STEM Education: Prepping Students for Science

• By David Nagel
• 10/04/07

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Do students lose interest in science as they progress through the education system? The 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress science results suggest so, showing steadily declining student achievement in science between grades 4 and 12. In that national assessment, 68 percent of fourth graders performed at or above the Basic achievement level, compared with 59 percent in grade 8 and 54 percent in grade 12.

In an effort to counter this apparent trend, Sally Ride Science, a science education company founded by former astronaut Sally Ride, has launched several new suites of instructional tools aimed at bolstering student interest in science and providing educators with strategies to integrate the materials into classroom instruction.

At present, there are four such suites in the new series, called "Sally Ride Science Classroom Sets." These include:

• Solar System;
• Science Careers;
• Astronomy; and
• Climate Change.

More Classroom sets will be released, with the next one, Earth's Precious Resources, slated for December. The kits include 32 texts (eight copies of four individual titles), online teacher guides, and downloadable student activities. Content is aligned to state and national standards and are designed not only to provide science instruction, but to build vocabulary and literacy skills as well.

The Classroom Sets are available now for $279 in single units; volume/bundle pricing is also available.

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• Sally Ride Science

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About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at [email protected].

Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at [email protected].