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The article describes an activity program for fifth grade classes which asks students to design a paper airplane while designing an investigation that uses controlled variables and multiple trials.

Considerable benefits can be derived from permitting students in introductory earth science classes to supplement the conventional research paper format with multimedia techniques. Multimedia can unite science research, technology and communication skills, and also offers an alternative way of evaluating students. Above all, multimedia offers a basis on which to capitalize on the intellectual abilities sometimes not highlighted by traditional assessment methods.

The article describes the use of magnets, paper clips and a ball bearing in teaching molecular geometries. The materials can be used to demonstrate how the valence-shell electron air repulsion model (VSEPR) may be applied to predict molecular geometries. The practical advantages of using magnetic models than other models include the easy addition or removal of magnets in comparing domain geometry and molecular geometry.

A papermaking activity is developed to teach students a combination of scientific, artistic and environmental principles. The activity is divided into 10 45-minute sessions during the course of 10 weeks. These sessions include the introduction of concepts, examination of various wood and plant cells, pulp preparation and papermaking, discussions on dyes and pH, and decoration of handmade papers.

Several new facts about teaching of science in schools and colleges are revealed from the response to the SCST 'Position Paper,' published in Sep-Oct 1993. Professor emeritus at Michigan State University, Ralph W. Lewis, feels that the philosophy of science teaching should be given more importance and teaching of science should increase the thinking ability of the students. Biology professor at Oklahoma City Community College, C. Jane Barrett, suggests that the quality of science education imparted to the students should be high and must stimulate the students to pursue further scientific study.

The website www.nsta.org website describes NSTA's official position papers.

Tissue paper balloons can be launched using hot air from charcoal-fired braziers made from empty food cans. Each brazier is made of four cans modified to form a cylindrical tube and supplies the hot air required for 10 to 15 launches. The tissue paper ignites and, when launched, burns out quickly, making it a safe heat source.

The article discusses a "Poor, Poor Pluto: A Planet No More," a research project led by librarian Lindsey Jones at Cactus Ranch Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas in which third-grade students examined why Pluto was no longer considered a planet and in turn developed basic research skills. Information is provided on Jones' collaboration with teachers in planning the project, as well as lessons on citations, writing research papers, and using audio-visual aids.

The National Science Education Standards was developed in an attempt to reform Earth science instruction at all grade levels. Part of the standards' goal was to increase the employment of Earth science teachers to replace the aging workforce. In relation to this, the National Science Foundation emphasized its Teacher Enhancement Program for the professional development of science teachers. Also, geoscience societies expanded their educational programs for pre-college Earth science teachers.

The Teacher Research Update Experience (TRUE) program of the University of Florida in Gainesville offers skills training for science teachers. A biotechnology course is presented during the initial week which attempts to educate teachers about laboratory techniques such as restriction enzyme digests, polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analyses. The main benefit given by the program to teachers is that it allows them to view science from the learner's perspective.

Science teachers should convene at the National Science Teachers Association 1998 convention to boost science education programmes in multicultural study. Multicultural science education is of utmost importance to future generations. Changes to curriculum would achieve content integration throughout the US. Students from all backgrounds should be given the opportunity to learn science.

An experienced teacher learned about educational strategies through undertaking a course in a subject which was difficult for her to master. She experienced panic due to the pace of the course, and she understood the frustrations of students when teachers do not allow time for thinking or do not repeat information. She appreciated more fully the value of homework in providing individual practice, and of student interactions in promoting development of understanding. The teacher also had personal experience of how emotional states affect learning ability and performance.

A teacher introduced the concept of scientific method to ninth grade students by asking them to undertake an investigation concerning the number of licks required to reach the centre of a Tootsie Pop. He asked the students to estimate the number of licks they would take. Each student formed a hypothesis based on previous experience, then counted their actual number of licks. The experiment provided teaching on hypothesis formation, the potential danger of manipulating data to fit a hypothesis, and the necessity for patient study and careful observation.

Professional development programs offer a range of benefits to teachers. They encourage personal growth, they increase job satisfaction and they promote the dissemination of innovative classroom activities. Programs of interest to science teachers include the Better Elementary Science Teachers program and the Systemic Teacher Excellence Preparation program, which includes collaboration between classroom teachers and university personnel to provide training for new teachers.

The main focus of the 1997 National Science Teachers Assn High School Committee Town Meeting were issues that involve high school teachers. The event was participated upon by 41 teachers in 21 states. It dwells primarily on block scheduling, inadequate funding, class size, lack of relevant inservice program and laboratory safety. Special emphasis was also given to the development of professional opportunities for teachers.

NASA's Pathfinder mission to Mars represents the beginning of a new era of science communication and education. Millions of people have accessed NASA's Internet site on the mission. This allows them to track the progress of the mission and also to analyse data. Amateur scientists may, in the future, be able to interpret data from Mars which NASA does not have the resources to study. Science students in the more distant future may be able to run experiments in space. NASA has also produced a wide range of resources on the Pathfinder mission for science students.

