This supplementary program for grades 1-6 is designed to take advantage of an existing vehicle, those basal science textbooks now in broad use, to improve the quality and quantity of science being taught. The materials described below will include correlations to those programs. A Science Discovery Reader for each grade level will introduce concepts within the context of student experiences, and will be fun for children to read. Critical thinking questions throughout these books will check understanding of the concepts being taught, and teacher editions will suggest additional activities and references. The Science Shoebox Recipe File will provide teachers with plans for self-contained, hands-on activities. These activities will coordinate with the plot and action of stories in the Science Discovery Reader. The Science Extension relates the concepts developed in the basal textbook series and in the Science Discovery Reader to other school disciplines and to students' out-of-school environment. Ancillary audio and video tapes will also be available. Carolyn Sumners and Terry Contant, the Co-Principal Investigators, will have the support of their own institution, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, plus an array of university and school advisors, and a major educational publisher. Silver, Burdett and Ginn publishing company will provide strong staff and financial support, from development through dissemination and teacher training, and assures potential for broad use of this program in our schools. Silver, Burdett and Ginn will provide support in the amount of $2,185,029. This proposal was submitted in response to the Program Solicitation, "Programs for Elementary School Science Instruction II," which encourages "troika" partnerships among publishers, school systems, and scientists/science educators.
