Connect Issues information

2002

January/February, 2002

Vol.15 Num.3, Back issues available

Focus: Working with Data

For this issue on students' uses of data, Connect turned to Sally Crissman to serve as our guest editor. Her most recent science curriculum development work for TERC in Cambridge, Massachusetts, benefits from her years as a classroom teacher and as a consultant to schools across the U.S. In a joint project between TERC and Lesley University, Sally is part of a team designing and presenting an online Master's of Education degree program called Reopening the Science Door. This project has allowed her to work with a wide range of teachers who are exploring the use of data in children's learning.




March/April, 2002

Vol.15 Num.4, Back issues available

Focus: Energy from the Sun

Almost all energy can be traced to the power of the sun. Humans, like all living things, depend on this vast energy that is delivered daily to our planet in amounts that allow life to thirve. This issue of Connect takes a look at students and teachers working to understand the power of the sun in a variety of ways.




May/June, 2002

Vol.15 Num.5, Back issues available

Focus: Patterns in Our World

One math curriculum expert with whom we discussed this topic said, "Patterns appear in so many ways and places, that the topic is too general and hard to focus on."
It is true that patterns are everywhere, but it seems to us that that is part of the excitement of exploring them. Whether the pattern is a geometric progression that a sutdent has identified or a quilt design created in a classroom, there is discovery and motivation in that experience. Students can also benefit from learning a pattern that is used to help identify or categorize things in a scientific way. For example, using a key to identify trees or other plants reveals patterns that may surprise students and open their eyes to new aspects of science.
Certain patterns are important in the NCTM math standards and the National Science Standards. Authors in this issue point out that patterns are also important in art, in language, as a means to think about and order the world around us and as a way to support creativity in a variety of learning styles.




September/October, 2002

Vol.16 Num.1, Back issues available

Focus: Change Over Time

Connect examines change over time, a topic that is central to science and that provides many opportunities for investigations that require math skills. Studies of change open the door to the use of technology as well, using common tools or sophisticated devices linked to computers.




November/December, 2002

Vol.16 Num.2, Back issues available

Focus: Habitats and Ecosystems

From Washington State to Canada's Newfoundland, this issue features teacher-authors writing about children's explorations of habitats and ecosystems. Some are near a school, some far away and some invented. In defining the terminology it's important to note that numerous ecosystems can exist in a single habitat.
Several authors emphasize the important role students can play in sustaining and preserving current ecosystems with the hope that future scientists will study them for years to come.