Children at all grades are very enthusiastic about participating in the hands-on activities included with these kits. Teachers are pleased with the ease and quality of science instruction facilitated by all the materials and activities provided with each kit. The kits belong to the school district, and they are rotated among the schools. After we teach a kit, we return it to the District Science Center to be refurbished and sent on to another school.

     The Smithsonian Institution and the National Academy of Sciences, to improve science teaching in the nation’s schools, operate NSRC (National Science Resource Center’s). They have designed each kit to promote learning through investigation and discovery. Kits include all the materials teachers need to motivate students with "hands-on" science activities. All kits have been designed to meet the "National Science Education Standards." They also meet the science TEKS required by the State of Texas. Following are some specific attributes of these kits:

• They teach science process skills.
• They teach critical thinking.
• They teach problem solving to improve TAKS.
• They promote inquiry-based instruction.
• They provide for integration with other content areas.
• They provide for integration with technology.
• They require intensive teacher training.
• They are research based.
• They provide small class libraries.
• They help improve student attendance.

The kit units Martin children will use this year are as follows:

   Kindergarten: Investigating Water and Ladybugs.
   First Grade: Organisms, Comparing and Measuring, Weather, and Solids and Liquids
   Second Grade: Soils, Balancing and Weighing, Changes, and Life Cycle of the Butterfly 

   Third Grade: Sound, Rocks and Minerals, Chemical Tests, and Plant Growth and Development.
   Fourth Grade: Electric Circuits, Motion and Design, Animal Studies, and Floating and Sinking.

Be sure to ask your child about what he or she has been doing in science.