National Academies Press: OpenBook

Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science (1996)

Chapter: 1. Life Science

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Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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CHAPTER 1
LIFE SCIENCE

LIFE SCIENCE-CORE MATERIAL

1.1 Animal Studies. STC. Field-test ed. Washington, D.C.: National Science Resources Center, 1995.

Grade: 4 In Animal Studies, students explore the relationship between three animals and their respective habitats. The animals are a dwarf African frog, a fiddler crab, and a land snail. Working in small groups, students create a classroom habitat for each organism. They observe how the animals interact with living and nonliving elements in their habitats. Using information from the animal logs they compile, students compare and contrast the animals' structural and behavioral characteristics, which permit the animals to survive and reproduce in their own environments. Becoming familiar with some of the ways animal behaviorists study animals, students record their observations, make drawings, read about actual research studies, research their own questions, and report their findings.

Animal Studies is a 16-lesson unit that requires 8 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 16 lesson plans, an annotated bibliography of additional resources, and information on maintaining live materials. A student activity book with simple instructions and illustrations accompanies the unit.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Student Activity Book, $3.50. Unit, $349.95. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.2 Animals Two by Two. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, III.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grade: K Animals Two by Two provides kindergartners with opportunities to compare four pairs of common land and water animals—guppies and goldfish, land snails and water snails, pillbugs and sowbugs, and small earthworms and large night crawlers. In each of 4 activities, students first observe and care for one animal. Then they are introduced to another animal similar to the first but with differences in structure and behavior. Students compare the structures and behaviors of the two organisms. In a fifth activity, which is optional, students set up a classroom incubator to hatch fertile chicken eggs. The animals are maintained in classroom aquariums and terrariums and are investigated by small groups of students "working alone together" in cooperative learning clusters.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×
Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

ABOUT THE ANNOTATIONS IN "LIFE SCIENCE—CORE MATERIALS"

Entry Numbers

Curriculum materials are arranged alphabetically by title in each category (Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books) in chapters 1 through 4 of this guide. In addition, each annotation has a two-part entry number. For each entry number, the chapter number is given before the period; the number after the period locates the entry within that chapter.

For example, the first entry number in chapter 1 is 1.1; the second entry in chapter 2 is 2.2, and so on.

The entry numbers within each curriculum chapter run consecutively through Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books.

Order of Bibliographic Information

Following is the arrangement of the facts of publication in the annotations in this section:

  • Title of publication.

  • Series title, or series acronym if commonly used.

  • Authors (either individual names or organizational author).

  • Name and location of developer (in parentheses), if different from publisher.

  • Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication.

Series Acronyms

Following are acronyms of series titles in "Life Science—Core Materials." (Series titles that are spelled out are not included in this list.)

FOSS

Full Option Science System

SCIS 3

Science Curriculum Improvement Study

STC

Science and Technology for Children

Price and Acquisition Information

Ordering information is presented in a block immediately below the annotation. Included are the following:

  • Prices of teacher's guides, activity books, and kits or units.

  • The name of a principal publisher/supplier (not necessarily the sole source) for the items listed in the price category. (The address and phone and fax numbers for each publisher and supplier appear in appendix A, "Publishers and Suppliers.")

  • An indication of the various sources from which one might obtain the required materials.

Organized in 5 activities, Animals Two by Two requires about 20 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 5 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-78261154-0), $101. Complete module, $305. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.3 Bones and Skeletons. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grades: 4, 5 Bones and Skeletons opens with a challenge to students to investigate a mystery object—an owl pellet. During the unit, students explore major human and animal bone groups, teeth, joints, and skeletons. The classification of animals as herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores is introduced, and students consider how the structures of living things reflect their adaptation to the environment. They learn about various bone structures and their functions in different animals, and find out how bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints work together to produce movement. With this knowledge they can reconstruct the skeletons in their owl pellets, identify the animals, and describe their appearance and behaviors.

The unit's 15 Learning Experiences require a minimum of 21 class sessions over a period of 6 to 8 weeks. The teacher's guide includes

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

an overview, the 15 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-174-9), $65. Materials kit, $220. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/supplier : Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.4 Communities. SCIS 3. Robert C. Knott and Herbert D. Thier. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: 5 In Communities, students investigate the interactions of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecological community. Through a sequence of experiments and investigations, they learn that seeds produce plants exactly like the ones they came from. Students find out that seeds contain stored food for the plant embryo's early development and growth and that after this stored food is consumed, plants make their food through the process of photosynthesis. Students set up terrariums containing a variety of plants and animals, and observe the feeding behavior of plant-eaters and animal-eaters. The death of terrarium organisms provides opportunities to explore the role of decomposers. Students apply the concept of community as they play a card game depicting the feeding relationships in their terrariums, the transfer of food energy from one organism to another, and the recycling of raw materials. The unit ends with students describing a food web in which humans are the central focus.

Communities is organized in 5 sections consisting of a total of 10 chapters, requiring 16 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each of the 5 sections, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-940-0), $39.50. Kit, $640.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.5 Ecosystems. SCIS 3. Robert C. Knott and Herbert D. Thier. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1993.

Grade: 6 Ecosystems introduces students to physical and biological aspects of ecosystems in the world around them. The unit begins with students constructing aquarium-terrarium systems. They discover evidence of the water cycle as they observe evaporation and condensation in this system and in other experimental setups. Activities include the use of snails, ladybugs, aphids, daphnia, guppies, hornwort, and algae. Students use bromthymol blue (an indicator) to explore the role of plants and animals in the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle, and they learn about the food-mineral cycle and investigate various aspects of the water cycle and water pollution. Diagrams of the three cycles illustrate the exchange and cycling of materials in an ecosystem. Students also study photographs of natural ecosystems, data cards listing features of ecosystems, and maps showing the locations of seven different ecosystems in the United States and Canada.

Ecosystems is organized in 5 sections consisting of a total of 22 chapters, requiring 17 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each of the 5 sections, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-942-7), $39.50. Kit, $680.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.6 Environments. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grades: 5, 6 Environments introduces students to several basic concepts of environmental biology. Structured investigations in both terrestrial and aquatic systems develop the concepts of environmental factor, tolerance, environmental preference, and environmental range. In this unit, students observe interactions in a terrarium; investigate the environmental preferences of isopods and beetles; determine the water tolerance of seeds and plants; monitor environmental factors in freshwater aquariums; and investigate the salt tolerance of plants and brine shrimp eggs.

Environments consists of 6 activities and requires 8 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 6 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0070-0), $101. Complete module, $399. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.7 Environments. SCIS 3. Robert C. Knott and Herbert D. Thier. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: 4 Environments focuses students' attention on the conditions that surround an organism and that are necessary for its survival. Concepts explored in the unit include biotic and abiotic environmental factors, adaptation, precipitation, evaporation, controlled experiment, range, optimum conditions, response, and variation. Living organisms—hermit crabs, beetles, and isopods—are the focus of the students' investigations. Among the activities in the unit, students have a contest to grow the tallest plant through manipulation of the plants' environment. Other activities include field trips to observe changes in organisms and in the environment, student-designed experiments to see how environmental factors can influence organisms, and the planning of a "perfect" environment for one or several organisms. During the activities, students observe, and collect, record, and interpret data in their own journals. Throughout, the focus is on relationships and on cause and effect.

Environments is organized in 5 sections, divided into 18 chapters, requiring about 17 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each of the 5 sections, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-938-9), $39.50. Kit, $680.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.8 Experiments with Plants. STC. (Developed by National Science Resources Center, Washington, D.C.) Burlington, N.C.: Carolina Biological Supply Co., 1992.

Grade: 6 In Experiments with Plants, students learn how to design and conduct controlled experiments by using the 40-day life cycle of a Brassica plant as a vehicle for experimentation. They learn about the variables that affect plant growth and reproduction as they design and set up an experiment to manipulate an isolated variable. Students then plant seeds according to their experiment plans; they determine the effects of their experiments on the plants' life cycle through data collection, measurement, observation, and recording. After observing the entire life cycle, they communicate the results of their experiments. The unit concludes with two sets of experiments involving germination, geotropism, and phototropism. Some prior study of plants and plant life cycles is helpful, but not essential, for students in Experiments with Plants.

This is a 15-lesson unit that requires 8 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 15 lesson plans, an annotated bibliography of additional resources, and information on maintaining live materials. A student activity book with simple instructions and illustrations accompanies the unit.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Student Activity Book, $3.50. Unit, $279.95. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.9 Food and Nutrition. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grades: 5, 6 The unit Food and Nutrition helps students understand what food is, what its chemical components are, and how several nutrient groups contribute to making food healthful. Students test foods for their acid content, as well as for their vitamin C, fat, and sugar content. Next they learn how to read nutritional information on package labels, how to calculate the caloric content of foods, and how to use their own knowledge and the nutritional information from the packaging lists of product ingredients to plan and evaluate lunch menus. Activities involve students in measuring and comparing, observing, and analyzing.

Food and Nutrition consists of 4 activities, requiring about 10 sessions of 45 to 60 minutes each over a 7-week period. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 4 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0093-X), $101. Complete module, $429. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.10 Growing Things. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grades: 2, 3 In Growing Things, children learn how plants grow, what functions different parts of plants perform, and how various factors influence plant growth. The module begins with a field trip that gives students the opportunity to observe, describe, record information about, and compare plants in their school neighborhood. Later, students in small groups perform classroom activities that focus their attention on the growth and development of plants from seeds to seedlings to small plants. They observe and draw germinating seeds, and they plant bean seeds and chart the growth and development of their bean plants. Students design and conduct experiments to explore factors, such as light, moisture, and space, that affect plant growth. They set up an exhibit of their work to share with the school community. Students make observations, notes, and drawings and discuss their findings with the class.

The unit's 16 well-organized Learning Experiences can be done in a minimum of 21 sessions over a period of 6 to 8 weeks. The module includes an overview, the 16 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-169-2), $65. Materials kit, $247. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/ supplier: Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.11 Habitats. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grades: 2, 3 In Habitats, students explore what living things need in order to survive, and they look at how these needs are met. They examine the school and neighborhood as a habitat for human beings, then select a small area for close examination, mapping its potential as a microhabitat for the small organisms living there. Students investigate the effects physical conditions have on the kinds and numbers of organisms in a habitat. They identify structures and behaviors that help creatures adapt to the environment they live in. Student-constructed terrariums serve as temporary microhabitats for the small organisms students collect, observe, and later release. Language development is an integral part of the module, and mathematics skills (such as classifying and measuring) are used in the context of the science study.

Habitats consists of 9 Learning Experiences, requiring about 16 class sessions, or about 6 to 8 weeks, to complete. The teacher's guide includes an overview, the 9 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-170-6), $65. Materials kit, $241. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/ supplier: Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.12 Human Body. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grades: 3, 4 In the Human Body module, students discover how bones, joints, and muscles work together. They learn about the variety of sizes and forms of human bones and the role of the skeleton in the support, protection, and movement of the body. They find out how muscles are arranged across joints to move bones and learn about the functions of tendons and ligaments. During the unit, students assemble a 19-piece articulated model skeleton. They build a model leg and foot with simulated muscles and tendons, construct a model thumb with tendons and ligaments, and compare human skeletal joints to analogous mechanical structures. In the final activity, they work with a falling-cup device to investigate response time.

The Human Body consists of 4 activities, which require about 10 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 4 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0046-8), $101. Complete module, $335. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.13 Human Body Systems. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grade: 6 Human Body Systems is designed to convey to students basic concepts about how three systems—the human circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems—work together. As students explore these systems, beginning with the cell and the vital role it plays as a basic component of the body, they develop a sense of the size, location, and function of some of their internal organs. Students are introduced to the ideas that the individual parts of the body are all part of one larger system and that these parts work together to take in food, process it for energy, and get rid of waste. Students engage in a variety of activities that demonstrate how the three systems work interdependently to provide the cells in the body with the nutrients and energy they need.

Human Body Systems consists of 13 Learning Experiences, requiring a minimum of 24 class sessions. The teacher's guide includes an overview, the 13 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-179-X), $65. Materials kit, $441. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/supplier : Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.14 Insects. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, III.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grades: 1, 2 The Insects module introduces young students to the life sequences and diversity of forms of insects—mealworms, waxworms, milkweed bugs, butterflies, crickets, and ants. A new insect is introduced in each activity. Students care for the insects over the course of the unit. They observe and compare insect structures and behaviors in different stages of the life cycle, witnessing complete and simple insect metamorphosis. They discuss and record their findings and pose questions for resolution. Suggestions for obtaining and disposing of insects are given.

Insects consists of 6 activities that require about 12 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 6 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-1156-7), $101. Complete module, $440. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.15 The Life Cycle of Butterflies. STC. (Developed by National Science Resources Center, Washington, D.C.) Burlington, N.C.: Carolina Biological Supply Co., 1992.

