66 TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


 CHAPTER V.
 USEFUL INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS OF
 ELEMENTARY SCIENCE

 Quantities of material exist today which can be useful to
 teachers as they plan for effective instruction in science. The
 actual use of these materials, however, is determined not only
 by the forethought of the teacher as to what kind of instruc-
 tional material is appropriate in a given situation but also by
 the specific information as to where and how to obtain such
 material or how to proceed with a certain activity. For instance,
 it is one step to decide that watching ants build a nest would
 be a suitable activity at a given point in the work, but it is still
 another step to find out how to arrange the glass container and
 how to feed the ants.
 Often desired information can be obtained from other fac-
ulty members or from people in the community. Individuals in
the class sometimes have a surprising fund of special knowledge.
In printed materials, specific information on how to do certain
activities can be obtained, in the main, from four sources: one,
textbooks from the grade concerned, texts from other grades,
texts of other series than those currently in adoption; two, pro-
fessional material for teachers, such as the books by Craig and
by Croxton described on the bibliography on page 71; three,
library material for children; four, service leaflets from publish-
ers and science supply houses, such as the Turtox Leaflets de-
scribed on page 74. Thus, information of such specific a matter
as how to balance an aquarium can be found in all four places.
 The sections of this chapter-equipment, references for
teachers, library material for children, audio-visual material,
topical index to science material in state-adopted texts, materials
and services from Curriculum Laboratories have been prepared
in the sincere hope that the information assembled will help
teachers expedite their efforts to create rich learning experi-
ences for children.
Equipment
 Through participation in experiments and science activities
children develop and clarify understandings. Some equipment
needs to be made available and provisions made for space in-
which to carry on these activities.
 Room Equipment. Most classes will want to arrange a
science corner or area. It might include a large table for work
space of projects, shelves for exhibits, equipment and commonly