Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

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 …

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 - 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Science Notes - Guinea Pigs

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Guinea pigs (cavies) have excellent disposition. They are gentle and rarely bite. Several varieties make good classroom animals. The English (or Bolivian) type has short hair. The Abyssinian type has a short rough coat. The Peruvian guinea pig has shaggy hair which requires brushing each day.

Thomas Edison/Max Mcgraw Scholarship

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The Thomas Alva Edison Foundation and the Max McGraw Foundation are once again co-sponsoring a scholar hip program which this year will be open to all high school students with an interest in science and engineering.

Editor's Corner, Chuck Haman, Carl Bollwinkel

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those individual who have supported the Iowa Science Teachers Journal during the past eight years of my tenure. No editor can produce a journal without such support. The journal's new editor is Carl Bollwinkel. Carl teaches science at Price Laboratory School at the University of Northern Iowa. The journal could not have a better setting or editor.

Man Or Mouse?

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

When testing a new compound (Chlorfenvinphos) for killing ectoparasites on dogs, Vernon Brown of the Shell Toxicology Lab in England found the LD50 differences between species to be enormous. For rats, the LD50 value was 12 mg per kilogram of ordinary feed, for mice 100-200 mg, while dogs proved indestructible at 12,000 mg.

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

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

No abstract provided.

Human Evolution, Robert D. Seager

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

A common characteristic of humans is a desire to know their roots. This is evident not only in the tracing of family ancestries, but in the excitement about and attention given to the study of the roots of our entire species - the study of human evolution. We have, over the past few million years, evolved from an ape-like ancestor to modern Homo sapiens. Like evolution in general, the fact of human evolution is as firmly established as anything in science. There are, however, differences among scientists concerning details of this process. In this paper I will give an historical …

Paleobotany, Dennis Sievers

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Paleobotany is the study of fossilized plant material, and includes the study of fossilized spores and pollen. Many plants during the Pennsylvanian Period were fossilized during coal formation in permineralizecl peat deposits, forming coal balls. Coal balls contain numerous fossils of plant fragments, including pollen and spores that are preserved in meticulous detail. The tools and processes required for the study of microfossils in coal balls are inexpensive and can be found in most high school laboratories. Two methods of coal ball study will be described in this paper. The first method involves the study of microfossils through the preparation …

Spinach

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Ever wonder why spinach is supposed to be so good for you? Popeye will tell you it's the presence of healthy quantities of iron. But did you know that every gram of spinach also contains manganese, strontium, zinc, uranium and europium - in fact, at least 27 trace elements?

Hawkeye Science Fair

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The 25th annual Hawkeye Science Fair will be held April 8 and 9 at the Valley West Mall, West Des Moines, Iowa.

Biological Illustration Book

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Biological Illustration: Techniques and Exercises, just published by the Iowa State University Press, offers a series of introductory exercises designed to develop and increase competency with a pen and ink in biological illustrations. It is written by John C. Downey and James L. Kelly, both of the University of Northern Iowa, and is illustrated by their students in a beginning class. It is designed to meet the needs of high school, junior college, college and independent illustrators.

Start College Early At Iowa - Sstp

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Each summer over 250 high school students from states coast-to-coast participate in programs offered by The University of Iowa Secondary Student Training Program (SSTP). A very high percentage of these students are traditionally native Iowans.

Rocket Workshop, Robert L. Cannon

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Would you like a popular, educationally sound, hands-on workshop for your next convention or conference? The workshops on the educational applications of model rocketry put on by Estes Industries have proven very popular. The basic workshop requires a time period of 1½ to 2 hours for the talk, demonstrations, and actual construction of a model rocket by each teacher participant. We have conducted these workshops for area and national conventions of the National Science Teachers Association and for teacher groups in over half the States.

Editor's Corner - Crisis In Science Education: A Partial Solution?, Carl W. Bollwinkel, Richard L. Wilson

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The crisis in science education and the article published in the Autumn 1983 issue of ISTJ has prompted one of our readers to share the following.

The Nuclear Arms Race And The Science Curriculum, James Cottingham

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

This paper proposes some ideas about the appropriateness and value of the study of nuclear weapons in the school curriculum in general and the science curriculum in particular. I will discuss some ideas that have been tried in this area by me and by others as well as some proposals that could be tried in the future. In addition, I will reflect on things we should be doing as science teachers in regard to nuclear weapons issues.

Lantz Summer Awards For Graduate Study

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

The College of Natural Sciences of the University of Northern Iowa announces the availability of financial awards to pay tuition costs of graduate study during Summer Session 1983 in the fields of Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, Science, and Science Education.

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 …

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.

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.

Science Notes - Want To Know More About Mount St. Helens?

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Legislation establishing the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument has been passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. This action gives added significance to informational materials already produced by the Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, to help people better understand the cataclysmic event and the aftermath of May 18, 1980, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest of Southwest Washington.

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.

Diatoms (Part V): Ecology, James Hungerford

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

Diatoms are found in a wide variety of habitats. Fossil evidence suggests that diatoms are of relatively recent geologic origin in comparison to other algal groups. The oldest known fossil specimens come from the Jurassic Period (Vinyard 1979). Centric diatoms are predominant in the more ancient strata and also are the predominant forms in present day oceans (Vinyard 1979). Fossil diatoms are used to locate oil strata and water strata, to record the movement of glaciers and to reconstruct paleoecological environments.