Grade: 2 In The Life Cycle of Butterflies, children learn about the life cycle of the Painted Lady by observing this butterfly's month-long metamorphosis from a small caterpillar to an adult butterfly. Students learn about the caterpillar's basic needs for air, water, food, and shelter. They watch caterpillars crawl, hang upside down, spin silk, eat, grow, molt, and turn into chrysalises. Students then observe and learn about the adult butterfly when it emerges, and, finally, they observe the butterflies as they lay eggs and die, completing their life cycle. The children compare the Painted Lady's life cycle with the life cycles of other living creatures. Throughout the unit, students develop observational and recording skills. Well-designed activity sheets provide opportunities for them to record their observations, drawings, and ideas.

The Life Cycle of Butterflies is a 15-lesson unit that requires 6 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 15 lesson plans, instructions for making simple butterfly cages, information about raising a second generation of butterflies, and an annotated bibliography. A consumable notebook for students (available in English and Spanish) accompanies the unit.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Consumable Student Notebook, $2.00. Unit, $124.95. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

1.16 Life Cycles. SCIS 3. Robert C. Knott and Herbert D. Thier. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: 2 Life Cycles focuses students' attention on the lives of representative plants and animals and on their patterns of development and growth as the organisms live through their life cycles. Students first observe plants growing from seeds into seedlings into mature, seed-producing plants. As the unit progresses, students discover that although some seeds and eggs appear to be very much alike, they become vastly different as they mature. Through extensive activities with the life cycles of frogs, crickets, fruit flies, moths, mealworms, and butterflies, students increase their understanding of the concepts of development and growth in animals.

Life Cycles is organized in 4 sections, with 16 lessons, and requires approximately 17 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each of the 4 sections, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-934-6), $39.50. Kit, $670.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.17 Living Things. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grades: K, 1 Living Things is a study of the local environment. Through the module's Learning Experiences, children learn to observe changes in plants and animals over time and to understand what these living things need for survival and growth. They compare the shapes of trees and leaves. They observe changes in a tree and investigate the plants and animals living in and around the tree. Students build terrariums using plants and small animals collected locally. (The animals are later released.) In the classroom they plant bean seeds and take care of them as the bean seeds grow into seedlings.

Living Things consists of 14 Learning Experiences, which require about 22 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes an overview, the 14 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-166-8), $65. Materials kit, $259. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/supplier : Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.18 Microworlds. STC. (Developed by National Science Resources Center, Washington, D.C.) Burlington, N.C.: Carolina Biological Supply Co., 1991.

Grade: 5 Microworlds develops students' observational skills and allows them to become adept at using hand lenses, microscopes, slides, and related apparatus to view living and nonliving specimens. Students make close observations of common objects with hand lenses and learn about different lenses and how they work. They use a microscope to observe inanimate objects such as hair and magazine photographs. Students explore the concept of field of view, prepare different types of slides, and examine the cells of an onion. Then they use their new expertise to view microscopic living organisms under magnification. Throughout the unit they record their observations by writing and drawing.

Microworlds is a 16-lesson unit that requires 8 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 16 lesson plans, and an annotated bibliography of additional resources. A student activity book with simple instructions and illustrations accompanies the unit. The appendixes include a supplementary drawing lesson and tips on caring for live cultures.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Student Activity Book, $3.50. Unit, $404.95. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.19 Myself and Others. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grades: K, 1 Students explore the similarities and differences between themselves and their classmates in Myself and Others. Through such activities as drawing full-body outlines and observing and discussing height, hand size and shape, skin color, and other physical characteristics, students learn that although there are similarities among all children, each child is unique. Students

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

organize their observations as they measure, compare, and classify. They record their observations on graphs, charts, and murals. At the end of the module, they learn about concepts such as growth and development by looking into their own past, present, and future. The module helps children develop a positive approach to differences as they gain greater awareness and understanding of their own physical characteristics and those of their classmates.

Myself and Others consists of 13 Learning Experiences, which require about 20 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes an overview, the 13 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-167-6), $65. Materials kit, $350. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/supplier : Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.20 New Plants. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grades: 1, 2 This module engages students' interest in a process familiar in daily life—the growing of new plants. Students learn about the structures of flowering plants and discover various ways to propagate new plants from mature plants. They grow plants from seed using rapid-cycling Brassica and observe the complete life cycle of this plant in about 5 weeks. Students plant a miniature weedy lawn of rye grass (monocots) and alfalfa (dicots) and compare the impact of ''mowing" on each plant. They grow and monitor the growth of new plants from cuttings, bulbs, and roots.

New Plants consists of 4 activities, which require 10 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 4 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-1150-8), $101. Complete module, $485. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.21 Organisms. SCIS 3. Robert C. Knott and Herbert D. Thier. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: 1 Through a series of activities and experiments, Organisms provides young students with basic information about living things. Children are introduced to the concept of habitat, and they observe environmental changes affecting life within various habitats. They plant seeds, observe their development, and experiment to determine how external conditions such as water and light affect seed germination and plant growth. Students set up aquariums with a variety of plants and animals; observe the interaction of the aquarium organisms; and discuss natural events that occur, such as feeding, birth, growth, and death. Then they explore the schoolyard or local neighborhood for plants and animals in their natural habitats. Students are introduced to the concept of a food chain as they investigate algal growth in the aquarium, introduce Daphnia culture that eat the algae, and then observe guppies eating daphnia. Students start their own Daphnia culture, monitor changes in population size, and infer that the changes are due to death and birth. Through experiments and other observations, students learn that detritus comes from dead plants and animals as well as from animal waste.

Organisms is organized in 6 sections, with 17 lessons, and requires approximately 17 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each of the sections, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-932-X), $39.50. Kit, $490.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.22 Organisms. STC. Field-test ed. Washington, D.C.: National Science Resources Center, 1993.

Grade: 1 In Organisms. students explore the similarities and differences between plants and animals. They develop an understanding of what plants and animals need so they can live, and begin to understand that organisms grow and change over time. During the unit, students create and observe a terrar-

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

ium woodland habitat containing pine seedlings, pillow moss, pillbugs, and Bess beetles, and set up and observe an aquarium freshwater habitat containing Elodea and Cabomba plants, ramshorn snails, and guppies. Students use Venn diagrams to make comparisons between plants and animals. Throughout the unit they discuss, draw, and write about what they observe. Students are encouraged to extend what they have learned about what organisms need to what humans need to live and grow.

Organisms is a 16-lesson unit that requires 8 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 16 lesson plans, and an annotated bibliography of additional resources. A student activity book with simple instructions and illustrations accompanies the unit. The appendixes include tips on maintaining live materials and suggestions for discussing birth and death.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Consumable Student Notebook, $2.00. Unit, $349.95. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply. Materials : Available locally, through commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.23 Plant Growth and Development. STC. (Developed by National Science Resources Center, Washington, D.C.) Burlington, N.C.: Carolina Biological Supply Co., 1991.

Grade: 3 In Plant Growth and Development, students observe the complete life cycle of a fast-growing Brassica plant. They learn that the cycle includes germination, growth, the development of specialized body parts, and even death, with the promise of new life in the seed. Students examine and plant seeds. Then they thin and transplant young plants, observe the emergence of leaves and buds, cross-pollinate plants using dead bees, and harvest seeds. They make frequent observations of their plants and record their observations both in writing and with scientific drawings. Students quantify their observations by taking measurements and recording them on growth graphs.

Plant Growth and Development is a 16-lesson unit that requires 8 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 16 lesson plans, and an annotated bibliography of additional resources. A student activity book with simple instructions and illustrations accompanies the unit. The appendixes include a lesson on graphing and blackline masters for graph paper.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $14.95. Student Activity Book, $3.50. Unit, $279.95. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply. Materials : Available locally, through commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.24 Populations. SCIS 3. Robert C. Knott and Herbert D. Thier. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1992.

Grade: 3 In Populations, students learn about the dynamics of plant and animal populations by observing them interacting in student-made aquariums and terrariums. The populations of plants and animals that students investigate are aphids, daphnia, chameleons, crickets, snails, damselfly nymphs, duckweed, hornwort, and algae. Students see isolated populations of daphnia and aphids increase and decrease, and they learn to relate these changes to reproduction and death. The concept of biotic potential is also explored. By observing the interactions of plant and animal populations, students gain an understanding of food relationships and of the interrelationships between populations. The unit emphasizes the interaction and interdependency of all living things. During the activities students have the opportunity to observe, experiment, report findings, analyze results, and explore events and processes they do not understand.

Populations is organized in 5 sections consisting of a total of 19 lessons, requiring 14 to 16 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes an introduction to the unit, lesson plans for each of the 5 sections, a glossary, and blackline masters for a student journal.

The module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-936-2), $39.50. Kit, $590.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.25 The Senses. Insights. Newton, Mass.: Education Development Center, 1994.

Grades: K, 1 The Senses provides a variety of experiences that help children become more aware of their senses and more accustomed to

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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using them as tools for observing and describing the world around them. The module features activities such as the following: using the senses to describe "mystery" objects hidden inside bags and boxes; taking outdoor walks and using texture and sound to describe objects encountered along the way; and engaging in a sense-based examination of popcorn from kernel to fully cooked snack. The activities offer ongoing opportunities for children to discuss and record their observations and to compare, sort, and classify objects by various properties.

The Senses consists of 13 Learning Experiences, which require about 16 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes an overview, the 13 Learning Experiences, reproducible masters for student sheets, and annotated lists of suggested readings and audiovisual materials.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 089292-168-4), $65. Materials kit, $181. (Prices differ in California, Nevada, and Indiana.) Publisher/supplier : Optical Data. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.26 Structures of Life. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grade: 3, 4 Fruit seeds, bean plants, and crayfish provide the building blocks for learning in Structures of Life, which introduces students to basic concepts related to similarities and differences among organisms. As students observe, compare, and care for a selection of organisms, they learn to identify properties and characteristics of plants and animals in order to group and sort them. They also investigate some animal behaviors. Activities in the unit include observing and comparing seeds in foods people eat, setting up "seed sprouters" for germinating seeds, planting the seedlings in a liquid nutrient solution, and monitoring the growth of plants in this hydroponic garden through a complete life cycle. Finally, students observe the structure of crayfish and investigate this animal's behavior in an artificial habitat they set up.

Structures of Life consists of 5 activities that require about 10 weeks to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 5 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-0022-0), $101. Complete module, $309. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

1.27 Trees. FOSS. (Developed by Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.) Chicago, Ill.: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp., 1993.

Grade: K In Trees, young students care for their own classroom tree and discover what a tree needs so that it can grow. Eventually they transplant the classroom tree outdoors. Trees contains 2 umbrella activities—Fall Trees (consisting of 7 parts requiring about 7 class sessions to complete) and Leaves (with 6 parts requiring 6 to 9 class sessions). Fall Trees is introduced through a story about a class that has its own containerized tree. Students discuss what a tree needs to grow. They identify the parts of a tree, observe trees outdoors, and then use card games and puzzles to reinforce what they have learned. In the Leaves activity, students collect various kinds of leaves, compare their shapes and sizes, and make leaf scrapbooks.

The teacher's guide includes a module overview, the 2 individual activity folios, duplication masters (in English and Spanish) for student sheets, and an annotated bibliography.

Students use a variety of real and representational materials; the latter are included in the Teacher's Guide, which also includes poems and songs about trees and leaves in both English and Spanish.

This module includes science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment. Materials are available in a kit.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 07826-1138-9), $101. Complete module, $339. Publisher/supplier: Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in module.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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LIFE SCIENCE-SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

1.28 Adaptations. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: 3 Adaptations, an environmental education unit, introduces students to the idea that all plants and animals have certain traits or characteristics (adaptations) that help them survive and reproduce. Students first consider adaptations in humans and the relationship between adaptations and basic life functions. Next they examine adaptations in several plants and animals. The focus of the unit then shifts to the idea that plants and animals survive and reproduce because they have adapted to a particular habitat. Students look briefly at the theory of natural selection before considering what happens if conditions change so rapidly that groups of plants and animals are unable to adapt. Activities include students examining their own thumbs as an adaptation; hiding paper beetles to demonstrate how camouflage helps animals avoid predators; examining seeds to identify adaptations for protection and dispersal; and role-playing animals in a habitat that is suddenly reduced in size. In a final lesson, students identify actions, such as conservation measures, that people can take on behalf of the environment.

Adaptations contains an introduction that includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit contains 10 lessons that stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities of 40 to 60 minutes each.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.29 Alive: What Living Things Are. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, Md.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1993.

Grade: K In Alive: What Living Things Are, children explore the characteristics and diversity of living things. The unit's lessons are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) living things have characteristics that can be observed and described; (2) living things have observable life cycles; and (3) nonliving things can have some, but not all, of the characteristics of living things. During the unit, kindergartners take a nature walk and make collages, murals, and puppets as they learn to distinguish between living and nonliving things. The children act out their ideas of plants and animals in a game of charades. They make clay and paper models of animals as they explore animal characteristics. They sort seeds according to their characteristics, and plant seeds and test the effect of various moisture levels on plant growth.

Alive: What Living Things Are consists of 12 lessons requiring 30 minutes each. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59026196-7), $17.25. Complete unit, $315.00. Consumables kit, $58.00. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.30 Amazing Mammals, Part I. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1988.

