to help teachers.

Another section describes more than 100 organizations from which teachers can obtain more resources. And a section on publishers and suppliers give names and addresses of sources for materials.

The guide will be invaluable to teachers, principals, administrators, teacher trainers, science curriculum specialists, and advocates of hands-on science teaching, and it will be of interest to parent-teacher organizations and parents.

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