This 289-page book is a resource guide to inquiry-centered K-6 curriculum materials.

The purpose of this material is "to provide teachers, principals, school district administrators, and others with up-to-date information on curriculum materials that are consonant with the principles advocated in the Standards" (p. xi) and to assist K-6 teachers in selecting high-quality materials. It is intended to be a "productive and time-saving tool for teachers" that will "help elementary school teachers teach science more effectively in their classrooms" (p. xi).

This resource guide provides a single source to uniformly identify 350 classroom materials that have passed a review process aligned with the National Science Education Standards. The materials were reviewed by panels of teachers and scientists.

The overview provides clear information about the guide's organization. The book is organized by content areas (life science, earth science, physical science, multidisciplinary and applied science, curriculum projects) and by type of materials (core materials, supplementary units, and science activity books). Each entry includes recommended grade levels, accompanying materials or suggested equipment, and ordering information.

Resources for Teaching Elementary School Science also includes sections with teachers' references (books on teaching science, science book lists and resource guides, periodicals), ancillary resources (museums and other places to visit, professional associations, and U.S. governmental organizations), appendices, and indexes. Appendix B includes an extensive set of forms sent to reviewers to develop the resource guide; reviews were to include detailed comments on pedagogy, science content, assessment, presentation, organization, format, equity, and overall recommendation.

The book is a high-quality, user-friendly material.

This resource guide can be introduced to new or experienced teachers as a source of reviewed materials to consider using in teaching science. It can also be used to supplement professional development that is content-specific, familiarizing teachers with the format by requesting that they use the guide to access appropriate materials to teach a given topic. For example, teachers might be asked to find curriculum materials to teach fourth grade students about deserts.

In addition, the evaluation criteria presented in Appendix B can be used in professional development to assess curriculum materials and similarly can be used independently by teachers, curriculum committees or school districts to assess materials.

One reviewer noted that the information is time-sensitive and that the book's format does not allow for frequent updates, such as including changes in contact information and descriptions of new resources.