Science Materials; *Scientific Literacy

The American public continues to be perplexed by the substandard reading, math, and science skills of students. Science information alone is growing at a rate that will make it very difficult for many, especially students with feeble science knowledge and skills, to become scientifically literate. This research describes the development, distribution, and evaluation of a biomedical oriented newsletter named BioRap for sixth to eighth grade students. BioRap is designed in a weekly reader type format and provides current, relevant information to children in a more cost-effective manner. Expert faculty at major universities, research scientists at drug companies and hospitals, veterinarians, physicians, etc. serve as content resources for BioRap. Based upon data gathered from teachers who have used BioRap, it was concluded that BioRap has a strong potential for use in the classroom. Its short length allows flexibility in when and how teachers can introduce BioRap into the curriculum.°It is believed that BioRap shows great promise as a vehicle to improve the science literacy of adolescents. (ZWH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document