Grades: K-6+ Amazing Mammals, Part I, introduces students to the characteristics, biology, and behavior of mammals, and to ways in which humans and other mammals affect one another's lives. Students use observations, games, large-motor activities, creative writing, and crafts as they learn to distinguish mammals from other vertebrate classes and investigate the importance of nonhuman mammals to humans. The chapters in this module usually begin with primary activities and end with intermediate or advanced activities.

Each chapter includes background information, activities, and student activity sheets. The 20 activities in this teacher's guide can be taught independently or as a unit. They are easily integrated into other curricula. A craft section and an appendix of other resources are included.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-29-8). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

1.31 Amazing Mammals, Part II. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: 1-6+ Amazing Mammals, Part II, is an interdisciplinary investigation of the specific characteristics of mammalian groups. Through games, art, and music, students investigate the unique adaptations of primates, rodents, marine mammals, bats, hoofed mammals, and carnivorous and insectivorous mammals.

Each chapter includes detailed background information, activities, and student activity sheets. The 24 activities in this teacher's guide can

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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ABOUT THE ANNOTATIONS IN "LIFE SCIENCE—SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS"

Entry Numbers

Curriculum materials are arranged alphabetically by title in each category (Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books) in chapters 1 through 4 of this guide. In addition, each annotation has a two-part entry number. For each entry number, the chapter number is given before the period; the number after the period locates the entry within that chapter.

For example, the first entry number in chapter 1 is 1.1; the second entry in chapter 2 is 2.2, and so on.

The entry numbers within each curriculum chapter run consecutively through Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books.

Order of Bibliographic Information

Following is the arrangement of the facts of publication in the annotations in this section:

  • Title of publication.

  • Series title, or series acronym if commonly used.

  • Authors (either individual names or organizational author).

  • Name and location of developer (in parentheses), if different from publisher.

  • Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication.

Series Acronyms

Following are acronyms of series titles in "Life Science—Supplementary Materials." (Series titles that are spelled out are not included in this list.)

DSM

Delta Science Module

GEMS

Great Explorations in Math and Science

GEMS/PEACHES

Great Explorations in Math and Science/Preschool Explorations for Adults, Children, and Educators in Science

LEAP

Learning about Ecology, Animals, and Plants

REEP

Regional Environmental Education Program

STAR

Science Technology and Reading

Price and Acquisition Information

Ordering information is presented in a block immediately below the annotation. Included are the following:

  • Prices of teacher's guides, activity books, and kits or units.

  • The name of a principal publisher/supplier (not necessarily the sole source) for the items listed in the price category. (The address and phone and fax numbers for each publisher and supplier appear in appendix A, "Publishers and Suppliers.")

  • An indication of the various sources from which one might obtain the required materials.

be taught independently or as a unit. They are easily integrated into other curricula. An appendix of other resources is included. Amazing Mammals, Part II contains a limited number of assessment strategies.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-30-1). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

1.32 Animal Defenses. GEMS. Jean Echols. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1987.

Grades: PreK, K In Animal Defenses, children explore the defensive structures and behaviors of dinosaurs and of contemporary animals. Students first supply a paper cutout of a defenseless animal with physical defense mechanisms. Then they dramatize a meeting of their imaginary animals with a Tyrannosaurus rex. Successive activities focus on the physical characteristics and defense behaviors of dogs, cats, turtles, lizards, and other animals. Written primarily for use with preschoolers and kindergartners, this guide also contains extensions and modifications for grades 1 and 2.

The highly visual activities in the unit require 2 class sessions. The first set of activities requires 45 minutes; the second, 20 minutes. The lesson plan for each session includes an overview, a suggested time frame, a list of materials, ideas for preparation, and directions for the activity. Patterns for cutouts are included.

Price: $8.50. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.33 Animals in Action. GEMS. Katharine Barrett. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1986.

Grades: 6+ In Animals in Action, students investigate animal behavior by observing live animals. They first

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

observe and describe the behavior of young animals—for example, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, or chicks—enclosed in a large classroom corral. They then introduce stimulus objects, such as food or shelter, and observe how each animal responds. On the basis of information in Animals in Action, students discuss the humane treatment of animals. Teams of students then design, conduct, and evaluate their own animal-behavior experiments, using small organisms such as crayfish, isopods, crickets, or garden snails. Findings are discussed at a simulated scientific convention.

Background information, easy-to-follow lesson plans for each of the 5 sessions, requiring 45 minutes each, and a small-animal resource guide are included in this unit.

Price: $10. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.34 Behavior of Mealworms. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1988.

Grades: 4-6 In Behavior of Mealworms, students investigate the behavior and physical characteristics of mealworms. After learning about the proper care and handling of these creatures, students observe and record data on mealworms' movement, food-getting behavior, response to stimuli, and behavior in a maze. In a final activity, students plan and conduct a controlled experiment.

Behavior of Mealworms includes a brief module overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 8 activities take about 3 to 4 weeks (about 12 class sessions) to complete. The 1- and 2-page activities provide background information, teaching suggestions, and a list of the materials needed.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-715-7), $9.95. Kit, $175.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.35 Biodiversity: Understanding the Variety of Life. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, N.J.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grades: 6+ Through the activities in Biodiversity, students learn that people make choices that affect the survival of their own and other species. The lessons are grouped in three subconcepts: (1) scientists use various methods to measure earth's biodiversity; (2) the variety of species and habitats changes with time; and (3) knowledge of biodiversity helps people make decisions about the environment. In this unit, students use a transect to take a sample of species in the school yard and discover the variety of species present. They observe soil-dwelling species and organisms in a harsh habitat as they explore how conditions in habitats affect diversity. Students classify unknown organisms to discover some problems involved in measuring biodiversity. They examine fossils to learn about extinct species. In other activities, students make a model of competition and explore how competition affects biodiversity. They investigate the effects of catastrophes, overpopulation, and pollution on a habitat.

Biodiversity: Understanding the Variety of Life is a 17-lesson unit consisting of 23 class sessions, typically 40 to 55 minutes in duration. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027779-0), $27. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27778-2), $10. Complete unit, $450. Consumables kit, $48. Publisher/supplier : Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.36 Birds, Birds, Birds. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6+ Each of the 5 chapters in Birds, Birds, Birds deals with a broad theme such as habitats and migration. In this unit, students explore the biological and behavioral characteristics of birds through observations, games, and simulations integrating language arts, history, creative writing, geography, mathematics, social studies, and art.

Each chapter includes background information, activities, and student activity sheets. The 23 activities in this teacher's guide can be taught independently or as a unit. They are easily integrated into other curricula. An appendix includes questions and answers about birds, a glossary, and a list of sources of additional information about birds.

Price: $7.95. Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials : Available locally.

1.37 Body Systems: How Your Body Parts Work Together. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Thames Science Center, New London, Conn.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1993.

Grade: 1 Through the simple activities in Body Systems, children learn that the human body has parts and systems that work together. The lessons are grouped in two subconcepts: (1) the human body has systems that allow the whole body to move; and (2) the human body has systems that help the whole body obtain and use food, water, and air. Students trace one anothers' body outlines to make life-size cutouts of their body shapes. They use paper models to explore how muscles move the bones at joints. Other activities include students comparing the behavior of voluntary and involuntary muscles through simple kinesthetic

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

activities, blowing into a paper bag to determine how much air their lungs can hold, and designing an obstacle course that involves the use of all their body systems.

Body Systems: How Your Body Parts Work Together consists of 17 class sessions requiring 25 to 45 minutes each. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59026205-X), $20.70. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-26137-1), $6.50. Complete unit, $375.00. Consumables kit, $55.00. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.38 Butterflies and Moths. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1988.

Grades: 2, 3 In Butterflies and Moths, students observe the growth and development of butterflies through their life-cycle stages as larvae, pupae, and adults to the eventual laying of eggs to complete one butterfly life cycle. After an activity on caring for caterpillars and butterflies, the activities focus on the various stages of development and on physical characteristics and food needs, as well as on feeding and egg-laying behaviors.

Butterflies and Moths includes a brief module overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 11 activities take about 6 weeks (about 12 class sessions plus some daily observations) to complete. The 1- and 2-page activities provide background information, teaching suggestions, and a list of the materials needed.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-714-9), $9.95. Kit, $133.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers or in kit.

1.39 Buzzing a Hive. GEMS. Jean C. Echols. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1987.

Grades: PreK, K-3 In Buzzing a Hive, children discover the complex social behavior, communication, and hive environment of the honeybee. They explore the basic structure of a honeybee's body and learn how bees adapt to the larger world. Students participate in a series of art and drama activities, such as dramatizing life in a beehive, performing bee dances, role-playing the pollen-gathering process, and creating a mural. Although this unit is primarily for students in grades 1-3, it includes suggested modifications for use with preschool and kindergarten children. No live bees are required for any of the activities.

The plan for each of the 6 lessons (requiring 9 sessions of 20 to 60 minutes each) contains an overview, a suggested time frame, a list of materials, ideas for preparation, directions for the activity, and extensions. Background information for teachers is in a separate section at the end of the guide.

Price: $12.50. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.40 Change Over Time: How Populations and Species Change. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, Colo.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 5 In Change Over Time: How Populations and Species Change, students acquire information about how living organisms have evolved and about how evolution is studied. The unit's lessons are grouped in three subconcepts: (1) fossils provide evidence that many species which once inhabited the earth have become extinct; (2) changes in the environment and human intervention can result in changes in the characteristics of a population, and those changes are passed on to succeeding generations; and (3) variation and natural selection have resulted in the evolution of new species. During the unit students make a model of a fossil, investigate two methods for dating fossils, evaluate several theories about the extinction of the dinosaur, and play a game to simulate how natural selection may affect the survival of a population.

Change Over Time: How Populations and Species Change is a 17-lesson unit consisting of 23 sessions of 40 to 50 minutes each. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027707-3), $27. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27706-5), $10. Complete unit, $450. Consumables kit, $92. Publisher/supplier : Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.41 Classifying Living Things: How Organisms Are Related. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis, Ind.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 3 A sense of order about the plant and animal kingdoms emerges in Classifying Living Things. The

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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unit's lessons are arranged in three subconcepts: (1) living organisms can be grouped in five large kingdoms; (2) large groups of living things can be classified into smaller and smaller groups, with each smaller group sharing more characteristics; and (3) the smallest classification group is a species. Sample activities include the following: organizing a school store to practice putting similar items together; observing fungi and photographs of monerans and protists and comparing them with plants and animals; observing crickets and generalizing about how animals are different from plants; growing seedlings to explore plant characteristics; classifying arthropods in four groups; making models of insect mouthparts; comparing human thumbprints to study how members of the same species vary; and making a model classification system for organisms in a grassland ecosystem.

Classifying Living Things: How Organisms Are Related consists of 17 class sessions of 30 to 50 minutes each. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027611-5), $20.70. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27610-7), $6.50. Complete unit, $375.00. Consumables kit, $70.00. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.42 Classroom Plants. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1988.

Grades: 2, 3 In Classroom Plants, students plant, grow, and care for plants under a variety of conditions. They first observe and compare various seeds and then plant seeds in soil and in water. Then they investigate the needs of plants, observe different types of roots, grow new plants from plant parts, examine leaves and flowers, and grow flowering plants. Instructions on the care of plants in the classroom are provided.

Classroom Plants includes 9 activities requiring 30 to 40 minutes each, plus daily observation time, but the activities are designed to be staggered over the course of a school year. The unit includes a brief module overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 1- and 2-page activities provide background information, teaching suggestions, and a list of materials needed.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-713-0), $9.95. Kit, $133.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.43 Communities. Prepared by Museum To Go Resource Center. Philadelphia, Pa.: Franklin Institute, 1989.

Grades: 4-6 Communities follows the flow of energy through a natural community. Students study seeds, green plants, animals, and decomposers, focusing on the role each plays during the transfer of energy in a food chain. Students identify the parts of a seed and then, by germinating and planting lima bean, corn, and peanut seeds, they discover how each part contributes to plant growth. Students construct a terrarium to explore how plants live in communities. They construct simple models of a leaf and molecules to investigate photosynthesis. They identify producers, consumers, and decomposers and describe the roles of each. Then they set up a food chain relay to describe the interdependence of members of a particular food chain.

Each activity in Communities features a teacher's page that provides an overview of the lesson. Reproducible student pages include a materials list and instructions for setting up and conducting the activity, including diagrams, recording sheets, and summary questions.

Price: Complete kit, $145. Publisher/supplier: Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.44 Communities. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: 2 Communities, an environmental education unit, introduces students to the idea of a "natural community"—what it is, how it compares with the "human community," how humans affect the natural community, and how they can reduce their negative effects on the natural community. Activities include the following: students work a food chain puzzle; they draw maps of their own habitats; they collect plants and animals for a classroom aquarium; they role-play predators and prey; and they assess noise, litter, erosion and other examples of the effects of human actions on the natural community surrounding their school.

Communities contains an introduction that includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit contains 10 lessons, which stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities. One to 3 class periods are required for each activity.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.45 Communities. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: 6 In Communities, an environmental education unit, students examine several interactions between the living (biotic) and nonliving (abi-

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

otic) components of the environment and identify some environmental problems resulting from human activities in ecosystems. Activities in the unit include the following: students draw a mural of their community; they use plant and animal cutouts to construct food chains and webs; they role-play predator and prey; they build a mini-ecosystem—a terrarium; they collect and compare data on abiotic factors at the school site; they research and report on the impact of a particular human action on ecosystems; and they write letters to local officials about a land use issue they have researched.

