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Establishing a
Science Matenais
Support Center
If you want to encourage elementary school teachers to
teach science through inquiry, you have to provide
them with the light stu~at the right time. You have to
give teachers a cleat they can't refuse.
Larry Small, "Science Materials Support," ~ 992
l o teach inquiry-centered sci-
ence modules, the teacher needs all the "stuff' of science con-
tainers, scales, chemicals, and living organisms. These materials
make science inviting to children and bring them into the world
of scientists and how they work.
In the past, teachers often had the responsibility of gathering
the materials outlined in the teacher's guide to teach inquiry-cen-
tered science. This did not prove to be realistic or efficient, be-
cause few elementary teachers had the time or the expertise to do
this job well. Experience has shown that science will be taught
more effectively if science materials are managed by the school dis-
trict en cl made available to teachers when they need them. The
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most effective way for a school district to do this is to create a sci-
ence materials support center.
The purpose of such a center is to provide all the materials
teachers need! to teach inquiry-centered science modules in
"ready-to-use" condition. Although the idea is simple, implement-
ing it is not. The manager of a materials support center must con-
sider myriac! details to ensure that elementary science teachers re-
ceive what they need when they need it. Issues that must be
considered inclucle how to manage large quantities of materials,
replenish kits that have been depleted of consumable supplies,
keep the inventory of hundreds of items up to ciate, order new
supplies from the most economical sources, and ensure that the
kits arrive in the classroom on schedule.
Although there are other ways to support teachers with sci-
ence materials, the most efficient and cost-effective approach is to
establish a central science materials center that is operated by the
school district. Many school districts engaged in reform have clis-
coverec3 the importance of this critical element. George Hein, con-
sultant for the National Science Resources Center's Elementary
Science Leadership Institute program, en cl Carol Baldassari and
Laura Hudson fount! that most districts that sent teams to the
Leadership Institutes between 1989 anti 1995 recognized the im-
portance of establishing a materials support center and are taking
steps to ensure that this element is in place.
Larry Small, the former science coordinator of School Dis-
trict 54 in Schaumburg, Illinois, founded one of the first success-
ful central materials support centers. He recounts from his own ex-
perience why a central materials center is so effective:
In the early development of our system, the materials were
purchased by central warehouse personnel and sent to the in-
dividual schools for storage in the school's science "closet."
The audiovisual materials were housed in each school's li
brary or resource center. Some science units were contained
in one box. Other units used baking soda, vinegar, soda
straws, and other common grocery store items. These items
were purchased and stocked on the shelf of each school's sci-
ence closet. About midway through the first year of the new
program, the boxed unit had been used by one or two teach
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Establishing a
Science Matenals
Support Center
ers. Once the consumables had been used up, the science
unit did not get taught. The units that needed materials not
contained in this box but on the closet shelf had an even
worse record of use. These units were never taught at all.2
A central materials support center can solve most of the prom
lems that Small describes. Through central coordination across
the district, important tasks such as purchasing materials, keeping
track of inventory, sorting and packaging items, assembling kits,
distributing kits to classrooms, and refurbishing them for reuse
can be accomplished efficiently.
Because there are so many benefits to this approach, the em-
phasis of this chapter will be on describing how to set up a science
materials support center for a school district. The discussion be-
gins with issues that need to be considered in planning a materials
support center and then focuses on expenses associated with start-
ing and maintaining the materials support center.
Some school districts, such as those that are very small or that
cannot afford to set up a centralized system or those that are man-
aged by a site-based approach, may wish to consider other ways to
provide teachers with the science materials they need. Therefore,
the chapter concludes with a description of alternative types of sci-
ence materials support systems.
Planning a Science Materials Support Center
The establishment of a systemwicle science materials center should
be one element of the district's overall strategic plan. Plans for set-
ting up the materials center must begin early in the program, when
the first curriculum modules are being selected. As in all aspects of
establishing the science program, it makes sense to start small, cir-
culating only a few modules to a few schools. If procedures are es-
tablished on a small scale, the materials center will be better pre-
pared to expand to handle more modules and more schools.
Because of the complexity of the tasks and procedures involved, es-
tablishing an efficient materials center will take between three and
five years. Maintaining the center will be an ongoing effort.
The issues that need to be addressed are practical. For exam-
ple, where is the materials center going to be housed? How much
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Workers pack science kits at the science materials support center in
Montgomery County, Maryland.
space will be needed? Who will staff the facility? Is there money in
the budget for a separate staff, or will current staff members, such
as the science coordinator and his or her administrative assistant,
have to assume aciclitional responsibilities? These issues are ex-
plored in more cletai! below.
Space
For a large school district, processing science kits requires a large
space, such as a warehouse or an unused school building. A single
room in a school building or the corner of a districtwide resource
center will not be sufficient. Small school districts, on the other
hantl, may find that one or two rooms in a school building are suf-
ficient. Ideally, the materials center will be in a large space close to
an outside entrance that can be used for receiving shipments of
materials and for moving science kits in and out of the building.
