Programs such as SCIS and SAPA and ESS and COPES marked an historical first in science curriculum design for elementary schools. For the first time the development of what we have come to call scientific literacy beginning with the youngest pupils was the focus of national attention. For the first time the nation backed up its interest with national funding. For the first time the very best scientific minds in our top universities began to ask how our children could be prepared for a world that needs not only scientists but citizens capable of dealing with the political, social and economic impact of ongoing scientific progress. For the first time public funds were made available for nationwide curriculum development, testing, revision, retesting and revision with concomitant ongoing teacher training and support of the teacher in the classroom. For the first time teachers were given science lessons that were good science involving hands-on science learning, based on solid psychological principles, and thoroughly tested in diverse classrooms. The major portion of this unique educational experiment took place from about 1965 to 1975.

called COPES, is a science curriculum development project centered on some of the major conceptual schemes in science. The project was at New York University and was funded by the U. S. Office of Education. The directors of the program were Morris H. Shamos, Professor of Physics and J. Darrell Barnard, Professor of Science Education. Both professors were on the faculty of N.Y.U. The project grew out of a conference held at N.Y.U. in 1962. The participants, a wide ranging group of prominent scientists, educators, teachers and school administrators, felt that there was a need for a highly-structured, sequentially organized K-6 science program. After a long period of writing, field-testing, and rewriting, manuals suitable for wider implementation were published in 1971. These publications were used in this CD-ROM.

Basic Ideas:

There are several basic assumptions underlying the COPES program as well as the other programs found on this CD-ROM. The first is that science can be taught to young children in a way that is faithful to science as an intellectual approach to the world. In other words, the content must represent the best of scientific thinking in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc. This assumption had a very specific orientation for the COPES development team. They felt that the "best way to help young children attain a level of understanding and appreciation of science that will serve them through their adult lives ... is to focus their attention on certain of the "big ideas" in science, the broad, inclusive, conceptual schemes in terms of which the scientific community seeks to account for the familiar facts of nature. ...all else in the science curriculum is related to these conceptual schemes."

The second assumption is that children learn science best by doing science. Hands-on learning is the way to go. The COPES project provided no reading materials for children in order to guarantee that the materials themselves would be paramount.

The third assumption is that the lessons must take into account the empirical findings of developmental psychology. Although the program manuals do not specify any specific principles that were followed in this respect, the lessons are carefully sequenced in the development of concepts and the pivotal concepts are introduced at progressively more complex levels from grade to grade. Testing insured that this increasing complexity was within the capacity of children at each grade level.

Method of Curriculum Development:

The type of curriculum development initiated by Professors Shamos and Barnard and other prominent university scientists was without precedent. The scientists who provided leadership were at the top levels in their respective fields and were able to recruit equally knowledgeable experts in developmental psychology, educational testing. and teacher training as well as to involve experienced classroom teachers at every grade level. The funding levels were high enough to guarantee an ongoing cycle of writing, small scale classroom testing, rewriting, retesting, rewriting and finally, widespread trial testing. For the COPES program seven trial schools were used in the New York area. These schools represented a diverse population of students and teachers. Teachers were funded for summer training workshops and for ongoing training and support in their own districts and schools. The data from these trial classrooms was gathered and analyzed and used for revision of the curriculum and the associated materials.

Materials:

The curriculum development process for COPES involved an effort to avoid the necessity for complex materials that might require a commercial kit. By keeping materials down to a very simple minimum, the development team tried to avoid extra expense and complexity. The teacher manuals give clear instructions on methods of making and using the suggested materials. Most materials could thus be home brewed or found in the supply rooms of the average school. This procedure had logistical advantages but it also placed a heavy burden on the teacher. Teamwork within the school and within the district was stressed as a method of coping with the problem of having suitable classroom materials to carry out activities.

Long Term Outcomes:

COPES and other federally funded curriculum projects have continued to influence elementary school science instruction in a variety of ways. Commercial publishers have adapted large portions of the programs into their current curriculum materials. Teachers today use many of the approaches pioneered in the federally funded curricula. Many of the science educators preparing teachers in colleges and universities began their own careers teaching these programs in trial schools or working under educators who helped to develop or test the original programs.

This CD-ROM makes available once more the original science lessons developed by the COPES team at N.Y.U. You will find 240 COPES resources from GradesK/1 to Grade Six on the Enhanced Science Helper CD.

/Francis X. Lawlor, Ed.D