Teaching Materials and the Fate of Dynamic Biology in American Classrooms after Sputnik.

The article presents a history of the teaching methods and technologies used in science education in the U.S. during the Cold War era. Particular focus is given to the instructional materials used in biology courses at the secondary level and the impact of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in providing funds to modernize school science laboratories during the period. The aims of science curriculum reforms are explored, which focused on developing technologies to compete with the Soviet Union, and the epistemology of natural history is discussed. Other topics include science textbooks, the educational supply company Ward's Natural Science Establishment, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS) project.