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.

The Science Curriculum Improvement Study is a course content improvement project for grades K - 8, which was funded by the National Science Foundation. Project headquarters were at the University of California, Berkeley. The project was the brainchild of Dr. Robert Karplus a well known physics professor at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories at Berkeley. Professor Karplus first became involved with the science education of young children when he attempted to help out at the elementary school attended by his own children. He soon realized that the task of providing young children with a solid foundation for scientific literacy required input from a variety of scientists and from developmental psychologists as well as experienced teachers and administrators. In the post-Sputnik era science education was a major focus in the United States and the National Science Foundation had already funded major curriculum projects on the secondary school level.

Basic Ideas:

There are several basic assumptions underlying the SCIS 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. The second assumption is that children learn science best by doing science. Hands-on learning is the way to go. The third assumption is that the lessons must take into account the empirical findings of developmental psychology. For instance, if it were established that eight-year-olds generally have great difficulty manipulating two variables simultaneously, the development team would design a lesson on plant growth so that only one variable is considered in the lesson. The SCIS program used the findings of the psychologist Jean Piaget as a basis for the design of lessons. For instance, lessons at all levels are characterized as "exploration", "invention" or "discovery". The lessons are intended to move children in the developmental sequence identified by Piaget: from the level of intuitive operations to concrete operations, and finally, at appropriate ages, to the stage of formal thought.

Method of Curriculum Development:

The type of curriculum development initiated by Professor Karplus 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 SCIS program trial test centers were established at Michigan State University, Lansing; Teachers College, Columbia University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Hawaii, Honolulu; and the University of Oklahoma, Norman. At each trial center teachers were recruited from school districts that represented as diverse a population of students and teachers as possible. 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. This remarkable process continued for a few years after the final product was put into the hands of publishers.

Materials:

The curriculum development process also involved commercial publishing houses that helped with the development of classroom kits of materials. The logistics of supplying every teacher with all of the items necessary for each lesson in both the physical science area and the life science area proved to be a major challenge. The crucial problem turned out to be the replenishment of consumable items and the ongoing maintenance of the other items in the kits. Ultimately, school districts were successful in long term implementation of the program if they faced this logistics problem by hiring a materials specialist. Another key to successful implementation was a team approach within each school, which involved teachers and administrators.

Long Term Outcomes:

SCIS 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 NSF 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. Before Dr. Karplus and the other curriculum leaders did their work science in the typical elementary school was a textbook subject and the content was a holdover from the nineteenth century. Since curriculum renewal is a recurring necessity, we present you here with a complete copy of a science curriculum masterpiece.

This CD-ROM makes available once more the original science lessons developed under the brilliant leadership of Professor Karplus. The 389 SCIS resources that are found on the Enhanced Science Helper CD are as valid today as they were when they emerged in their final form from the development team at Berkeley.

/Francis X. Lawlor, Ed.D