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Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Survey Of In-Service Needs Of Iowa Science Teachers, Timothy Cooney, Darrel Hoff

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

National concerns about science education have suggested a number of factors which are contributing to what is now being called a crisis. One such factor is that colleges and universities are producing fewer certified science teachers, even as many science teachers are leaving the classroom to pursue other employment. A second factor is that the average age of the science teacher is increasing and many teachers have not continued to update their training. A third factor; which may be a result of the first two, is that the number of secondary students taking science and the number of courses they …

Perceptions Of Science Of Third, Seventh, And Eleventh Grade Students Enrolled In Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Schools, Stuart O. Yager, Robert E. Yager

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

As a part of the Third Assessment of Science for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Assessment, Note 1.), an extensive battery of items dealing with the affective domain were included for the first time. Information for the National Assessment of Educational Progress is gathered from a stratified sample drawn from the entire United States. All questions are reviewed by education specialists (including science educators, measurement experts, and lay persons). The questions are administered to 2,500 persons selected to represent varying age levels. For NAEP studies, four samples are used, namely 9, 13 and 17-year-olds and a young-adult sample.

The Identification Of Unknown Bacteria, Steve Ziser

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

A major activity of most college level introductory microbiology courses is the identification of one or more unknown bacterial species. The ways suggested in many lab manuals for identifying bacteria are often unorganized and difficult to follow. In addition, the huge volume of information often required to make a diagnosis may overwhelm beginning microbiology students who are largely incapable of weighing the importance of many of the tests in trying to decide how to best proceed with the identification. Microbiology manuals too often overlook the fact that identification is an orderly process of moving from general characteristics to more specific …

An Interesting Wintertime Temperature Phenomenon, Laurent Hodges

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

In the course of studying residential energy use in central Iowa, I kept track of the hourly temperatures recorded in Des Moines. The temperatures were simply those published daily in the Des Moines Register (with occasional obvious corrections). I noticed that during the winter months in Iowa there are occasionally long periods (up to a few days) when there is remarkably little change in outdoor air temperature, and these always occur near the freezing point of water.

Reading Rocks: Early History Of Paleontology, Mary Simonis-Parish, Doris A. Simonis

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The word paleontology is taken from the Greek words 'palaios' meaning old, 'ontos' a being, and 'logos' to study (Hamlyn, 1968). It is usually loosely translated to mean 'the study of past life', or 'the study of fossils'. Though the word itself has been used only in recent times, an interest in fossils (as interesting objects literally "dug out of the earth") is probably as old as humankind. The subject of this paper is the development of ideas that deal with the significance and origin of fossils. The explanations range from ancient times up to the nineteenth century when fossils …

Collecting Reptiles And Amphibians For Classroom Use, Donald J. Perschau

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The advantages of living organisms in the classroom are well known to biology and elementary teachers. Live animals and plants spark interest, provide color and movement, can be used as teaching materials, and can generally improve the classroom environment. Organisms commonly found in classrooms include plants from the genera Coleus, Dracena, Philodendron, and many others, and animals which are often small mammals or perhaps tropical fish. Seldom does one find more primitive vascular or non-vascular plants, invertebrate animals, reptiles or amphibians. It has been my experience that these organisms have much to add to the classroom and …

Outstanding Science Student Award

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Through a grant from the Rolscreen Company of Pella, Iowa, the Iowa Academy of Science is making available to every high school in Iowa two 2-inch bronze medals for presentation to an outstanding senior boy and girl science student.

Element-Ary Puns, Rita K. Voltmer, Jody M. Hines, James L. Kelly

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The periodic table offers a lot of information, most of which is usually not used by high school students. However, it is important for students of chemistry, biology and physics to have some background related to the elements that make up the periodic table. Several students were working with a periodic table and realized they could make studying the elements more enjoyable by making up some statements that led to the actual naming of the element. For example: If you want to catch wild horses, europium.

Science Notes - Contest Winners: Matt Manning And Derek Olsen

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Organisms which live in a drop of pond water was the subject of the art work on the cover of the autumn ISTJ. Those organisms were not only the cover subject but the basis of a contest to find the students who could most correctly and neatly label those organisms. And now I have the pleasure of announcing the contest winners: Matt Manning and Derek Olsen.

Science Notes - Iowa Academy Of Science Highlights Of The 1984 Annual Meeting, April 27-28, 1984, University Of Iowa, Iowa City

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Three General Session speakers are planned for this year's Iowa Academy of Science meeting. At 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Dr. Eugene Rasmusson of the Climate Analysis Center; in Washington, D.C., will speak on "The El Nino/Southern Oscillation Phenomenon and Global Climate Fluctuations." Dr. Rasmusson was one of the early observers of climatological phenomena which have affected our weather the last few years.

Science Notes - Summer Science Programs For High School Students

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

This year, the Secondary Student Training Program at The University of Iowa will celebrate twenty-five years of providing enrichment experiences for secondary students.

Science Notes - Book News : Did The Devil Make Darwin Do It? Modern Perspectives On The Creation-Evolution Controversy

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Did the Devil Make Darwin Do It? Modern Perspectives on the Creation-Evolution Controversy, recently published by the Iowa State University Press, provides discussions from scientists and philosophers in many areas on this topic now under examination across the country. It is edited by David B. Wilson, a science historian at Iowa State University; whose interest was sparked by a creationist confrontation in a biology classroom at Iowa State in 1978.

Science Notes - Book News : Science Safety For Elementary Teachers

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Science Safety for Elementary Teachers, recently published by the Iowa State University Press, is designed to help elementary school teachers make their classrooms safer places in which to learn.

