Science & Technology for Children
The STC program consists of a series of inquiry-centered curriculum units that have been carefully designed to involve children in hands-on investigations of scientific phenomena, enabling them to make their own discoveries. Through investigation, discovery, and application, children learn developmentally appropriate concepts central to the life, earth and physical sciences. In addition, the technological applications of science and the interactions among science, technology, and society are addressed throughout the STC program.
All STC units have been field-tested. Field-test versions and final versions of the teacher’s guides, students activity books, and apparatus are available for purchase through Carolina Biological.
For information on ordering STC units, call 1-800-334-5551 or write to the address below:
Carolina Biological Supply Company
2700 York Road
Burlington, North Carolina 27215
The Center has five of the seventeen STC modules available for check out. When calling the Center to reserve these modules, indicate that they are STC modules and you will be informed as to the exact dates of availability.
Balancing and Weighing
Grade Level: 2-3
Check-Out Time: 8 Weeks
This unit introduces young children to the relationship between balance and weight. A wide variety of ways to balance objects is explored. Activities include making mobiles and balancing objects on a beam. Students learn to use an equal-arm balance. They compare and measure the weight of various objects and then order the objects according to weight. Further activities enable students to solve various problems by applying what they’ve learned about weighing. Finally, students apply what they have learned about balance and weight to problem-solving situations that involve dried foods.
Chemical Tests
Grade Level: 3-4
Check-Out Time: 8 Weeks
In this unit, students investigate five familiar white powders. In cooperative groups, students first observe the physical properties of the unknown chemical and then they perform simple tests to reveal more of their physical and chemical properties. Students conduct experiments involving solubility, filtration, evaporation, and crystallization. The idea of pH is introduced, and red cabbage juice is used as an indicator to test pH of some common household liquids. After the identity of the unknown is established, students discuss what they’ve learned and apply their skills to identifying the components of mixtures of the five powders. Finally, students use the known powders to identify disguised unknowns. Throughout the unit, students observe, record and interpret results, and sharpen their skills as they solve problems in new situations.
Experiments With Plants
Grade Level: 5-6
Check-Out Time: 8 Weeks
In this unit, students apply the knowledge and skills they have gained in earlier STC life science units to identify and investigate some of the variables that affect the life, health, and reproduction of the Wisconsin Fast Plants cultivar of Brassica rapa (mustard). A major focus of the unit is to help students learn how to set up and execute controlled experiments. In teams, students formulate a question involving one variable, such as fertilizer, light, or water. Then, they design and conduct an experiment to investigate their question. For five weeks students observe and record their experiments, using drawings, written descriptions, and measurements, and they discover the effects that manipulating a variable has on the plants. The final activities involve experimenting with germination of collected seed and with plant tropisms. Through their experiments, students learn more about concepts related to energy, interdependence, diversity of life, and adaptations.
Floating and Sinking
Grade Level: 4-5
Check-Out Time: 8 Weeks
Through an array of activities, students investigate the relationships between objects and the observable characteristics that make it possible to predict whether the objects will sink or float. Throughout the unit, students record observations and use them to make and test predictions. Students use a spring scale for weighing a variety of objects and for measuring the buoyant force on them. They alter the buoyancy of clay by changing its shape, effectively making their own boats, which they then test for loading capacity. Students also compare the buoyancy of a cylinder made of a mystery substance, and then they test their predictions.