The Lake View high school, one of the schools in the remediation list of Chicago Public School Systems's troubled schools requires teaching reforms lacks in providing students the education they deserve. Students with a background of socioeconomic problems are unable to distinguish between quality and quantity. The introduction of assessment techniques such as portfolios has problems but helps in increasing a concern for quality in the students. Introduction of activities in the teaching of science helps in increasing understanding.

The National Science Education Standards will be helpful to teachers at the local, state and national levels for designing and evaluating science curricula. The standards stress the need for students to have contacts with skilled and professionally developed teachers. A survey of 5,000 members of the National Science Teachers Association shows that 80% believe that the standards will improve science teaching in classrooms. The lack of financial support for professional development, required resources, and planning with other teachers are the commonly perceived barriers in its implementation.

The success of the National Science Education Standards' promises to enhance the overall education standards in the US depends upon their implementation. The standards promises to enhance the science understanding of students with emphasis on holistic knowledge of science. The standards include professional development of teachers, and school and district science programs on a nation-wide scale. Problems such as designing and adapting standards-based curriculum and timely application of standards will have to be solved to fulfill the promises.

Usage of technology supports the integration of the science and math teaching process, and helps students apply their math and science knowledge in a more efficient manner. Integration develops students' problem-solving skills and stimulates their creative thinking. Usage of the the graphing calculator and Calculator Based Laboratory (CBL) demonstrates the successful integration of the two subjects in a classroom setup.

The Cooperative Satellite Learning Project (CSLP), a partnership between NASA, Allied Signal Teaching Services Corporation, member schools and their communities, uses the Small Explorer series satellites to support the space sciences teaching process. NASA plans to innovate CSLP for 1995-1996 and support science education through technical lectures. The CSLP project gives students a good opportunity to use their technical skills in applying the space science concepts.

The small number of women and minorities with careers in the fields of science and mathematics is primarily the result of the lack of motivation for these groups to engage in science and mathematics activities in their high school years. To correct this imbalance, the best approach would be to encourage elementary and high school female and minority students to participate in curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular science-related activities.

Suggestions are invited from the readers of The Science Teacher to address the problems of high school science teachers discussed at the Aug 1995 National Science Teachers Association's State Chapters and Associated Groups Conference. The issues of home-schooling, excess class size, and the management of laboratories need to be resolved. Teachers are hard pressed for time and their lack of inter-communication aggravates the issues. The science curricula should be modified to meet the requirements of students who fail to join college and those who do not specialize in science.

The president of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) discusses the problems facing science students and teachers. Science teachers are awaiting the arrival of the National Science Education Standards. They are also anxious to know about the various reform schemes introduced for science teachers. NSTA has sponsored forums on the topic at its conventions and in its four journals. It is also developing kits for science teachers, school administrators, parents and the general public.

The National Park Service was established by an act of the Congress in 1916 and besides conserving parks established on federally protected land, has also developed formal environmental education programs. These programs such as National Environmental Study Areas, National Environmental Education Landmarks and Students Towards Environmental Education played an important role in school education in the 1970s. The Service has decided to develop programs for the general public also. Science teachers can help in this by identifying key concepts for the program.

Museums are a valuable source of information and are usually within travelling distance from schools and communities. They are especially useful in the summer months when the students are not attending school as they tend to forget what they learned in the previous year. To facilitate learning, teachers should inform the students about the summer museum programs and make a list of questions which will encourage thought by students and their parents. Active discussion between the students and their parents or older students helps the learning process.

The federal program Goals 2000: Educate American Act aims to implement effective reforms in schools and education to develop high standards and improve the knowledge and skills of the students. The goals for achieving educational excellence are students' academic achievement, school completion, adult literacy, school readiness, leadership in science and math, drug free and safe schools, professional development of teachers, and teachers' and parents' involvement in the reform programs.

The involvement of teachers, administrators, students, parents, politicians and business representatives is essential for making a success of Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which aims to make the US first in science and math education in the world by 2000. Reforms should be introduced in teacher preparation programs to improve the efficiency of teachers. Students should be made aware of the importance of science, and the school administration should encourage teachers and students to perform better. The schools should also collaborate with science education communities.

The article describes an activity for the science classroom that involves testing the absorbency of different brands of paper towels. The activity lends itself to good discussions about experimental procedures such as variables and controls, data comparisons, and measurement techniques. It can also be designed as an open-ended inquiry wherein students discuss their views regarding the question "Which paper towel is the most absorbent?" and design a plan to test the absorbency of several paper towels.

Focuses on the use of paper airplanes to demonstrate Bernoulli principles in Native American educational settings. Participants' sense of adventure; Test flights and redesign; Assessment and extensions.