Communities contains an introduction that includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit consists of 10 lessons that stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities. Activities typically require 30 to 60 minutes to complete.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.46 Cycles. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: 5 Cycles, an environmental education unit, introduces students to the finite and cyclic nature of minerals, air, and water, which are essential for all life. Students discover the importance of minerals, air, and water as the nonliving building blocks of living tissue. They examine certain conservation actions that they can undertake, specifically, water conservation strategies. The unit includes the following activities: students identify the nonliving essentials of life as they plan an imaginary journey into space; they use pictures to trace the movement of nutrients through several food chains of varying length; they observe how colored water moves up the stem of a plant to its leaves; they visit a wastewater treatment plant; and they monitor their family's water usage over a 24-hour period.

Cycles contains an introduction that includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit contains 10 lessons, which stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities. Activities typically require 1 to 2 class periods.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.47 Earthworms. GEMS. Robert C. Knott, Kimi Hosoume, and Lincoln Bergman. Reprinted with revisions. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1991.

Grades: 5-6+ The 3 lessons in Earthworms provide students an opportunity to develop science process skills while learning about the responses of earthworms to temperature, wetness, and soil compaction. In the first lesson, students observe how the worms move and turn themselves over and how the organism's skin looks and feels. Then students practice locating and counting the pulse rates of earthworms. In the second and third lessons, they measure the pulse rate of earthworms at different temperatures and graph the results. In discussing why earthworms respond as they do, students learn about cold-blooded animals.

Each lesson in Earthworms includes a materials list, preparation steps, and directions for activities and discussion. The guide also includes background information, summary outlines for each lesson, reproducible data sheets, and suggestions for related reading.

Price: $8.50 (ISBN 0-912511-19-2). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.48 Eco-lnquiry: A Guide to Ecological Learning Experiences for the Upper Elementary/Middle Grades. Kathleen Hogan, Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1994.

Grades: 5-6+ Learning practical ecology from a local perspective is the focus of Eco-lnquiry. This guide offers 3 modules, each with a different ecological challenge for students. In module 1, students fulfill a request from a local community to survey what is living on a plot of land. They construct a food web from the study site and write environmental impact statements to trace how one change in the site could affect the entire food web. In module 2, students explore decomposition and construct a classroom decomposition chamber. In module 3, they explore nutrient recycling, doing research to test the effects of compost tea on radish growth. The modules can stand alone or can be used in sequence at one or several grade levels.

Each module contains from 7 to 10 well-developed lessons and requires from 4 to 7 weeks for completion. (Module 1 takes 4 to 5 weeks; module 2 takes 4 to 5 weeks; and module 3 takes 6 to 7 weeks.) The guide offers numerous tips on how best to use the modules. It includes a variety of assessment strategies.

Price: $36.95 (ISBN 0-8403-9584-1). Publisher/supplier: Kendall/Hunt. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.49 Endangered Species: Wild and Rare. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6 Endangered Species: Wild and Rare includes background information and activities that focus on the process of extinction and the role of humans in the destruction or

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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conservation of plants and animals and their habitats. Students participate in classroom and playground activities that integrate science with social studies, mathematics, language arts, drama, music, and art as they learn about habitat destruction, wildlife trade, pollution, and other factors that put species in danger. The chapters in this module usually begin with primary activities and end with intermediate or advanced activities.

Endangered Species: Wild and Rare contains 17 lessons organized in 4 chapters; a fifth chapter provides art and craft ideas. Teachers may choose single activities or teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and include ready-to-copy games, puzzles, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-37-9). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

1.50 Exploring With Wisconsin Fast Plants. 1990 draft. Paul H. Williams, Richard P. Green, and Coe M. Williams. Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin, 1989.

Grades: 3-6+ Learning about plant growth and development is the focus in Exploring With Wisconsin Fast Plants. Wisconsin Fast Plants (specially bred members of the cabbage and mustard families) have a life cycle of 35 to 40 days and can be grown in the classroom under continuous fluorescent light. The book is organized in 5 sections, which contain (1) basic information for teachers using Fast Plants for the first time, including illustrated growing instructions, tips, troubleshooting suggestions, and ideas for subsequent investigations; (2) explorations pertaining to events and stages of the Brassica life cycle; (3) additional explorations in plant physiology and ecology; (4) extensions, stories, modeling ideas, and games; and (5) supplementary materials for teachers. Process skills are embedded throughout the unit. Students are encouraged to generate many of the experimentation ideas.

In Exploring With Wisconsin Fast Plants, each experiment follows a science exploration flowchart and includes teaching concepts, background information, and step-by-step illustrated instructions.

Price: $15. Publisher/supplier: Carolina Biological Supply Co. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.51 The Five Senses. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: K The Five Senses attempts to foster positive attitudes about the environment by providing opportunities for children to experience the world of nature through a sharpened set of "tools," their five senses. Activities progress from a focus on using each of the five senses individually to using the senses in concert to appreciate the environment. The unit includes the following activities: students try to identify foods while they are blindfolded; they try to recreate the sound of a rainstorm; they search for objects with opposite textures; they use their senses to find some familiar objects outdoors; they pick up trash on the school grounds; and they make a bird feeder from an egg carton.

The Five Senses contains an introduction that includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit contains 10 lessons that stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.52 Food Chains and Webs. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1989.

Grades: 4, 5 In Food Chains and Webs, students observe the dynamic interaction of the members of a food chain. They first plant rye grass in various mediums and then perform a controlled experiment on plant growth. The activities then move up the food chain as students learn about crickets, which eat the rye grass, and chameleons, which eat the crickets. Another activity focuses on earthworms as examples of decomposers. Students dissect owl pellets and add the resulting information to what has now become a food web.

Food Chains and Webs is a module with 10 activities, requiring 12 sessions of 40 minutes each. The unit includes a brief module overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 1and 2-page activities provide teaching strategies and a list of the materials needed.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-757-2), $9.95. Kit, $265.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.53 From Seed to Plant. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1988.

Grades: K-2 In the module From Seed to Plant, children classify seeds by properties. They plant seeds in a class garden, observe and record the development of the seeds and plants, learn about factors that affect plant growth, and identify basic plant parts. The module closes with an activity focusing on the proper care of plants, teaching students to appreciate plants as living things. Hints on how to get plants to thrive in dry, cold classrooms are provided.

From Seed to Plant consists of 9 activities requiring about 12 class sessions over a period of 8 to 10 weeks. It includes a brief module

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 1- and 2-page activities provide teaching strategies and a list of materials needed.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-711-4), $9.95. Kit, $105.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.54 Fungi-Small Wonders. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1994.

Grades: 4, 5 Fungi—Small Wonders introduces students to the world of fungi. The activities in the unit include the following: students identify the structures of seed plants and discuss their functions; they compare and contrast the parts of mushrooms and bread mold with the parts of a seed plant; they compare the growth rate of two yeast populations, one supplied with food and one without; they collect and interpret data gathered on mold growth; they experiment to determine the effect of temperature on yeast budding; they test for the production of carbon dioxide during yeast fermentation; and they make pretzel dough as an example of how yeast is used.

Fungi—Small Wonders includes 12 activities which require about 22 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, a list of objectives for each activity, a planning schedule, background information, and preparation and materials management strategies. A complete lesson plan is provided for each lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-109-4), $24.95. Kit, $209. Publisher/supplier : Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.55 Growing Up. Prepared by Museum To Go Resource Center. Philadelphia, Pa.: Franklin Institute, 1990.

Grades: 3-5 Life cycles are explored in Growing Up. During the unit students see the various life cycle stages as they occur. In a sequence of 6 activities, they observe the life cycle of a squash plant, recording its growth and identifying its parts; they discover that living things grow from eggs as they observe brine shrimp hatching; students observe the transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, observing and recording growth and changes throughout the life cycle; and they classify animals as to whether or not they require parental support for survival.

Each activity in Growing Up features a teacher's page that provides an overview of the lesson. Reproducible student pages include a materials list and instructions for setting up and conducting the activity, including diagrams, recording sheets, and questions. The guide also includes a glossary, student and teacher references, reproducible masters of student worksheets, and a section on butterflies.

Prices: Complete kit, $255.00. Consumables kit, $82.50. Publisher/supplier : Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.56 GrowLab: A Complete Guide to Gardening in the Classroom. Eve Pranis and Jack Hale. Burlington, Vt.: National Gardening Association, 1988. Grades: K-6 This gardening resource book, which can be used to support a variety of curriculum units on plants, is designed to help the classroom teacher plan, plant, and maintain an indoor garden to support a variety of hands-on plant activities for grades K-6. It provides complete instructions for setting up and cultivating an indoor garden, maintaining a healthy environment, tackling pests and other problems, caring for and maintaining equipment, and building support for classroom gardening in the school and community. The guide provides suggestions, including activities, lessons, and experiments, for integrating gardening into all areas of the curriculum.

Appendixes in GrowLab: A Complete Guide to Gardening in the Classroom offer a wide range of useful information, including an indoor gardening ''Grower's Guide," reproducible worksheets, supply information, plans for building a GrowLab, and an annotated reference section.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0915873-31-1), $19.95. Complete starter kit, $99.00. Publisher/supplier: National Gardening Association. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.57 GrowLab: Activities for Growing Minds. Eve Pranis and Jack Hale. Burlington, Vt.: National Gardening Association, 1990.

Grades: K-6 GrowLab: Activities for Growing Minds contains dozens of ideas and activities relating to plants, gardening, and the diversity of life. This curriculum guide to indoor classroom gardening has 4 chapters. Each presents background information and sections of activities representing a number of key life science concepts. Students learn about the basics of growth from seed to plant and about what makes plants thrive and grow. They observe plant life cycles and discover the structures and processes involved in plant reproduction. They explore plant variations and the ways plants adapt to survive particular environmental conditions. They discover the interdependency of earth's living things.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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Each activity in GrowLab: Activities for Growing Minds includes step-by-step instructions, a targeted grade-level range, a list showing time and materials required, background information, steps for preparation, and suggestions for cross-curricular activities.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0915873-32-X), $24.95. Complete starter kit, $99.00. Publisher/supplier: National Gardening Association. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.58 Habitats. Prepared by Museum To Go Resource Center. Philadelphia, Pa.: Franklin Institute, 1989.

Grades: 4, 5 In Habitats, students investigate the environmental factors that influence the survival of an organism in its habitat. Through a series of 8 hands-on activities, they explore the effect of factors such as light, temperature, and moisture on various organisms. Students construct terrariums to observe the effect of these factors on plant growth. They demonstrate the effects of light and moisture on the germination of lima bean seeds and the growth of mold on crackers. They try to influence a corn plant to grow upside down. Then they experiment to determine how changes in temperature and light affect the movement of ladybugs, they investigate how roots grow in different habitats, and they design and construct a model plant based on specific environmental requirements.

Each activity in Habitats features a teacher's page that provides an overview of the lesson. Reproducible student pages include a materials list and instructions for setting up and conducting the activity, including diagrams, recording sheets, and questions. The guide also includes a glossary, reproducible masters of student data sheets, and student and teacher references.

Prices: Complete kit, $215. Consumables kit, $85. Publisher/supplier : Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.59 Hands On Elementary School Science: Life Science. Linda Poore. South Pasadena, Calif.: Linda Poore, 1994.

Grades: K-6 Hands On Elementary School Science: Life Science consists of 6 separate life science units—organisms, life cycles, aquatic habitats, terrariums, classification of plants and animals, and the human body. Among the activities in these units, students raise mealworms, silkworms, fruit flies, tadpoles, toads, and plants to observe patterns of growth and development. They build aquariums and terrariums in order to observe interactions within habitats and communities. They investigate interactions among the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, nervous, excretory, muscular, and skeletal systems in the human body. Each unit has a central theme, such as energy, interactions and systems, evolution, and patterns of change. Within units, activities are generally sequenced from easier to more complex.

The Hands On Elementary School Science: Life Science lesson plans include science background information, suggestions for integrating science with other subject areas, detailed explanations of the experiments, and questions to stimulate student thinking. The reproducible student data sheets are in English and Spanish.

Prices: Activity binder, $130.00 (complete set of six units). Individual unit, $35.00. Kits for individual units: from $138.50 to $272.00. Publisher/supplier: Linda Poore. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from Delta Education.

1.60 Hide a Butterfly. GEMS. Jean C. Echols. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1986.

Grades: PreK, K-2 In Hide a Butterfly, children learn about protective coloration and the behavior of birds and butterflies as they discover how animals and insects adapt to their environments. Students make a mural of a blossoming meadow, create butterfly and bird puppets, and perform a play in which a butterfly escapes the notice of a bird by blending in to the colors of the flowers. Special instructions for using this unit with younger preschool children and with children in grades 1, 2, and 3 are included.