Despite careful planning, space has proven to be a problem
in many school districts. For example, Montgomery County Pub-
lic Schools, in Maryland, moved its center three times before the
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Establishing a
Science Matenals
Support Center
district found the right space. Spokane District 81 in Spokane,
Washington, encountered another kind of problem related to
space. The warehouse designated to store kits had formerly been
used to store textbooks. Much to the dismay of science program
coordinators, there was not enough room in the warehouse for
the science kits because the textbooks hadn't been removed in
time. Program designers must anticipate the possibility of road-
blocks such as these, which can cause major setbacks in program
implementation.
Management
In many school districts, responsibility for the science program is
shared by many players. For example, one office may be responsi-
ble for scheduling kit deliveries, while another office is in charge of
day-to-day operations. To establish a well-functioning center, these
offices must be able to communicate and solve problems together.
Staffing
Most materials support centers begin with a small staff perhaps a
manager and one full-time staff member or a few part-time em-
ployees. Identifying a strong manager is crucial, because that per-
son must oversee operations: ensuring that the inventory is being
kept up-to-date, that the kits are ready to go out on time, and that
pickup and delivery take place according to schedule.
As more teachers begin using inquiry-centered science modules,
additional part-time employees may be necessary. Some large school
districts, which may package as many as 3,000 science kits a year, have
called on high school students and senior citizens to work during
peak processing seasons. Both of these strategies have worked well.
Inventory
Keeping track of the inventory and updating materials lists for the
science kits is part of the work of the materials center. The more
specific the lists, the better. Detailed lists help staff become aware
of what they have in stock, what items are being depleted, and
what they need to reorder. Most school districts have established
formal procedures to ensure that supplies are reordered and re-
ceived before they are needed.
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Packaging
Preparing the kits for clelivery is highly labor-intensive. At designatecl
times of the year, staff needs to be available to prepare the kits for the
teachers. Some districts may decide to manufacture the kits them-
selves; others focus on refurbishing science kits that have been pur-
chased from commercial suppliers. In either case, the school district
must be aware of its needs and plan ways to meet them well in advance.
Scheduling
The schedule serves two functions: It specifies the date for the deliv-
ery and pickup of science kits for teachers and the time the kits will
be at the center for refurbishing. Districts have developed different
scheduling strategies. One strategy that has been used effectively is
placing science kits on a nine-week schedule and sending them out
according to subject area. This means that schools participating in
the program receive all the life and earth science kits at about the
same time and must be ready to return them at the end of nine
weeks. During the nine weeks that the life and earth science kits are
in the schools, the materials support center can refurbish the physi-
cal science kits so that they are really to go out at the beginning of
the next nine-week cycle. Teachers are responsible for preparing the
kits for pickup and knowing where the designated pickup point is.
Deiiverly
The plan must cover how the kits will be transported from the sci-
ence materials center to the schools. Some districts use the ser-
vices established for delivering multimeclia materials and other
supplies to schools for the science kits. Other materials centers
have created their own delivery systems. Each district needs to con-
sider which option best suits its needs.
Service
All teachers must fee] confident that their materials will be ready
when they need them. When teachers need additional materials or
encounter unanticipated problems, they need to be confident that
someone at the district level is responsible for supporting them. In
addition, teachers with materials problems need to be able to ask
react teachers in their school to help them.
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Establishing a
Science Matenals
Support Center
Need for Special Handling Procedures
It is important that the materials support center have a plan for re-
ceiving and maintaining the animals and plants used in the mod-
ules. The materials center should also assist teachers by developing
guiclelines for maintaining living organisms in the classroom.
Safety
Staff at the materials center should be aware of basic safety pre-
cautions, such as providing goggles for students who will be work-
ing with chemicals, even common ones such as salt and baking
soda, and not using seeds that have been treated with fungicides
or pesticides. Guidelines on recommended safety precautions
should also be providecl to teachers.
Cost-Sav~ng Measures
Multiple Uses of Kits
In planning the materials support center, school administrators
must prepare realistic, cost-effective budgets. Operating a materi-
als support center does cost money. Districts must be prepared to
invest in the science materials for the kits, but once they make that
commitment, they can save money by using each kit several times
each year en cl relying on cost-saving measures when purchasing
consumable materials.
To understand why using a kit at least twice during the school
year keeps costs down, consider the following example. Let's as-
sume that a kit costs $400. If 30 students, or one class, use that kit,
the cost per student is $13.33. If you take that same $400 kit and
spend $100 to refurbish it, the total cost of the kit increases to
$500, but two classes, or 60 students, can use it. This means that
the cost of the kit per stuclent decreases from $13.33 to $S.33. And
if the kit is used three times, refurbishment costs $200, but because
90 students can use it, per capita costs drop to $6.66.
Refurbishing Costs
Many factors contribute to refurbishing costs. In figuring out these
expenses, the materials support center staff needs to consider per-
sonnel costs, costs for consumable items such as chemicals and bat
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series, and costs for lost or broken nonconsumable materials, such
as graduated cylinders and hand lenses. The two biggest operating
expenses for a materials support center are staff and replacing
consumable and nonconsumable items.
To keep personnel costs down, many programs have a bare-
bones staff and rely on volunteers for aciclitional help. Over time,
however, as the program grows and more kits are circulating
throughout the system, more staff will be necessary.