The article describes an activity program for upper elementary students to gain an understanding of how the properties of matter affect light and sound, and how these effects are related to each other.

The Paper Flights activity designed at the Oklahoma State University, for Native American non-teachers helped in enhancing their understanding of the Bernoulli principle. A sense of community, competition and the lack of cultural difficulties are some of the cultural factors which predispose Native Americans to enjoy and learn the activity. The instructions, construction, designing and assessment of the paper airplanes by a group of preservice secondary teachers involved in the Paper Flights activity have been described.

A simulation activity using paper clips can help students understand properties of reversible reactions, and abstract concepts of equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle in chemistry. The approach dispels the misconception that in equilibrium, concentrations of reactants and products are equal to each other. It allows students to understand how changes in concentrations influence the relative rate of reactions and the subsequent concentrations. Paper clip compounds, formed by the looping of a large and a small clip, are used for representing synthesis and decomposition.

Invites science teachers to discuss ozone layer depletion in the classroom. Resources for studying ozone depletion; Questions and answers regarding ozone layer depletion; Prohibition of the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFS) in the United States by December 31, 1996.

Active participation of biology students in laboratory experiments via visual demonstrations enables proper comprehension of biological concepts such as the diffusion process. Such experiences will enhance understanding of concepts such as the use of chemical indicators, introductory statistics, and the acid-base theory. Materials required for the demonstration, and the experimental process are discussed.

Digital pen-and-paper technology, although marketed commercially as a bridge between old and new note-taking capabilities, synchronizes the collection of both written and audio data. This manuscript describes how this technology was used to improve data collection in research regarding students' learning, specifically their understanding of enzyme-substrate interactions as depicted in textbook representations. Students were provided this technology during individual interviews and were permitted to annotate multiple representations of enzymes and substrates, as well as to generate their own representations. The ability to digitally revisit the sequential student drawings was valuable in analysis of the research findings. Innovative and novel uses for this technology are discussed for both discipline-based education research and classroom practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a lesson that introduces size and scale by having the students cut a strip of paper for several times to find out how many cuts it would take to reach the size of a quark. It cites information background about the quark particles. It features several charts that illustrates various student worksheets, and sample objects whose sizes represent the cut sizes. It also introduces online supporting material that can aid students in learning the concepts of quarks. Moreover, it offers information about the Quarked! website at www.quarked.org which explores concepts in the nature of matter.

A first person narrative is presented that explores the author's experince of using multimedia circuits to teach electricity in elementary school.

The article describes an activity program for grade four to six students which requires them to mix substances to produce chemical reactions and to study the substances' properties.

We designed a physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers to foster aspects of scientific thinking recommended in reform documents. Because the elementary school curriculum focuses heavily on literacy, we also explicitly integrated physics and literacy learning in this course. By integrating physics and literacy learning, we mean learning to speak clearly, listen closely, write coherently, read with comprehension, and make and critique media resources competently in physics contexts. Thus a major focus of our efforts has been designing activities and assignments that build literacy skills while engaging prospective teachers in scientific thinking. The National Research Council (2007) suggested that students who are proficient in science (a) know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world; (b) generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations; (c) understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge; and (d) participate productively in scientific practices and discourse. In this paper, we discuss prospective teachers' perceptions of ways they have developed their abilities to think scientifically in this course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the creativity of a teacher, who tells a story and asks the students to draw a magic genie and create a magic bouquet. According to the story, the teacher buys an old mysterious house that needed renovation. The teacher finds a magic genie bottle while cleaning the house. The teacher also finds some dirty flowers and tries to change the color of the flowers. The teacher becomes very happy with the change of color after washing them in the water. The teacher instructs the students to do several activities including to paint an empty bottle or jug that has a narrow neck fitted with a cork. He further instructs to wrap 4 grams of sodium iodide or potassium iodide in tissue paper. He instructs to prepare the magic bouquet by soaking a bunch of while silk flowers in different solutions including litmus, and phenol red.

The article describes an activity program which asks students to participate in a data gathering exploration based on the 5E Learning Cycle to study the process of osmosis.

The article presents the author's experience of conducting a consumer product testing session in classroom. In consumer product testing project, the author asked students to design experiments to assess the qualities of consumer products. Students were thoroughly engaged in the learning process. The author says that consumer science is a perfect way for students to learn about scientific inquiry. It could also help them in exploring, the properties of various materials while making important social studies connections. In the project, the students concluded that advertisers must adopt some testing process before making claims for their consumer products.

The article offers the author's insight on activities which dealt with color and eye perception of color by staring at a red rabbit and then looking at a blank sheet of paper after, in which an image of green rabbit appeared in the paper. The author discusses the cones in the retina as the reasons behind the change in color perception of the eye as it respond to different colors or frequencies of light, relating how human eyes interact with objects and mentions oprtical illusions.