Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

State Indicators In Science And Mathematics Education: A Comparison Of Iowa And The United States, John Ramsey

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The first state-by-state data of key indicators of the condition of science and mathematics in schools has been issued in a report from the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). This report, State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education, is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The project identified two objectives: (1) to improve the quality and usefulness of data on science and mathematics education so that state policy makers and program managers can make more informed decisions; and (2) to define and implement a set of indicators, national and state level analyses of progress in …

Astronomy Bulletin - The 1992 Spring Sky, Patrick Steven Leiker

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Science Notes - Summer Opportunities For Math And Science Teachers, Jonna M. Higgins

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Northwest Missouri State University is seeking high school level math and/or science teachers interested in teaming with Northwest University instructors as part of an Upward Bound administered summer program. Team members' job responsibilities include teaching students, guiding and monitoring student laboratory work and research, evaluating student work, attending weekend activities and/or field trips and evaluating the program. The major emphasis of instruction will be to integrate the topics of the week in a manner that will help students understand that knowledge is not discrete.

Science Notes - Student Opportunities To Name Features On Venus

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

When astronomers and planetary geologists first see a new terrain feature on Venus, they typically assign both a descriptive term (like "crater," "corona" or "mons") as well as a particular name. Since Venus was the Roman goddess of love, scientists have decided to name its features after famous females throughout history. Most of the large features, like the Venusian land masses Aphrodite Terra and Ishtar Terra, have been named for love goddesses from other cultures. Although names for many of the craters have already been proposed, the International Astronomical Union, which is the sole authority for assigning names to celestial …

Science Notes - National Astronomy Exposition At Wisconsin Meeting

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Universe '92, the first-ever national astronomy exposition, will be the principal weekend event at the 104th Annual Meeting of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific, to be held at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, June 20-25, 1992.

Science Notes - Chemsource Modules Being Tested

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

ChemSource is a three-year project to produce materials that will provide day-to-day support for preservice and in-service high school chemistry teachers. Now in its second year, the project is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The principal investigator is Mary Virginia Orna, professor of chemistry at the College of New Rochelle, NY.

Science Notes - National Institute Of Health Offers Newsletter, Jonna M. Higgins

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The National Institute of Science publishes a newsletter reporting recent research conducted or supported by the National Institute of Health. The Fall 1991 issue, for example, contains four articles, including one titled "Gene Engineered Bacterial Toxin Kills AIDS-Infected Cells in Laboratory Tests."

Science Notes - Review: Out Of The Ozone, Carl W. Bollwinkel

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

David Davis has successfully used slides to develop a video titled "Out of the Ozone" which is appropriate for secondary chemistry and earth science students. The video reviews the development of the ozone problem and the theories about it. "Out of the Ozone" also helps students by identifying many factors promoting ozone depletion.

Science Notes - Natural History Potpourri Workshops

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

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Natural History workshops are scheduled at the Conservation Education Center (Springbrook) for the weeks of June 14-19 and 21-26, 1992. The potpourri of topics includes: birds, trees, rocks, prairie plants and pond life. The week-long sessions will include field trips, lecture/discussions, slide talks and participation in activities which link the content topics to classroom activities. Highlights of previous programs have included canoeing the slough for observations of yellow-headed blackbirds, making T-shirt designs with Cherokee leaf pounding, a trip through a virgin prairie and the "Potpourri Picnic."

Science Notes - Review: Odyssey, Darrel Hoff

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Kalmbach Publishing has now sold its middle-school / junior-high level magazine Odyssey to Cobblestone Publishing. This magazine uses the theme of space and astronomy to motivate its readers. The transfer of ownership has resulted in a reduction of the page-size of the magazine, while most of the features of the earlier journal are retained.

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Temperature Trends In Iowa, Laurent Hodges

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

With all the discussion about possible global warming, many people have wondered: What is the historical trend in Iowa's temperatures? This can be answered reasonably well for the past century. Temperature records since 1873 have been compiled by the State Climatological Office and its predecessors (National Climatic Center, 1990). For many years the State Climatologist published the average annual temperatures for the state as a whole, but that practice ceased in the early 1950s. Consequently, I have gone back over the records of the last 11 decades (from 1880 to 1989) and computed an average annual temperature for each year …

Astronomy Bulletin - The 1990-91 Winter Sky, P. Steven Leiker

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Science Notes - Isu Holds Career Conference For Women

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

''Taking the Road Less Traveled," a conference which allows young women to explore career opportunities in science, math, engineering and technology, will be held at Iowa State University in spring. Throughout the day, students will participate in sessions featuring careers in architecture, chemistry, industrial and civil engineering and computer programming. In addition, they will learn how to prepare for different careers during high school and college.

Science Notes - Cesi Make-It, Take-It, Think-About-It Workshops

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The Council for Elementary Science International (CESI) will be conducting its Make-It, Take-It, Think-About-It workshops during the NSTA National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 27 and 28, 1992, and is currently accepting reservations for presenter spaces at the workshops.

