Not by the Book

By Mary Ann Zehr

Laredo, Texas

A few years ago, middle school students here who were starting a unit in science might have reached first for their textbooks. Today, they gather around computer screens in groups of four and five. Instead of looking at illustrations on a printed page, they watch video clips of scientific phenomena in motion. And rather than toting home a heavy book to study, they carry worksheets on their class activities.

These students are learning science this way because they go to school in one of the few districts in the country that are closing their textbooks in an entire course of study and replacing them with computer-based multimedia materials. Seventh and 8th graders here use a software program called Science 2000, made by Decision Development Corp., and 5th and 6th graders use one called Windows on Science, made by Optical Data School Media, a...