Under the direction of J. Myron Atkin and Stanley P. Wyatt at the University of Illinois, the Elementary-School Science Project attempted to "foster the development of course materials that reflect a modern orientation to science and mathematics." The project was supported by the National Science Foundation, and the first book "Charting the Universe" was developed during the summer of 1961 by a group of astronomers and teachers who met at the University of Illinois. The Elementary-School Science Project was a precursor to curriculum projects that followed in that it attempted to develop scientific literacy in a bold new way. The materials in ESSP presented a unique organization of elementary-school astronomy content, which was based on an identification of fundamental astronomical ideology. Embracing the interdisciplinary nature of astronomy, the activities in the project contained experiments based on science, history, geometry, and trigonometry. In doing so, it presented students with powerful methods of addressing the "big picture" ideas in science. Throughout the early and mid-sixties, the ESSP lessons and activities were tested by thousands of students in hundreds of classrooms.

Basic Ideas:

Like the other programs found on The Enhanced Science Helper CD-ROM, ESSP attempted to give students insight into what scientists do when scientists do science. The project strives to help students understand the intellectual activity astronomers undertake as they gather evidence and attempt to comprehend the structure of the systems of the universe.

The materials are presented sequentially, with concepts being developed across the books of the series. In lessons filled with illustrations, historical references, tables, and graphs, the story of astronomy unfolds. The dialog leads readers down idea rich paths, often colliding into contradiction: "It soon becomes obvious that something is wrong. If…." The astronomy lessons move from Einstein's ideas to molecular diagrams, from experiments with pennies to measuring the moon. Although the lessons contain a wide variety of activities, the number of fundamental concepts taught is relatively small. This in-depth look at a relatively small number of concepts reflects current thinking in curricular development, as well as the recommendations of standards committees and government officials who review international tests.

Outline of the Series:

Book 1, Charting the Universe: Measuring the sizes and distances of astronomical objects. Techniques used by astronomers to obtain these measures. An awareness of the overall structure of the universe.

Book 2, The Universe in Motion: A description of motions in the solar system, our galaxy, and the universe.

Book 3, Gravitation: Why things move as they do. The science of motion the universal law of gravitation, and how gravitational forces affect the movement of celestial objects.

Book 4, The message of Starlight: Learning about stars by analyzing the light they emit.

Book 5, The Life Story of a Star: How stars come into begin, develop, change, and finally fade away.

Book 6, Galaxies and the Universe: The structure and development of galaxies, how the galaxies in the universe are moving, and reasonable speculations about the evolution of the universe.

/Sebastian L. Foti, Ph.D.