A resource of over 300 science activities is now available to Iowa science teachers from the Iowa AEA Middle School Science Project electronic bulletin board. It is the result of a report from a 1984 task force commissioned by the Iowa Department of Education to assess the needs of science education in Iowa. The task force identified the grades four through nine as those with the greatest need. Specifically identified was a need for user-friendly teaching materials that emphasized a hands-on/minds-on approach to science. Too large a portion of the science taught in these grades was based primarily on a text book, the task force believed. A corresponding specific need was for teacher inservice emphasizing the \u27\u27hands-on/minds-on approach to science teaching. In addition, the task force identified a need to include more emphasis on technology in the science program