Hide a Butterfly includes 3 sessions of 20 to 60 minutes each. The plan for each session contains an overview, background information, a list of materials, step-by-step directions for preparation and for setting up the classroom, procedures for conducting the activity, and extensions.

Price: $8.50. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.61 Incredible Insects. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6 Incredible Insects provides background information and activity ideas for an interdisciplinary introduction to the biology and behavior of insects. Through simulations, games, classroom experiments, and outdoor activities, students investigate a variety of topics such as insect classification, metamorphosis, insect habitats and microhabitats, insect adaptations, and insect interactions with humans. Activities are suitable for use in kindergarten to the intermediate grades; they integrate science with language arts, mathematics, social studies, physical education, and art.

Incredible Insects contains 29 lessons organized in 5 chapters; a

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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sixth chapter provides art and craft ideas. Teachers may choose single activities or teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and include ready-to-copy games, puzzles, and worksheets. An appendix includes ideas for making insect traps and nets and suggestions for attracting insects.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-39-5). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

1.62 Incredible Insects Discovery Pac. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1988.

Grades: K-6 The Incredible Insects Discovery Pac contains a set of 15 insect photo cards, a collection of stories from Ranger Rick, and a variety of activities that supplement the lessons in NatureScope's Incredible Insects. The Discovery Pac includes activities such as the following: children engage in community investigations; they visit discovery stations to learn about various species; they study insect adaptations; and they read fiction or biographical stories about insects and the people who interact with them.

Price: $10.95. Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

1.63 Ladybugs. GEMS/PEACHES. Jean C. Echols. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1993.

Grades: PreK, K, 1 Role-playing ladybugs in this unit, students pretend to save orange trees, fly away, and eat aphids, among many other experiences. Children in preschool through first grade learn about the ladybug's life cycle, body structure, and defensive behavior. They make paper ladybugs, observe ladybugs in flight, discover ladybugs' favorite foods, and learn that ladybugs help plants by eating tiny insects that damage plants. The module offers numerous ideas for cross-curricular activities in art and drama.

Ladybugs consists of 5 activities (about 13 class sessions). Each lesson includes a materials list, preparation steps, and directions for activities and discussions. The guide also includes summary outlines of each activity, background information, reproducible illustrations, and suggestions for related reading.

Price: $12.50 (ISBN 0-912511-86-9). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS/PEACHES. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.64 LEAP, Learning About Ecology, Animals, and Plants. Project LEAP. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, Department of Education, 1995.

Grade: 1 LEAP, Grade 1, the second guide in this K-6 series on plants, animals, and ecology, includes 4 sequential units. Each is based on a central concept (living versus nonliving, seeds, people's use of plants, and life cycles). Each unit contains background information and 7 to 9 activities. The activities are of 3 types—introductory, focus, and summary. Examples include planting seeds and pebbles to distinguish living from nonliving things, dissecting seeds to identify their parts and functions, making pretzels from wheat seeds, and recording growth and change in mealworms as they pass through the stages of their life cycle. The activities in these units can be used in conjunction with other science curricula and other subjects, including reading, writing, art, and mathematics.

A concept map is provided for each unit to show key concepts and their relationships. An activity typically includes an overview, a statement of the time required, a materials list, procedures. and "high jumps."

Price: $50. Publisher/supplier: Cornell University, Instructional Materials Service. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.65 Let's Hear It For Herps! NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1987.

Grades: K-6 Let's Hear It For Herps! uses an interdisciplinary approach to the study of reptiles and amphibians, their characteristics, life cycles, and interactions with humans. Students engage in experiments, games, and simulations that introduce them to the variety of these animals and their adaptations for survival. Students investigate the history of reptiles and amphibians and explore scenarios for the future, including what might happen to these animals because of predation, overhunting, and habitat destruction. The chapters in this module usually begin with primary activities and end with intermediate or advanced activities.

Let's Hear It For Herps! contains 20 lessons organized in 4 chapters; a fifth chapter provides art and craft ideas. Teachers may choose single activities or teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and include ready-to-copy games, puzzles, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-42-5). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

1.66 Life Processes: How a Living Thing Stays Alive. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, Mo.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 4 In Life Processes: How a Living Thing Stays Alive, students

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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acquire information about the different processes needed for living things to survive. The unit's lessons are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) organisms must take in and use materials and get rid of wastes; (2) organisms must grow and respond to changes in their environment; and (3) for a species to continue, some of its organisms must reproduce. Examples of lessons in this unit include the following: students compare seedlings grown with light and without light; they observe the behavior of sowbugs; and they play a species survival game.

Life Processes: How a Living Thing Stays Alive is a 17-lesson unit consisting of 23 class sessions of 30 to 55 minutes each. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027659-X), $27. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27658-1), $10. Complete unit, $450. Consumables kit, $125. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.67 Living Things: How Plants and Animals Work. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Science Place, Dallas, Tex.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1993.

Grade: 1 Living Things: How Plants and Animals Work focuses on the many different ways life in nature is sustained. The lessons in this unit are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) plants and animals are living things that meet their differing basic needs in different ways; (2) the structures of different kinds of plants vary to help meet their individual needs; and (3) different kinds of animals also have different structures that help them meet their needs. Activities in the unit include the following: taking a nature walk to observe similarities and differences between plants and animals; planting "mystery" seeds; examining the roots of "mystery" plants to learn how stems take food from the soil; discovering that plants need light by observing them bend toward their source of light; and investigating how the different parts of animals' bodies help them obtain food, eat, breathe, move, and survive.

Living Things: How Plants and Animals Work is a 17-lesson unit typically requiring 30- to 45-minute sessions. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59026202-5), $20.70. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-26134-7), $6.50. Complete unit, $375.00. Consumables kit, $67.00. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.68 Mapping Animal Movements. GEMS. Katharine Barrett. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1987.

Grades: 5-6+ In Mapping Animal Movements, students carry out hands-on experiences with animals and learn research techniques used by field biologists to study animal behavior. Students practice a sampling system, using the classroom as a habitat. They use this skill to observe, track, map, graph, and identify patterns in the movements of a variety of animals, such as crickets and hamsters. Students first observe the animals in an empty container; adding food and shelter to the container, students compare the animals' movements before and after their environment changes.

Mapping Animal Movements includes easy-to-follow lesson plans for each of the 4 activities (requiring 30 to 45 minutes each), suggestions for the care and handling of animals, and reproducible student data sheets. Each lesson plan includes an overview, background information, a list of materials, and detailed instructions for preparation and for conducting the activity.

Price: $10. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.69 Mapping Fish Habitats. GEMS. Katharine Barrett and Cary I. Sneider. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1987.

Grades: 6+ In Mapping Fish Habitats, students discover that fish have behavioral differences that provide clues about what various fish need to survive and how they interact with each other and their environment. Students set up a fish tank, map fish movements using systematic sampling methods, identify the home range, and then plan and conduct experiments to determine the effects of an environmental change on the home ranges of the fish.

Mapping Fish Habitats includes useful information about setting up an aquarium and interesting facts about fish, as well as specific lesson plans for each of the 4 activities in this unit. Each activity requires a 30- to 45-minute session plus time for daily observations. An overview, a list of materials, and step-by-step instructions for preparing and conducting the lesson are included for each activity.

Price: $10. Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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1.70 Organisms and Environments: How Living Things Interact. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, Cincinnati, Ohio.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 4 The lessons in this unit, Organisms and Environments: How Living Things Interact, are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) an ecosystem is made up of living things that interact with each other and with nonliving things; (2) ecosystems supply living things with the energy and materials they need for survival; and (3) ecosystems can change naturally and they can change as a result of the activities of humans. Examples of lessons in this unit include students making models of 4 types of ecosystems and investigating their similarities; comparing water absorption in various types of soil; observing the effects of withholding light from an ecosystem; and examining pictures to observe how ecosystems change over time.

Organisms and Environments: How Living Things Interact is a 17-lesson unit consisting of 23 class sessions typically 30 to 45 minutes in duration. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027683-2), $27. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27682-4), $10. Complete unit, $450. Consumables kit, $125. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.71 Penguins and Their Young. GEMS/PEACHES. Jean C. Echols. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1995.

Grades: PreK, K, 1 In Penguins and Their Young, an activity-based unit for preschoolers, kindergartners, and first-graders, children play with floating ice, penguins made of cork, and toy fish as they learn about the icy environment of the emperor penguin. They use life-size drawings as they discover that penguins are birds and compare them with other birds. During the unit young students watch a drama about parental care in penguins, role-play parent penguins, play a "hungry-penguins" game to learn about penguins' diets, and set up simple ice investigations.

Penguins and Their Young is organized into 4 activities, requiring a maximum of 14 class sessions. A life-sized penguin poster and reproducible masters of cutouts and student activity sheets are included in the teacher's guide, as well as background information, suggestions for additional resources, literature connections, and summary outlines of all activities.

Price: $15 (ISBN 0-912511-92-3). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials : Available locally.

1.72 Pillbug Project: A Guide to Investigation. Robin Burnett. Washington, D.C.: National Science Teachers Association, 1992.

Grades: 3-6 The Pillbug Project guides students through 10 days in the life of a pillbug. The activities on the 10 days are as follows: (1) Students collect pillbugs on or near the school grounds and place them in a pillbug hideaway. (2) They observe pillbug characteristics and behavior. (3-5) After reading a story about Patricia Pillbug, they set up observation stations to determine where pillbugs are and then conduct pillbug races. (6) Students retrieve their pillbugs from their outdoor stations and share their findings with the class in a pillbug symposium. (7) Students are encouraged to look at life from a pillbug's perspective and to ask and answer questions about things that are fundamental to a pillbug's life. (8) Students are challenged to question the validity of their experimental results to date. (9) Students choose their own experiments. (10) They gather and present all of their data at a symposium of pillbug experts—themselves.

Each of the 10 lessons in the Pillbug Project includes a teacher's note, a materials list, teacher's narrative, and procedures for the experiment. The guide's introduction includes facts about pillbugs and tips on conducting and evaluating the project.

Price: $16.50 (ISBN 0-87355-109-5). Publisher/supplier: National Science Teachers Association. Materials: Available locally.

1.73 Plant and Animal Life Cycles. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1988.

Grades: 3-5 In Plant and Animal Life Cycles, students work with pea plants and fruit flies as they learn about plant and animal life cycles. After focusing on the differences between living, dead, and nonliving things, students plant and germinate seeds and record their observations at each step in the cycle. Observing and comparing the growth and development of their plants and then planting second-generation pea seeds, students see a complete life cycle of the plant. Next they observe fruit fly cultures, following the flies through the larval and pupal stages to adulthood. Biotic potential is introduced to students through experiments with an ear of corn. The module ends with experiments showing what happens when organisms die and decompose.

Plant and Animal Life Cycles consists of 11 activities, requiring 11

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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class sessions of 30 to 40 minutes each, plus daily observations. It includes a brief module overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 1- and 2-page activities list materials needed and provide teaching suggestions.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-716-5), $9.95. Kit, $169.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.74 Plant and Animal Populations. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1989.

Grades: 2, 3 The Plant and Animal Populations module introduces students to the concepts of population dynamics as they build environments for ants, ladybugs, algae, and other organisms. Students set up terrariums and aquariums to observe ways in which plants and animals are adapted to water and land habitats. They see social interaction among animals as they observe ants. In other activities they observe and record changes in species populations over time, learning about factors such as dispersal, interaction, and population control. Watching populations increase and decrease, students learn about reproduction, death, and overcrowding. They create their own population game and learn that some animals are better adapted to their habitat than others are and so are more likely to survive.

Plant and Animal Populations has 10 activities and takes from 6 to 8 weeks to complete. It includes a brief module overview, a section on evaluation, a glossary, and blackline masters. The 1- and 2-page activities provide teaching suggestions and a list of materials needed.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-760-2), $9.95. Kit, $275.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.75 Plants and Animals. REEP. Philadelphia, Pa.: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 1991.

Grade: 1 Plants and Animals, an environmental education unit, introduces children to plants, animals, their habitats, and the need to preserve habitats. Activities begin with an overview of the characteristics of living and nonliving things and of the features that distinguish plants from animals. Students then examine the concepts of habitat and habitat destruction. The unit includes the following activities: students search for examples of living and nonliving things on the school grounds; they experiment with the needs of a growing plant for light and water; they play a game that depicts the impact of human actions on the habitats of grizzly bears; and they perform a drama about a possible cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.

Plants and Animals contains an introduction that includes background information and a lesson summary. The unit contains 10 lessons that stand alone but are designed to be taught in sequence. Each lesson has from 1 to 3 activities.

Price: $20. Publisher/supplier: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.76 Pond Life. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1994.

Grades: 4-6 In Pond Life, students visit a pond and investigate water, plant, and animal life. In the classroom, students set up and maintain aquariums containing organisms typically found in a freshwater pond and compare this aquarium ecosystem to the pond ecosystem. Students observe and describe macro-and microscopic organisms in their aquarium ecosystem. They make a hay infusion, comparing the organisms in it with those found in their aquariums. Finally, they examine the food chains that exist in a pond, looking at the relationships between producers and consumers.

