The Trunk may also be borrowed from a Sea Grant Lending Center. The trunk activities were carefully selected to prepare students to meet or exceed these benchmarks. Each of the ten activities is prefaced with specific goals and objectives to be met upon completion of the exercises that comprise the activity. The instructional approach utilized in this curriculum allows students to work in groups. It is recommended that the size of cooperative groups does not exceed four students.
Many educational benefits occur when students work together in groups to solve problems.
Cooperative learning more closely resembles the way individuals work together to solve problems in the real world. Another important reason for the use of cooperative groups is to make aquisition, costs, and materials management reasonable for the classroom teacher. Language Arts Students read about, talk about, and write about the exciting science activities they are doing. This additional use of language along with the science investigation reinforces students' understanding of the scientific principles being explored. The trunk includes its own science-related publications and an additional list of resources.