Science Notes - Fellowships For Outstanding Math And Science Teachers, Stephanie A. Althof

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The Council for Basic Education (CBE) will again offer Sci-Mat Fellowships for 1992. Recipients of the fellowships spend six weeks during the summer in full-time, independent, interdisciplinary study linking the sciences and the humanities.

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Science Notes - Environmental Issues Instruction Workshop

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

A Resource Enhancement and Protection Act (REAP) grant has been awarded for the continuation of the Environmental Issues Instruction Workshops. Topics scheduled for 1991-92 are: "Solid Waste Management," "Global Climate Change" and ''Tropical Rain Forest." The instructional program is appropriate for the students of elementary and high school teachers.

Science Notes - New Hands-On Elementary Science Program

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The National Science Resources Center has introduced the first three units of its new hands-on elementary science program. "Plant Growth and Development," "Electric Circuits" and "Microworlds" were demonstrated at a March 6 news conference in Washington, DC. The units are part of NSRC's elementary science curriculum project, "Science and Technology for Children" (STC). The project is based on the principle that children learn science by doing science.

Science Notes - Newsletter On Teaching Astronomy Available

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

A free newsletter on teaching astronomy in primary and secondary schools is being offered by four leading professional astronomy societies (Astronomical Society of the Pacific, American Astronomical Society, Canadian Astronomical Society and International Planetarium Society) in North America.

Science News - National Middle Level Science Teachers Association, Stephanie A. Althof

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Efforts are currently underway to establish a national professional organization for teachers of middle school science. The National Middle Level Science Teachers Association (NMLSTA) is currently inviting educators across the nation to become members.

Science Calendar

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial Office & Staff; Officers, Iowa Academy Of Science; Executive Board & Regional Directors, Iowa Science Teachers Section

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Science Notes - Book News: Biotechnology: Microbes And The Environment, Ross L. Iverson

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Microbes and the Environment is the third "BriefBook" to be published by the Center for Science Information (CSI). CSI is a nonprofit organization with the goals of improving decision makers' basic level of science understanding so that they can make informed decisions and better educate the public.

Science Notes - Applications Invited For Project Esteem

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Project ESTEEM (Earth Science Teachers Exploring Exemplary Materials) will hold another summer workshop for teachers at Harvard University's Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 3-26, 1992. The goal of Project ESTEEM is to develop a nation-wide network of earth-science resource agents to promote an increase in activity-based teaching in American schools. Forty earth-science teachers from across the U.S. will be selected to participate.

Mystery Powders A La The Learning Cycle, William Bluhm

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Even as the 1990s seem to be ushering in a new wave of "hands - on" science, one cannot help but look back to the late 1960s when a previous wave of experiential science programs was crashing ashore. Two programs notable among those spawned during the late 1960s and early 1970s were Elementary Science Study (ESS) and the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). ESS units, originally a group of fifty-six independent units covering topics from the physical, biological and earth sciences for K-9, incorporated an instructional strategy called "messing around." "Messing around," which took place during the early portion of …

Science Notes - Onion's Fusible Alloy Sample, Stephanie A. Althof

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Flinn Scientific, Inc., is offering free samples of a special alloy designed for use in melting-point activities. "Onion's Fusible Alloy" has a melting point nearly 15 degrees Fahrenheit below the boiling point of water.

Meeting Iowa School Accreditation Standards Through Sts Science, John B. Cook

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has declared that the goal of science education" ... is to develop scientifically literate individuals who understand how science, technology and society influence one another and who are able to use this knowledge in their everyday decision-making" (NSTA 1982). Strategies aimed at achieving this goal have been endorsed and promoted by a variety of groups. Yet, in many Iowa schools, the science curriculum is driven by traditional textbooks that emphasize narrow academic goals. Iowa school accreditation standards list specific requirements for the science program in grades 1-12. In addition, seven horizontal infusion areas must …

The Wasberg Effect, Thomas H. Vertrees

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Working on demonstrations that were considered useful and graphic teaching tools received considerable energy from the participants at the North West Workshop for Teachers of Chemistry (NWW) under the direction of Dr. Glenn Crosby at Washington State University in 1987. Some new demonstrations were developed, but most of the effort was spent dealing with traditional and published successful teaching aids to make the directions uniform and clear, even to teachers without extensive chemistry training, and to perfect directions that would work every time.

Paper Airplanes: A Critical Thinking Model, William Bluhm, Martha M. Kronholm

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

What upper elementary school teacher during his or her career hasn't had to deal with the occasional illicit flight of a paper airplane? Children show an interest in airplanes--from the paper variety to model planes to the real thing. From an educational standpoint, it would seem beneficial to make use of this interest. One possibility within the arena of the science class would be to use the paper airplane as a vehicle (no pun intended) for hands-on activities utilizing such sophisticated critical thinking skills as controlling variables, hypothesizing and experimenting.