Pond Life consists of 12 activities which require about 20 class sessions. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, a list of objectives for each activity, a planning schedule, background information, and preparation and materials management strategies. A complete lesson plan is provided for each lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-121-3), $24.95. Kit, $220.50. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.77 Rain Forests: Tropical Treasures. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6+ In Rain Forests: Tropical Treasures, students learn about the problems associated with deforestation in the rain forests, about the diversity of life forms in these forests, and about the ways people depend on tropical resources. Classroom and outdoor activities include experiments, stories, games, discussions, and simulations that integrate science with language arts, art, music, social studies, and geography. The chapters in the module usually begin with activities for primary grades and end with advanced activities for upper grades.

Rain Forests: Tropical Treasures contains 17 lessons organized in 4 chapters; a fifth chapter provides art and craft ideas. Teachers may select single activities or teach each chapter as a unit. An appendix provides a list of rain forest exhibits around the United States. Copycat pages supplement the activities and include ready-to-copy maps, puzzles, coloring pages, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 0-945051-41-7). Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials: Available locally.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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1.78 Small Things and Microscopes. DSM. Eileen Terrill. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1994.

Grades: 4-6 Students' perspectives widen as they learn about magnification in Small Things and Microscopes. Students use magnifiers as tools for drawing and creating tiny objects. They learn to identify and adjust the various parts of a microscope, prepare wet mounts, stain specimens, measure microscopic differences in hair and thread widths, compare the structures of various plant and animal cells, use depression slides to observe living organisms, and culture bacteria and monitor their population growth.

Small Things and Microscopes consists of 13 lessons, which require about 18 class sessions to complete. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, a list of objectives for each activity, a planning schedule, background information, and preparation and materials management strategies. A complete lesson plan is provided for each lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-152-3), $24.95. Kit, $230.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.79 STAR Ecology Lab. STAR. Washington, D.C.: Reading Is Fundamental, 1993.

Grades: 4-6 In STAR Ecology Lab, students become residents of a mythical town—Anytown—whose residents must decide what to do with a large tract of undeveloped land, known as Lakeland. Through a series of hands-on activities, students conduct experiments and gather data to help them decide what to do with the land. Students represent various interest groups—conservationists, recreation advocates, developers, business-growth advocates, and so on—at a town meeting. Then they vote on the plans offered. Students draw up a site plan using the school grounds as the plot of land to be developed. They test air quality and soil permeability and percolation rate, learn about water filtration, conduct a population study and a recreation survey, and use mathematics to interpret employment data for Anytown.

The STAR Ecology Lab includes ideas for cross-curricular integration, from writing an "eco haiku" to making a relief map of Lakeland. It also includes a list of resources, including books, computer software, and audiovisual materials.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $21.90. Mentor's Guide, $3.90. Publisher/supplier : Kendall/Hunt. Materials: Available locally.

1.80 STAR Sports Lab. STAR. Washington, D.C.: Reading Is Fundamental, 1993.

Grades: 4-6 STAR Sports Lab uses the popularity of sports to teach students various scientific aspects of sports and fitness. The learning module begins with a story about students participating in a city-sponsored sports clinic and concludes with the class designing and manning a sports clinic at their school. Students conduct an experiment on the relative bounciness of balls; they experiment to determine how simple exercise affects the heart rate; they test and learn the importance of an athlete's reaction speed by trying to catch a ruler as it drops; and they design a helmet to protect an egg during a fall off a wall.

The guide includes numerous suggestions for cross-curricular activities. For example, students practice sportscasting and look for examples of good sportswriting. They use their mathematical skills to calculate how many calories are burned from participating in various sports. They compile a booklet of jump-rope jingles. The guide includes a list of resources, including books, computer software, and audiovisual materials.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $21.90. Mentor's Guide, $3.90. Publisher/supplier : Kendall/Hunt. Materials: Available locally.

1.81 Staying Well: How You Can Take Care of Your Body. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Science Museums of Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1993.

Grade: 2 In Staying Well: How You Can Take Care of Your Body, students explore various body systems and learn that the body is a special mechanism that needs proper care to stay healthy. The unit's lessons are grouped in 2 subconcepts: (1) the human body requires nutrition, exercise, and rest in order to function properly; and (2) a person makes decisions that affect how well his or her body functions. Examples of lessons in this unit include students making a food clock to record how many times a day their body needs food, testing food samples for starch, making up a dance exercise, and making a feel-good poster.

Staying Well: How You Can Take Care of Your Body is a 17-lesson unit typically requiring 35- to 45-minute class sessions. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59026211-4), $20.70. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-26143-6), $6.50. Complete unit, $375.00. Consumables kit, $31.00. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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1.82 Support Systems: How Bones and Muscles Work Together. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Fort Worth, Tex.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 3 How we stand, bend, and lift are among the questions students learn to answer in Support Systems: How Bones and Muscles Work Together . The lessons in this unit are grouped in 3 subconcepts: (1) bones, cartilage, and ligaments form a skeletal system that supports and protects the body; (2) muscles connected to bones by tendons move the bones; and (3) a person makes decisions that affect the health of his or her body's support systems. Students examine bones to observe their structure, study X-rays to explore how bone and cartilage change as people grow, examine how joints between bones enable them to move, examine food labels to find out what foods are best for bones and muscles, and build robots that simulate human movements.

Support Systems: How Bones and Muscles Work Together is a 17-lesson unit requiring 30- to 40-minute class sessions. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027619-0), $20.70. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27618-2), $6.50. Complete unit, $375.00. Consumables kit, $64.00. Publisher/supplier: Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.83 Terrarium Habitats. GEMS. Kimi Hosoume and Jacqueline Barber. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1994.

Grades: K-6 In Terrarium Habitats, students watch nature's processes unfold in their own classroom. Working in teams, they carefully observe and describe the characteristics of a sample of garden soil. Each team then builds a miniforest terrarium habitat. Easily obtained animals such as earthworms and pillbugs are observed and then placed in the terrarium. Students monitor activity in the terrariums daily and record their observations in a journal. In the final activity they have an opportunity to explore interactions within their terrarium habitats as they choose and add other animals, plants, and food items. Modifications are suggested for grades K-2.

Each of the 5 activities (requiring 45 to 60 minutes each) in Terrarium Habitats includes a materials list, preparation steps, and directions for activities and discussions. The guide also includes extensive background information, summary outlines of each lesson, reproducible blackline masters, and suggestions for related reading and other resources.

Price: $12.50 (ISBN 0-912511-85-0). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.84 Transport Systems: How Your Body Changes and Uses Food, Water, and Air. Scholastic Science Place. (Developed in cooperation with Staten Island Children's Museum, Staten Island, N.Y.) New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, 1995.

Grade: 5 In Transport Systems, students acquire information about the transport systems of the human body. The unit's lessons are grouped in three subconcepts: (1) the digestive system and the respiratory system supply the circulatory system with certain materials that the body needs; (2) the circulatory system carries materials from the digestive and respiratory systems to and from all the body's cells; and (3) a person makes decisions that affect the health of his or her body's transport systems. Examples of lessons in this unit include students making models of their stomachs, mouths, and lungs; measuring their pulse rate; writing a balanced eating plan; and designing a transport game.

Transport Systems: How Your Body Changes and Uses Food, Water, and Air is a 17-lesson unit requiring 23 40- to 55-minute class sessions. The conceptual goals of the unit are presented in the lesson-by-lesson story line in the teacher's guide. Each lesson also includes background information; a complete lesson plan, including suggestions for assessing performance and integrating the curriculum; and a list of the print, video, and software support materials required for the lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 0-59027715-04), $27. Student Book (ISBN 0-590-27714-6), $10. Complete unit, $450. Consumables kit, $96. Publisher/supplier : Scholastic. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in unit.

1.85 Tree Homes. GEMS/PEACHES. Jean C. Echols. Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1993.

Grades: PreK, K, 1 Tree Homes is designed to stimulate children's interest in trees and the animals that live in tree homes. Information on the dependence of many animals on tree holes for warm, safe homes is woven into the structured activities, as is the concept of measurement (of tree-hole sizes and shapes). In the first lesson, students observe and learn about a living tree and make their own child-sized cardboard trees. Next they learn about bears, through a combination of drama, role-play-

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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ing, and sorting activities. After exploring the many ways animals keep warm, students learn about the lives and habits of raccoons and owls. Finally, they discover that bears, raccoons, and owls move out of their tree-hole homes and that other animals move in.

Each of the 6 lessons in Tree Homes includes a materials list, preparation steps, and directions for activities and discussion. The guide also includes background information, summary outlines of each lesson, reproducible illustrations, and suggestions for related reading.

Price: $12.50 (ISBN 0-912511-87-8). Publisher/supplier: LHS GEMS. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.86 Trees Are Terrific! NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6+ Trees Are Terrific! includes background information and activities for an interdisciplinary introduction to the biology of trees and forest ecology. Through observations, experiments, games, and simulations, students from kindergarten through the intermediate grades investigate the characteristics of trees, their growth and reproduction, and their influence on human life.

Trees Are Terrific! contains 24 lessons organized in 5 chapters; a sixth chapter provides art and craft ideas. Teachers may select single activities or teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and include ready-to-copy puzzles, coloring pages, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95. Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.87 The Underground Connection: A Prekindergarten Science Unit. Rockville, Md.: Montgomery County Public Schools, Division of Academic Programs, Office of Instruction and Program Development, 1992.

Grades: PreK, K The Underground Connection involves young children in hands-on, multisensory activities as they explore the world of growing plants. The children work at an exploration center. The activities focus on seeds, soil, and planting. Examples of the activities include finding seeds in fruits, going on an outdoor seed hunt, germinating seeds, examining soil samples, creating a worm habitat, and planting bulbs in the schoolyard. Art, mathematics, music, language arts, and health and safety extension ideas are incorporated in the activities. Icons in the guide indicate special characteristics of activities, such as group participation, multicultural material, and seasonality.

Underground Connection includes appendixes on the curriculum areas supported by each section, multicultural perspectives, tips on planting an outdoor garden, a time frame/calendar for activities, a list of resource materials, and a sample letter to parents.

Prices: Teacher's Guide, $25. Complete kit, $270. Consumables kit, $44. Publisher/supplier: Montgomery County Public Schools. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit from SEMPCO.

1.88 Wading into Wetlands. NatureScope. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989.

Grades: K-6 Wading into Wetlands includes background information and activities for an interdisciplinary introduction to the ecology of wetlands, including salt marshes and mangrove swamps, and freshwater swamps, marshes, and bogs. Students participate in classroom and field experiences, observing flora and fauna. They engage in experiments, games, writing, art, and mathematical activities that demonstrate the unique characteristics of wetlands and their importance to wildlife and humans. Chapters usually begin with primary activities and end with intermediate or advanced activities.

Wading into Wetlands contains 20 lessons organized in 4 chapters; a fifth chapter provides art and craft ideas. Teachers may choose single activities or teach each chapter as a unit. Copycat pages supplement the activities and include ready-to-copy games, puzzles, and worksheets.

Price: $7.95. Publisher/supplier: National Wildlife Federation. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.89 You and Your Body. DSM. Hudson, N.H.: Delta Education, 1994.

Grades: 5, 6 In You and Your Body, students investigate several organ systems of the human body as well as foods and nutrition. Activities include students constructing models of an arm and a leg to simulate the role of muscles and joints in movement, and measuring their own reaction times, pulse rate, and lung capacity. They observe and discuss the properties of skin and teeth. They test a variety of foods to determine the relative protein and fat content. Students investigate their senses of smell, touch, hearing, and sight.

You and Your Body includes 14 activities, which require about 17 class sessions. The teacher's guide includes a module overview, a list of objectives for each activity, a planning schedule, background information, and preparation and materials management strategies. A complete lesson plan is provided for each lesson.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 087504-105-1), $24.95. Kit, $259.00. Publisher/supplier: Delta Education. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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LIFE SCIENCE-SCIENCE ACTIVITY BOOKS

ABOUT THE ANNOTATIONS IN "LIFE SCIENCE—SCIENCE ACTIVITY BOOKS"

Entry Numbers

Curriculum materials are arranged alphabetically by title in each category (Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books) in chapters 1 through 4 of this guide. In addition, each annotation has a two-part entry number. For each entry number, the chapter number is given before the period; the number after the period locates the entry within that chapter.

For example, the first entry number in chapter 1 is 1.1; the second entry in chapter 2 is 2.2, and so on.

The entry numbers within each curriculum chapter run consecutively through Core Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Science Activity Books.

Order of Bibliographic Information

Following is the arrangement of the facts of publication in the annotations in this section:

  • Title of publication.

  • Series title, or series acronym if commonly used.

  • Authors (either individual names or organizational author).

  • Name and location of developer (in parentheses), if different from publisher.

  • Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication.

Series Acronym

Following is the acronym of one series title in "Life Science—Science Activity Books." (Series titles that are spelled out are not included in this list.)

AIMS

Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science

Price and Acquisition Information

Ordering information is presented in a block immediately below the annotation. Included are the following:

  • Prices of teacher's guides, activity books, and kits or units.

  • The name of a principal publisher/supplier (not necessarily the sole source) for the items listed in the price category. (The address and phone and fax numbers for each publisher and supplier appear in appendix A, "Publishers and Suppliers.")

