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Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) Space Science Sequence: Teaching Space Science Concepts to Elementary School Students

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Intervention Details

Subject

Science & STEM

Academic Program

General Education

Duration

24 sixty-minute class sessions, broken down into four units, each lasting between 4-9 sessions

Grades

4, 5

Personnel

General Education Teacher, Coach

Intervention Summary

Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) Space Science Sequence is an instructional curriculum for grades 3-5 that covers fundamental concepts, including planetary sizes and distance, the Earth's shape and movement, gravity, and moon phases and eclipses. The sequence utilizes models, hands-on investigations, peer-to-peer discussions, reflection, and informational student readings. Students complete four units, each lasting between four and nine sessions. Each unit builds upon knowledge from previous units and can be used independently or in conjunction with one another for an overall learning progression. The curriculum comes with a teacher's guide, a materials kit, and master copies for duplication or electronic presentation. Teachers are provided with ongoing training and support through more than 60 GEMS network sites and centers.

Statistical Finding Summary

Positive effect on general science achievement

Source

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2012). Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) Space Science Sequence. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/intervention/784.

Data Sample by Population

These charts show the characteristics of the student populations studied. When assessing programs, you may want to prioritize interventions that yielded success in a similar demographic environment as your school or district.

The subgroup population data as studied here are not available. That means that while this study may work well for your setting, we cannot say based on the published study and results from our system’s reading of that study what the school/district subgroup characteristics were when evaluated here.