There are many ways for the materials center to save money
in replacing both consumable and nonconsumable items. Staff
can purchase raw materials directly from manufacturers or whole-
sale clistributors. Although such materials must be bought in bulk,
purchasing items in this way leads to tremendous cost savings.
Working with more than one supplier for each item or kit and ne-
gotiating the best price through a hid process can also save large
amounts of money. Through the bid process, districts may find
local suppliers who can provide better service at a lower price than
national outlets. Some materials centers have discovered that a
local hardware or garden supply store can supply certain items,
such as potting soil and aquarium gravel, through special orders.
Local stores may also offer free delivery.
Finally, staff at science materials centers can be creative in
their search for inexpensive materials. In acldition to local tele-
phone (directories, many centers have found it useful to consult
The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers, a multivolume set of
books that contains more than 50,000 product and service head-
ings. This register may be available at the school district purchas-
ing office.
Other Types of Materials Centers
Although experience has revealed that for the average school clis-
trict, establishing a districtwide science materials center is the most
effective way to supply materials, there are other options. The list
that follows identifies some alternate strategies that have been
used to supply materials to inquiry-centered science programs.
These approaches may be especially suitable for small districts that
can't afford to establish their own centralized system or for dis-
tricts that have adopted a site-based management system.
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Establishing a
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Consortium-Based System
A consortium of school districts may decide to operate a science
materials center as a cooperative venture. Consortium programs
generally charge participating districts a fee based on the number
of teachers and schools that will be served. For example, the cen-
ter in Huntsville, Alabama, charges participating school districts a
flat fee of $300 per teacher per year, as well as an adclitional fee
(about $6) per student for refurbishing. Other consortia, such as
the Einstein Project, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, charge a $100 rental
fee each time a kit is used. Consortia have the advantage of quan-
tity purchasing discounts. Small districts may find the consortium
approach useful, especially if a neighboring district has already es-
tablished a materials center.
Site-Based System
This is a system in which all of the materials needed to teach sci-
ence at all gracle levels are stored in one designates! location with-
in a school building. Storage space may be set aside in the school's
resource center or a storeroom. A few schools have fully equipped
science labs where teachers can hold their science classes. Site-
based organization has the advantage of ensuring that materials
are accessible to teachers throughout the school year. However,
problems can occur if maintaining the materials is seen as a
teacher's responsibility. If only one kit is provided for each gracle
level, teachers must share the kit en cl someone must accept re-
sponsibility for refurbishing it. Scheduling the use of the materials
and ordering replacement items can become burclensome.
Ciassroom-Based System
In this system, each classroom has all the supplies and print mate-
rials needed for the curriculum. Such a system allows teachers flex-
ibility in scheduling when the science units will be taught through-
out the year, because all the materials are always at hand. This
approach also has major disadvantages. Teachers may have trouble
finding space in their classrooms to store the kits. They may not
have the time to keep careful inventory records so that sufficient
supplies can be maintained, or they may not realize the impor-
tance of reordering supplies in a timely fashion. Finally, there is a
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danger that the expense of maintaining materials will fall to the in-
clivicual teachers committee to teaching by inquiry. In the past,
these problems often resulted in the abandonment of inquiry-cen-
tered science programs.
Where to Go for Information
For more information about how to establish a materials center,
your district may want to contact the Association of Science Mate-
rials Centers (ASMC), c/o Science and Social Sciences Resource
Specialist, Mesa Public Schools, 143 South Alma School Road,
Mesa, AZ 85120-1096, or call (602) 898-7815. ASMC members meet
annually to share information about the design of science teaching
apparatus, sources of supply, and strategies for reducing the cost of
. . . . . .
1nqulry-centered science Instruction.
Issues to consider in planning a materials support center include
space, personnel, inventory systems, delivery, refurbishing, and cost.
The most efficient way to supply materials to schools is through a
districtwide science materials center.This approach minimizes costs
and ensures that materials needed to teach science arrive in the
classroom on time, in a"ready-to-use" condition.
In some cases, other approaches may be useful.The consortium ap-
proach may be particularly helpful for small districts, while the site-
based and classroom systems may be the only options in districts
where there is no financial or political support for establishing a sci-
ence materials center. However, there is no evidence that these sys-
tems can be successfully maintained over time.
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For Further Reading
Harlen, W. 1989. Developing Scaence in the Primary Classroom. Portsmouth, N.H.:
Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.
Lapp, D. M. 1980. "The Need for Teacher Support Systems. " The National Elemen-
tary Principal January 61-66.
Loucks-Horsley, S., R. Kapitan, M. D. Carlson, P. I. Kuerbis, R. C. Clark, G. M.
Melle, T. P. Sachse, and E. Walton. 1990. Elementary School Scaence for the 'pus.
Andover, Mass.: The NETWORK, Inc., and Alexandria, Va.: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Small, L. 1992. "Science Materials Support," unpublished white paper by former
science supervisor for Schaumburg, Ill.
The This Register ofAm~rican Manufacture. New York: Thomas Publishing Comparly.
99
Representative terms from entire chapter:
science materials