  • An indication of the various sources from which one might obtain the required materials.

1.90 All About Penguins. San Diego, Calif.: Sea World, 1992.

Grades: 4-6+ In All About Penguins, students discover where penguins live, what they eat, what animals try to eat them, how penguins have adapted to their various environments, how they reproduce, and how human actions affect the prospects of penguins for survival. Students investigate the insulative qualities of penguin blubber and feathers. They test their own jumping abilities against those of a rockhopper penguin attempting to avoid a predator. They make posters about public awareness of environmental threats to penguins.

Included in this 15-page teacher's guide are illustrations of the 17 species of penguins and information about their size, geographical distribution, prey, predators, and population. The guide also provides an illustration of a penguin food chain; a world map of penguin species distribution; sections on conservation and Antarctica; and a bibliography.

Price: $5. Publisher/supplier: Sea World of California. Materials: Available locally.

1.91 All About Sea Turtles. San Diego, Calif.: Sea World, 1992.

Grades: K-6+ Through the series of interdisciplinary activities in All About Sea Turtles, students learn about these creatures and become more aware of endangered species. Activities include the following: students play a listening game using vocabulary words relating to sea turtles; they learn about the body parts of sea turtles by constructing a sea turtle puppet; they take on the role of sea turtle hatchlings to show how they are disoriented by bright lights; they run a relay race to learn

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

about sea turtles' diet and the effects of pollution on it; they learn about sea turtle predators by reciting riddles; and they develop an advertising campaign to educate the public about the plight of sea turtles.

This 23-page teacher's guide includes illustrations and brief information about 6 species of sea turtles, a sea turtle fact sheet, 12 activities, and suggestions for further reading. Each activity includes a suggested grade level, objectives, a list of materials needed, and directions.

Price: $5. Publisher/supplier: Sea World of California. Materials: Available locally.

1.92 Bottle Biology. Paul II. Williams. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1993.

Grades: 1-6+ Bottle Biology offers creative ways to teach science concepts and process skills using the ubiquitous 2-liter plastic soda bottle. Students build, fill, observe, and explore the bottle, which acts as a decomposition column, a fermentation chamber, a sedimentation bottle, a soil column, a fruit fly trap and breeder, a predator-prey column, a TerrAqua column, and an ecocolumn. Detailed instructions and illustrations, activities, and teaching tips are included. There are suggested activities and experiments for each type of column. Examples of activities include making pH indicators, building a terrarium to house carnivorous plants, building a tropical rainforest ecocolumn, and constructing a bottle microscope. Instructions on using empty film cans in experiments on germination, gravitropism, and phototropism are also included.

Each of Bottle Biology's 10 chapters features background information. An annotated bibliography is included.

Price: $15.95 (ISBN 0-8403-8601-X). Publisher/supplier: Kendall/Hunt. Materials: Available locally.

1.93 The Budding Botanist: Investigations with Plants. AIMS. Evalyn Hoover, Howard Larimer, Sheryl Mercier, and Michael Walsh. Fresno, Calif.: AIMS Education Foundation, 1993.

Grades: 3-6 The Budding Botanist presents 30 activities concerned with the investigation of seed plants. Mathematics and science skills are tested, and other disciplines are integrated, as students investigate the following topic areas: seeds, seed structure, seed germination, seed dispersal, functions of plant parts, photosynthesis, seed and fruit development, and the structure of cells. Sample activities include comparing seeds by their physical characteristics, dissecting seeds, germinating seeds, using natural materials to make pictures of trees, and making models of plant cells.

Worksheets accompany the hands-on activities in The Budding Botanist, and each lesson includes an introductory statement; lists of mathematics skills, science processes, and materials; key questions, background information, management suggestions, procedures, discussion questions, extension ideas, and curriculum correlations.

Price: $14.95 (ISBN 1-881431-40-1). Publisher/supplier: AIMS Education Foundation. Materials: Available locally.

1.94 Bugwise. Pamela M. Hickman. A publication of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1990.

Grades: 4-6 Dozens of inventive activities highlight Bugwise, an introduction to insects and spiders. The activity book is organized in 6 sections: (1) Aquatic Insects, (2) Insects in Winter, (3) Investigating Insects, (4) Some Insects Up Close, (5) Insect Survival, and (6) Insect Impostors. Some suggested activities include making waterscopes to observe aquatic insects, collecting and dissecting galls to observe insects in winter, looking for ''life on a leaf," constructing ant palaces, and catching and releasing flying insects and spiders. Dozens of nuggets of information about insects and their behaviors are included, as well as helpful tips on using commonly available materials to collect, house, and observe insects.

The plentiful illustrations are a notable feature of Bugwise. The technical illustrations are of good quality; the nontechnical illustrations are lively and expressive.

Price: $9.57 (ISBN 0-921103-91-3). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally.

1.95 Butterflies Abound! A Whole Language Resource Guide for K-4. Seddon Kelly Beaty and Irene Fountas. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1993.

Grades: K-4 Based on a whole language philosophy, Butterflies Abound! offers a broad range of suggestions for interdisciplinary activities and experiences to enrich a core unit on butterflies or moths. In addition to completing scientific activities such as examining butterfly wings, students perform plays and skits on butterfly life cycles, and even follow simple recipes to create caterpillar and butterfly snacks for an end-of-unit celebration. The science section of this resource guide is organized in 5 key concepts: (1) insects, (2) metamorphosis and anatomy, (3) basic needs and behaviors, (4) protective behaviors, and (5) variety and classifications. These concepts can be explored in any order, and several concepts may be explored simultaneously. Related learning experiences in the other subject area sections are cross-referenced in the science sections.

Each concept section in Butterflies Abound! includes sample questions,

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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extensive background information, and suggestions for a wide variety of learning experiences. The guide then offers butterfly-related sections on language arts, mathematics, social studies, art, drama, music, cooking, and physical activities.

Price: $26.85 (ISBN 0-201-45504-8). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally.

1.96 Critters. AIMS. Fresno, Calif.: AIMS Education Foundation, 1989.

Grades: K-6 Critters takes a look at the habits and habitats of a wide variety of crawling, swimming, and walking members of the animal kingdom. This book is filled with varied activities. For example, students make insects out of clay and pipe cleaners, race snails to determine whether big snails or small snails travel faster, and test the temperature preferences of isopods. Mathematics and science skills are tested and other disciplines are integrated as students investigate the following topics: insects and spiders, mealworms, earthworms, snails, silkworms, isopods, aquatic creatures, adaptations and camouflage, and food chains.

Worksheets with lively illustrations accompany the activities. Each lesson in Critters includes an introductory statement; lists of mathematics skills, science processes, and materials; key questions, background information, management suggestions, procedures, discussion questions, extension ideas, and curriculum connections.

Price: $16.95 (ISBN 1-881431-23-1). Publisher/supplier: AIMS Education Foundation. Materials: Available locally.

1.97 Gentle Giants of the Sea. Paul Kastner, Joan Kastner, and Jessica A. Porter. 2nd ed. Friday Harbor, Wash.: The Whale Museum, 1986.

Grades: K-6 In Gentle Giants of the Sea, students learn about whales—the largest creatures on earth—through reading selections and multidisciplinary activities. They also learn about the delicate balance of the earth's ecosystem and how all living things are interrelated. In a series of 14 well-planned lessons, students explore the size, characteristics, and main body parts of whales. They discover how whales eat, breathe, make sounds, and use echolocation. Students learn about the whale's social structure, reproduction, and behavior. They acquire an understanding of the complexity of life in the ocean and develop an awareness of and concern for the interaction of whales and people. Activities include discussions, research projects, art projects, puppet shows, classification exercises, card games, collages, and creative writing.

Each lesson contains student text (lesson information written at a grade-4 to -6 reading level), objectives, teacher's notes, sources of more information, and a materials list and descriptions of lesson activities. A glossary, coloring pages, and a bibliography are also provided.

Price: $15.95 (ISBN 0-933331-25-8). Publisher/supplier: The Whale Museum. Materials: Available locally.

1.98 Habitats. Pamela Hickman. A Publication of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1993.

Grades: 3-6+ The activities in Habitats, a colorful resource book, are designed to encourage students to take a closer look at nature as they create temporary minihabitats. Most of the habitats can be made either in a 1-gallon jar or in an aquarium. Students view the growth, natural changes, life cycles, and special adaptations of plants and animals. Sample activities include observing life in a rotting log, building a wormery, and planting a miniforest. Activities are designed to promote environmental awareness and respect for living things.

Each activity in Habitats includes a short introduction, a list of materials, step-by-step illustrated instructions, tips on what to look for in observing a particular type of habitat, habitat watch, and a feature called The Big Picture.

Price: $9.57 (ISBN 1-55074-066-0). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally.

1.99 Hands On Biology Activities for Elementary Schools. Fundamentals of Science. Nancy Coggins Lynch. Annapolis, Md.: Alpha Publishing Co., 1990.

Grades: 4-6 Hands On Biology Activities for Elementary Schools offers 50 activities on concepts ranging from osmosis to depth perception to recycling. Examples of activities include determining the amount of vitamin C in various juices; using carrots and celery to learn how to make a cross-section; comparing the germination rates of various seeds; using limewater to test for carbon dioxide in one's breath; and examining cheek cells with a microscope. Activities encourage the use of basic experimental design components.

Each activity is preceded by a teacher's section featuring a list of goals, safety notes, and steps for preparation, and hints. Each activity provides student safety notes, a short vocabulary list, an introduction, a materials list, step-by-step procedures, a section on recording results

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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and observations, conclusions, and suggestions for further study. Reproducible masters for student data sheets must be purchased separately.

Price: Teacher's Guide, $44.95. publisher/supplier: Alpha. Materials : Available locally.

1.100 Insects and Other Crawlers. Windows on Elementary Science. Joan Westley. Mountain View, Calif.: Creative Publications, 1988.

Grades: K-2 In the Insects and Other Crawlers unit, children investigate beetles, ants, ladybugs, butterflies, moths, and grasshoppers. They discover how these creatures move, eat, and adapt to their environments. Students make homes for the bugs; they examine spiderwebs, wasps' nests, ant farms, and beehives; they listen to insect sounds; and they observe and compare camouflage, symmetry, and many other aspects of insects and other crawlers. Activities are sequenced by increasing levels of difficulty, but do not have to be used in order.

Each of the 28 activities in Insects and Other Crawlers lists a learning objective, process skills, materials needed, questions for discussion, directions for the exploration, and extensions.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 088488-706-05), $13.75. Complete kit, 250.00. Publisher/supplier: Creative Publications. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.101 Just Outside the Door. Kaleidoscope. East Lansing, Mich.: 4-H Youth Programs, Cooperative Extension Service, Michigan State University, 1991.

Grades: K-3 Just Outside the Door uses a variety of activities to help young learners explore the world around them. Although designed for 4-H clubs, this leader's guide can be easily adapted to the classroom. Besides offering scientific experiments, it includes activities with songs, poems, drama, arts and crafts, card and movement games, stories, and field trips. Examples of the activities include comparing heat absorption of clothing of different colors, imitating the motion of caterpillars, examining seeds and identifying their parts, and comparing how fast ice in different locations melts. In addition to 3 sections on insects (identification, an insect safari, and insect growth and development), the guide features sections exploring the basic characteristics of fruits, seeds, water, and birds.

Each section of Just Outside the Door includes a statement of overall purpose, the suggested teaching sequence, information about what children need to know to carry out the activities, instructions, suggestions of fun things to do, and a mini-poster to take home.

Price: $2.60. Publisher/supplier: Michigan State University Bulletin Office. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.102 Leaf and Seed Matching Game. Nature Education Kits. Newton, Kans.: Young Naturalist Co., 1992.

Grades: K-3 In Leaf and Seed Matching Game, young students develop science process skills while using real specimens of leaves and seeds that are included in this inexpensive kit. The kit includes 20 leaf specimens and 20 seed specimens, and offers 8 games in which students match, play detective, classify, count and measure, collect leaves and seeds, observe shapes and pictures of leaves and seeds, and focus on how seeds travel.

For each game, the teacher's guide includes purpose, procedure, questions for students to answer, and follow-up activities. Directions are included for 3 levels of games (preschool, intermediate, and advanced). The kit functions as a nature display when not being used as a game.

Price: Kit, $25.95. Publisher/supplier: Young Naturalist. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.103 Life in the Desert. Primary Science Resource Guide. Ilene L. Follman. St. Louis, Mo.: Milliken Publishing Co., 1992.

Grades: K-3 Students explore the incredible variety of life in the desert in this unit, which offers 4 colorful posters, reproducible worksheets, and illustrated activities that help bring the desert into the classroom. Students explore where deserts exist, what deserts in different places have in common and how they differ, and how living things survive in and adapt to a desert environment. Activities are grouped in 3 sections: (1) The Desert: Where Is It? What Is It?; (2) Desert Plants: Amazing Adaptations; and (3) Desert Animals: Advantageous Adaptations. Examples of activities include taking a guided imagery walk in the desert, creating sand dunes, demonstrating how the leaves of desert plants lose less water than those of nondesert plants, planting a desert landscape, and obtaining and caring for a desert pet.

