Sunburst Technology

Sunburst Technology, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company, develops and publishes multimedia educational software, videos and printed supplements for use in schools. Two CD-ROMs contain content presented through stories, videos, and animation, which provide practice with problem-solving activities.

Grouping and Place Value
Through this investigation, students have opportunities to:

• Estimate the number of objects in a collection of objects
• Use groups of the same size to count a collection of objects
• Use the natural number sets, namely twos, fives, tens.
• Count and combine tens to build one hundred
• Create visual representations of tens and hundreds
• Name numbers in different ways using ones, tens, hundreds
• Develop a sense of place value
• Solve addition and subtraction problems informally
• Find different coin combinations that produce a given total
• Exchange coins
• Explore number groups central to our number system

• Use numbers to count, to tell how many things are in a group and to describe the order of objects
  
• Use numbers to make comparisons
  
• Use numbers to measure distance
  
• Create a set of groups where groups match a target number
  
• Estimate distances and quantities
  
• Arrange different numbers of objects in different ways
  
• Identify the number of objects in an arrangement without counting
  
• Identify different visual patterns for the same number of objects

Current prices are:
Single copy: $99.95
Lab pack of ten: $99.95
Network: $699.95
School pack of 80: $699.95

For more information, contact:
Sunburst Technology
1-800-321-7511; fax: 1-888-872-8380
http://www.sunburst.com

ENC Focus

The latest issue of the ENC Focus, a resource catalog of mathematics and science instructional materials, presents ideas for using children's literature in mathematics and science. The Focus provides some helpful advice from Jane Hickman, an associate professor of children's literature at Ohio State University, about choosing materials that support effective instruction. A bibliography of professional readings is included, as well as references to sources for reviews and title lists for children's literature. The heart of the Focus is its collection of annotated references to books, kits, videotapes, and journals that offer teachers ways to incorporate literature into their teaching. A sampling of the titles includes "Exploring the World of Animals" from the Literature Bridges to Science series from Teacher Ideas Press, Story Stretchers: Activities to Expand Children's Favorite Books from Gryphon House publishers, and "Exploring Algebraic Patterns through Literature" an article from Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. A helpful list of children's titles includes picture books, biographies, fiction for grades seven through twelve, counting books, books that build children's number sense, and measurement and geometry and multiplication and division books.

Previous issues of ENC Focus include

• New Approaches to Assessment in Science and Mathematics
• CD-ROMs and Laserdiscs for Science
• Equity in the Classroom: Mathematics and Science Materials
• Real Data Resources for Teachers
• Integrating Math and Science
• Active Learning with Hands-On Resources

Copies of the ENC Focus are free and available from SCIMAST. Call 1-800-201-7435 or e-mail a request to scimast@sedl.org.

The Guidebook of Federal Resources for K - 12 Mathematics & Science

The 1997-98 issue of this useful reference provides current information about federally funded organizations at the national and state levels. Each of the offices listed supports mathematics and science education. The front of the guide gathers federal agency information, such as a listing of the regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), how EPA programs are administered, and such specific EPA efforts as the Environmental Education Grants Program. State-level programs funded by federal entities, such as wildlife refuges which are funded by the Department of Interior, are also presented.

This is the fourth edition of this book, which was originally titled The Guidebook to Excellence. Copies are available free (but supplies are limited) from SCIMAST. Call 1-800-201-7435 or email a request to scimast@sedl.org.