We propose that an understanding of some of the historical roots of "scientific literacy" can help contemporary science educators to better address current and future controversies associated with the concept.

Science literacy has been constructed within the science education community as an endpoint to be attained by all students. The scientific facts, concepts and habits of mind that we wish all citizens to possess have been mapped out in a series of standards and benchmarks. While having such an endpoint in mind is both valuable and necessary for science educators, as an anthropologist, I also find value in approaching such questions from the opposite direction.

This study investigated the effect of an integrated, activity-based
science curriculum, on science achievement, science process skills, and
attitudes toward science. The research involved seventh grade students
using the Integrated Science (IS) curriculum as the experimental group and
seventh grade students using a traditional science curriculum as the control
group. The IS curriculum developed connections between different content
areas of science, technology and mathematics in ways to improve science

Similar to other subject areas, science teachers face multicultural
issues in their everyday interactions with students. As the Hispanic
population in the United States increases at a significant rate, it is important
for teachers and school administrators to embrace these demographic
changes as positive and important contributions to our society, instead of a
burden or a problem that must be solved. Teaching diverse student
populations is a challenging task. The purpose of this paper is to summarize
the basic tenets of multicultural education as reported in the literature and

Many science teachers hold misconceptions about some basic concepts
currently in vogue in the educational community. Three of these concepts,
the "nature of science", "inquiry-based" teaching, and a "constructivist
perspective" will be addressed and placed into perspective in this paper.

This article summarizes a descriptive pilot study of Kindergarten students engaged in classroom instruction that integrates scientific inquiry thinking into literacy acquisition activities. The goal of the study is to describe the potential for young students to acquire basic science inquiry skills (predicting, observing, explaining) and to transfer these skills to literacy (reading and writing) tasks when explicit instruction in transference between domains is provided.

The use of children’s literature to teach science is becoming an increasingly common practice in elementary schools. In fact, many science textbook publishers are now including recommended children’s literature titles in their classroom materials for science teachers. When considering these recommendations, teachers play an important role in assessing the quality of the children’s literature they use in their classrooms. This paper suggests standards teachers may use to evaluate the quality of children’s literature being considered for use in science instruction.

The paper features a school district with successful collaborative effort with other educational organizations for providing professional development programs to build teacher capacity. Increasingly, research confirms that teacher and teaching quality are the most powerful predictors of student success. By investing in teacher development, districts assure higher student achievement. What keeps good teachers are customized, sustained professional development programs that align with the school and individual staff professional development needs.

Our paper reports on the evolution of a literacy through science (LtS) conceptual framework, a model for professional development, which focuses on language development through science instruction. The LtS conceptual framework evolved as a result of a project known as the Science and Literacy Inquiry Academy (SLIA). SLIA was an innovative Eisenhower funded university and school district partnership (1998-2000) that was established to address challenges in science educational reform for English language learners.