Life in the Desert includes information for teachers and parents, information on getting started with the activities, a bibliography, and instructions on how to use the 4 posters.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 1-55863-364-2). Publisher/supplier: Milliken. Materials: Available locally.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

1.104 The National Arbor Day Foundation's Discovery Curriculum. Nebraska City, Nebr.: National Arbor Day Foundation, no date.

Grades: 4-6 Promoting wise environmental stewardship is the primary goal of the National Arbor Day Foundation's Discovery Curriculum. The activities in this unit encourage 3 levels of environmental learning: (1) initial awareness and understanding, focusing on plant mechanics, food webs, habitats, adaptations, and biomagnification; (2) expanding the knowledge base, focusing on environment mapping, ecosystems, organisms, populations, and communities; and (3) translating awareness and knowledge into action, focusing on value-based decision making, issue investigation and resolution, and the importance of individual action in activities such as recycling and water usage. Examples of activities include constructing a food pyramid that must support all of its members, playing a version of freeze tag that explores predator-prey relationships, and writing a personal code of environmental ethics.

This guide also includes a resource section, suggested questions for individual or small group investigations, and a bibliography.

Price: $19.95. Publisher/supplier: National Arbor Day Foundation. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.105 Nature Kit: From Seeds to Sprouts! Santa Barbara, Calif.: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and the Santa Barbara County Education Office, 1992.

Grades: K-4 Nature Kit: From Seeds to Sprouts is a resource guide to activities in 3 sections that focus on (1) plant life cycles, seed anatomy, and development; (2) seed dispersal; and (3) germination and conditions that affect seed and plant growth. Each section features several activities. Examples of the activities, which are copiously illustrated, include testing the effects of sunlight on seeds and seedlings; writing a short story from the perspective of a dispersing seed; and attempting to germinate fresh, frozen, and dried ears of corn to determine which condition is most favorable to successful germination.

Each activity in the Nature Kit provides a complete lesson plan, including reproducible masters for student data sheets in English and Spanish.

Price: Kit, $19.95. Publisher/supplier: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.106 Naturewatch: Exploring Nature With Your Children. Adrienne Katz. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1986.

Grades: 1-6 Increasing children's awareness of the natural world is the goal of Naturewatch: Exploring Nature With Your Children. Written for both adults (primarily parents) and children, this book contains a variety of nature activities with simple instructions and illustrations. The numerous activities include students testing how leaves repel water, propagating plants in various ways, growing strawberries in an earthenware pot, making a caterpillar cage, making a drinking machine for birds, making bark rubbings, tracking animal footprints, pressing flowers, and making herbal talcum powder. The book also presents nontoxic ways of controlling pests and provides lists of poisonous plants, annuals, plants suited to window box gardening, and flowers suited for drying.

Price: $9.57 (ISBN 0-201-10457-1). Publisher/supplier: Addison-Wesley. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.107 Plantwise. Pamela M. Hickman. A publication of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1991.

Grades: 4-6 Plantwise contains extensive information about many types of plants and offers a wide variety of plant-related activities. Through reading selections, students learn about seeds, leaves, flowers, roots, trees, bark, cones, ferns, mosses, grasses, killer plants, aquatic and desert plants, molds, fungi, and rotters (the small creatures that recycle wood by breaking it down). Among the activities, students grow plants from roots, investigate geotropism, collect leaves and make "leaf skeletons," dissect a flower, search for fern spores, learn how to make maple syrup, plant a moss garden, and dye clothes with natural dyes from plants. The concluding section of the book includes information about the uses of plants and tells us why plants are so important to the environment. Suggestions for what students can do to help save plants from becoming endangered or extinct are given.

Prices: Paperback (ISBN 1-55074044-X), $8.95. Hardcover (ISBN 155074-001-6), $16.95. Publisher/supplier: University of Toronto Press. Materials : Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.108 Primarily Plants. AIMS. Evalyn Hoover and Sheryl Mercier. Fresno, Calif.: AIMS Education Foundation, 1990.

Grades: K-3 The 26 activities in Primarily Plants range from making "baggie" gardens to going on leaf safaris. Mathematics and science skills are tested as students carry out these hands-on activities and do the worksheets that accompany them. Activities cover the following topic areas: seeds, spores, plant growth, plant parts, seed dispersal, bulbs, cuttings, plant needs (for soil, sun-

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

light, water, and air), and why people need plants.

Each lesson in Primarily Plants includes a brief introductory statement, a list of mathematics skills and science processes used in the activities, a materials list, key questions addressed in the activities, background information, management suggestions, procedures, discussion questions, and extension activities.

Price: $14.95 (ISBN 1-881431-24-X). Publisher/supplier: AIMS Education Foundation. Materials: Available locally.

1.109 Project WILD Activity Guide. 2nd ed. Bethesda, Md.: Project WILD, 1992.

Grades: K-6+ Project WILD Activity Guide is part of an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program. The guides 113 activities are organized in 7 sections: (1) Awareness and Appreciation; (2) Diversity of Wildlife Values; (3) Ecological Principles; (4) Management and Conservation; (5) People, Culture and Wildlife; (6) Trends, Issues and Consequences; and (7) Responsible Human Actions. Examples of the activities include identifying similarities and differences in the basic needs of ants and humans; forming an interconnected circle of students to demonstrate the components of a habitat; observing camouflage techniques in live animals; and recommending changes that could benefit wildlife.

A glossary, a conceptual framework, and a guide to the ecosystem concept are included among the guide's 23 appendixes. Activities are cross-referenced by skills used, length of activity, subject, and grade level. Although this guide is written for teachers of grades K-12, the majority of its activities are most appropriate for grades 4 and above.

Price: Attendance at Project WILD workshop. Publisher/supplier: Project WILD. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.110 Project WILD Aquatic Education Activity Guide. 2nd ed. Bethesda, Md.: Project WILD, 1992.

Grades: K-6+ Project WILD Aquatic Education Activity Guide is part of an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program. The guide's 40 activities are organized in 7 sections: (1) Awareness and Appreciation; (2) Diversity of Wildlife Values; (3) Ecological Principles; (4) Management and Conservation; (5) Culture and Wildlife; (6) Trends, Issues and Consequences; and (7) Responsible Human Actions. Examples of the activities include calculating the volume of water on the planet, drawing life-size replicas of whales on school grounds, simulating the effects of the changing technology of fishing on fish populations, and producing a newspaper on a variety of issues concerning aquatic wildlife.

A glossary, a conceptual framework, and a guide to the ecosystem concept are included among the guide's 26 appendixes. Activities are cross-referenced by skills used, length of activity, subject, and grade level. Although this guide is written for teachers of grades K-12, the majority of its activities are most appropriate for grades 4 and above.

Price: Attendance at Project WILD Workshop. Publisher/supplier: Project WILD. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.111 The Schoolyard Environment. Primary Science Resource Guide. Ilene L. Follman. St. Louis, Mo.: Milliken Publishing Co., 1992.

Grades: K-3 The Schoolyard Environment provides a host of activities to help children learn about soil, plants, animals, adaptations, growth, and cycles of change. Studying the schoolyard environment, students discover similarities, differences, and interactions among living things, learn about relationships between living and nonliving things, and about the relationship of humans to the environment. Groups of students examine a 1-foot-square plot of land and record their observations. They plant seeds and monitor plant growth, compare soils, dig for earthworms, adopt a tree for study, and collect and house insects. They survey an area for animal tracks, birds, litter, and shadows.

This teacher's guide includes reproducible masters for student data sheets, a bibliography, and 4 posters that are used to stimulate discussion.

Price: $7.95 (ISBN 1-55863-362-6). Publisher/supplier: Milliken. Materials: Available locally.

1.112 Seeds and Weeds. Windows on Elementary Science. Joan Westley. Mountain View, Calif.: Creative Publications, 1988.

Grades: K-2 In Seeds and Weeds, children examine and compare many types of seeds. They investigate seeds in their own environment and explore the various ways seeds travel and plant themselves. Students plant seeds and watch the changes that occur during seed germination and plant growth. They count, sort, grind, cook, taste, and dissect seeds, and use them to make musical instruments. Activities are sequenced by increasing levels of difficulty but do not have to be used in order.

Each of the 28 activities in Seeds and Weeds lists a learning objective, process skills, materials needed, questions for discussion, directions for the exploration, and extensions.

Prices: Teacher's Guide (ISBN 088488-710-3), $13.75. Complete kit, $250.00. Publisher/supplier: Creative Publications. Materials: Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
×

1.113 Western Creeks and Ponds. Family Science Adventure Kit. Tustin, Calif.: Acorn Naturalists, 1991.

Grades: 3-6 Whirligig beetles, water striders, and plankton are among the creatures of interest in Western Creeks and Ponds, an activity kit that centers its explorations on the banks of a freshwater creek or pond. The small, reusable kit contains 6 activity cards, 3 petri dishes, a dip net, a mini-plant-press, a plankton syringe, a combination binoculars/compass, and a field guide to common pond life. The activity cards feature background information on one side and instructions for activities on the other. Sample activities include observing the behavior of whirligig beetles and water striders; experimenting with surface tension; examining leaves for the presence of insect larvae; and studying the body structures of various species of water nymphs.

Price: Kit, $22.95. Publisher/supplier: Acorn Naturalists. Materials : Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.

1.114 Wetlands. Pamela Hickman. A Publication of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1993.

Grades: 3-6 Through simple reading selections, experiments, and projects, Wetlands introduces students to the varied animal and plant life in a wetland-the place where land and water meet. Students examine wetland mud and peat for small creatures. They investigate the important natural absorption and filtration ability of wetland soils and discover how wetland roots help stop erosion. Students observe the growth of phytoplankton (algae) and zooplankton (tiny floating animals), make plaster casts of animal tracks, and draw a map of a red-winged blackbird's territory. They grow duckweed in different solutions, create mushroom spore prints, and set up an aquarium. Students learn about the habits and life cycles of a variety of wetland wildlife (including ducks, reptiles, frogs, toads, leeches, snails, bats, muskrats, and beavers). The activity book concludes with a simple board game that explains why wetlands are endangered habitats and what can be done to protect them.

Price: $9.95 (ISBN 1-55074-126-8). Publisher/supplier: University of Toronto Press. Materials: Available locally, or from commercial suppliers.

1.115 What Do Plants Need to Grow. Pamela Emery. Sacramento, Calif.: California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, 1993.

Grades: 2-4 Integrating agriculture into the science curriculum is the goal of What Do Plants Need to Grow. Through a series of experiments and activities, students learn that plants are living things that require water, air, light, and nutrients. They examine relationships between plants and other living and nonliving things. Examples of activities include dissecting seeds, examining plants to learn their basic parts, testing the relative growth of plants exposed to different amounts of fertilizer, and observing root systems of radish plants to understand the importance of root hairs.

Each of 13 lessons in the guide includes a statement of purpose, concepts covered, a list of materials, time requirements, background information, and procedures. Most lessons include variations and extension ideas. The book also includes answers to commonly asked questions, lists of additional resources and references, and a glossary.

Price: $6.50. Publisher/supplier: California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Materials: Available locally.

Suggested Citation:"1. Life Science." National Academy of Sciences. 1996. Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4966.
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Next: 2. Earth Science »
Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science Get This Book
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What activities might a teacher use to help children explore the life cycle of butterflies? What does a science teacher need to conduct a "leaf safari" for students? Where can children safely enjoy hands-on experience with life in an estuary? Selecting resources to teach elementary school science can be confusing and difficult, but few decisions have greater impact on the effectiveness of science teaching.

Educators will find a wealth of information and expert guidance to meet this need in Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science. A completely revised edition of the best-selling resource guide Science for Children: Resources for Teachers, this new book is an annotated guide to hands-on, inquiry-centered curriculum materials and sources of help in teaching science from kindergarten through sixth grade. (Companion volumes for middle and high school are planned.)

The guide annotates about 350 curriculum packages, describing the activities involved and what students learn. Each annotation lists recommended grade levels, accompanying materials and kits or suggested equipment, and ordering information.

These 400 entries were reviewed by both educators and scientists to ensure that they are accurate and current and offer students the opportunity to:

  • Ask questions and find their own answers.
  • Experiment productively.
  • Develop patience, persistence, and confidence in their own ability to solve real problems.

The entries in the curriculum section are grouped by scientific area—Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science, and Multidisciplinary and Applied Science—and by type—core materials, supplementary materials, and science activity books. Additionally, a section of references for teachers provides annotated listings of books about science and teaching, directories and guides to science trade books, and magazines that will help teachers enhance their students' science education.

Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science also lists by region and state about 600 science centers, museums, and zoos where teachers can take students for interactive science experiences. Annotations highlight almost 300 facilities that make significant efforts to help teachers.

Another section describes more than 100 organizations from which teachers can obtain more resources. And a section on publishers and suppliers give names and addresses of sources for materials.

The guide will be invaluable to teachers, principals, administrators, teacher trainers, science curriculum specialists, and advocates of hands-on science teaching, and it will be of interest to parent-teacher organizations and parents.

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