Science Calendar

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Index To Volume 20

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Officers, Iowa Academy Of Science; Officers & Regional Directors, Iowa Science Teachers Section; Editorial Staff & Boards

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Science And Math Teachers: A National Survey Of Supply And Demand, Trevor Howe

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Total enrollments in Iowa public schools, K-12, have declined. Total enrollments have declined by 130,116 students in ten years. The projected enrollments are expected to drop 31,444 students in the next five years. Obviously the implication is a reduction in the number of teaching positions at both the elementary and secondary levels over the next several years. However, current data indicate that the science and math teacher supply is decreasing more rapidly than student enrollment.

The Crisis In Science Education: Problems And Recommendations: A Summary Of The Iowa Academy Of Science Symposium At Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, April 22, 1983, Jack A. Gerlovich, Trevor Howe, George Burnet, David H. Swanson, John E. Penick

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

There is a recognized state and national crisis in securing and maintaining "qualified" science teachers. To date the majority of effort has been expended toward identifying and redefining the problems with few attempts made to resolve them. The purpose of this symposium was to spend minimal time seeking to inform participants of the problems and then to present some recommendations for resolving them. Each of the presenters was uniquely to address this, to date, intractable problem.

Analysis Of The Problems In Science Education And Recommendations For Resolution, George Burnet

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The quality of precollege mathematics and science education in our schools and the implications for all sectors of American society have been articulated in the Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology's report, Today's Problems, Tomorrow's Crises (1982) and in numerous other reports, articles, publications and public fora. Since July 1982 the Commission has been collecting information and suggested solutions from a broad base of institutions, organizations, and expert observers.

The Search For Excellence In Science Education, John E. Penick

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

In 1976 several NSF funded studies revealed the current state of science education in the United States. In 1978, a synthesis of the more than 2,000 pages of information from those three NSF reports and the NAEP data was begun by twenty-three science educators throughout the U.S. The synthesis researchers worked independently in small teams, each focusing on one aspect of science education: elementary science, biology, physical science, science/technology/society, or inquiry. A critical part of the synthesis analysis was developing a description of an ideal or desired state for a focus area and then comparing the actual to the desired …

Governor's Task Force Report On High Technology In Iowa: Results And Applications To The Crisis In Science Education, David H. Swanson

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Governor Robert Ray, on May 18, 1982, directed a High Technology Task Force to examine the feasibility of the development of high technology industries in Iowa. This task force after 5½ months of study, made its report to the governor. The report found that 75 percent of the new U.S. manufacturing jobs created during the past 25 years were in seven basic industry groups. These industries were generally described as high technology. The report also concluded that in the future manufacturing employment increases were most likely to occur in high technology industries. Considered major among the locational factors of high …

Applying Technology To Alleviate The Problems Created By The Shortage Of Qualified Math And Science Teachers, Jack A. Gerlovich

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

In November, 1982, a report (Gerlovich et al., Note 1) was delivered to then Governor Robert D. Ray outlining the problems in science education in Iowa and recommendations for addressing them. Among the major needs outlined were:

1. Salaries of teachers in short supply must be made competitive with those in the private sector.

2. Preservice scholarship and loan forgiveness programs must be initiated for science teaching.

3. Cost effective, continuous, inservice programs for upgrading current science teachers should be initiated.

4. Prospective science teachers should complete coursework for the DPI "all sciences" approval to improve their employability.

5. Local …

A Look At Earth Science Teacher Needs, Peter A. Rubba

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

In preparation for designing a number of inservice activities for science teachers, the author completed a needs assessment on a random, stratified sample of the grade six through twelve science teachers in Illinois. The survey was carried out using the Moore Assessment Profile (MAP), an instrument which had been developed specifically to identify the needs of inservice science teachers.

Average Heat Of Combustion And Available Energy Of Carbohydrate, Fat And Protein, H. I. Feinstein

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The food energy of carbohydrate, fat and protein recorded in many nutrition tables is the net available energy. It is equal to 16.7, 37.7, and 16.7 kilojoules per gram respectively. These are not the same as the heat of combustion determined calorimetrically.

Students' Views Of Science Teachers, Classes, And Course Content, Robert E. Yager, Ronald J. Bonnstetter

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The Third Assessment of Science, part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), provided needed views concerning successes and failures of school programs (Holmes & Wright, 1980; National Assessment, Note 1). For the first time, the 1977 assessment of science included an extensive battery of items dealing with the affective domain. Present plans include abandoning future assessments in science that would permit a longitudinal study of such outcomes of science instruction. This unfortunate situation prompted the authors to replicate the study with Iowa samples five years later.

History Of Science Crossword Puzzle Answers

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

An Nsta Position Statement: Science-Technology-Society: Science Education For The 1980s, Glenn D. Berkheimer, Rodger W. Bybee, Kathleen M. Donnellan, Paul Dehart Hurd, Donald E. Maxwell, Rita Peterson, Harold Pratt

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Science and technology influence every aspect of our lives. They are central to our welfare as individuals and to the welfare of our society. All around us are examples of the importance of science and technology for production of food, shelter, clothing, medicines, transportation, and various sources of energy. There are an increasing number of science- and technology-related societal problems as well as increasing societal benefits. Science and technology are central to our personal and cultural welfare and to many societal problems. We must insure appropriate science education for all citizens.

A Refined Plan For Elimination Of Unwanted/Dangerous Chemicals, Jack Gerlovich, Ron Kolpa, Frank Kilpatrick

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Through the cooperative efforts of numerous state agencies, the state of Iowa has refined its plan for safe, expeditious and effective identification and redistribution and/or disposal of hazardous chemicals from school science storerooms. Following assessment of high school and community college storerooms, review of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for handling and disposal of hazardous substances, review of related chemical literature, and testing at the University of Iowa, a list of 100 "chemicals considered more hazardous than their education value" was synthesized.