Landforms
CORE MATERIALS
Project STAR: The Universe in Your Hands
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Program Overview
The Science and Technology for Children (STC) series consists of 24 inquiry-centered curriculum units for grades 1-6, with 4 units at each grade level. Students learn about topics in the life, earth, and physical sciences. The technological applications of science and the interactions among science, technology, and society are addressed throughout the program. The STC units, each of which takes about 16 class sessions to complete, encourage participatory learning and the integration of science with mathematics, language arts, social studies, and art. The components of an STC unit are a teacher's guide, a student activity book with simple instructions and illustrations, and a kit of materials.
Teacher's Guide
Recommended grade level:
6.
Reading level: 7. In Measuring Time, students explore timekeeping first by observing the natural cycles of the sun and moon and then by building and investigating mechanical devices designed to measure time. Activities include recording the length and position of shadows at different times of day, devising a calendar, and predicting and observing the phases of the moon. In other activities, students construct and experiment with sinking water clocks and pendulums, build and adjust a working clock escapement, and make a 1-minute timer.
Throughout the unit, students are encouraged to develop an appreciation of advances over the centuries in measuring time. They record ideas, questions, and descriptions of their work in notebooks; they organize and report results in charts, tables, and graphs; and they discuss and analyze their experiences in small groups and with the class.
Measuring Time is a 16-lesson unit. The teacher's guide includes a unit overview, the 16 lesson plans, and an annotated bibliography. Science background information, detailed instructions on planning for and conducting each activity, an extensive assessment component, and extensions for integration and enrichment are provided.
Key to Content Standards: 5-8 (see app. C)
UNIFYING CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES: Evidence, models, and explanation; change, constancy, and measurement.
SCIENCE AS INQUIRY: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry; understandings about scientific inquiry.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Motions and forces.
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE: Earth in the solar system.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Abilities of technological design; understandings about science and technology.
SCIENCE IN PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES: Science and technology in society.
HISTORY AND NATURE OF SCIENCE: Science as a human endeavor; nature of science; history of science.
Prices:
Teacher's guide (ISBN 0-89278-707-4), $24.95. Student activity book, $3.75. Unit, $439.95.
Publisher/supplier:
Carolina Biological Supply.
Materials:
Available locally, from commercial suppliers, or in kit.
