In the opening segment of the videotape, this 3rd grade student announces that "I want to be a rocket scientist when I grow up" and, after a shot of a rocket taking off, we see her with her "rocket" taking off in Garnetta Chain's science classroom in McKinley Elementary School (New Brunswick).

This student in Jean Arden's second-grade class in Spruce Run School (Clinton Township) plans to build a toy using an axle, and is shown here with his teacher examining axles using the Internet. This scene illustrates in two ways the theme that in standards-based classrooms "students are using tools and technologies."

In an interview with a parent, we hear him comparing today's classrooms with those of his childhood. While he is saying that "now calculators just seem to be normal for elementary school", we see this student using a calculator very deliberately.

Students in Bob Krech's second-grade classroom in Dutch Neck School (West Windsor-Plainsboro) were asked to weigh various items using a balance beam and standard cubes. Most students chose light objects, but this student weighed a dictionary, patiently adding a few cubes at a time to the bucket.

Students in Jennifer Wolf's 6th grade science class at Hillsborough Middle School created landscapes using sand, and then slowly poured water until the landscape collapsed and a delta began to form. Their excitement at that moment ensures that they will always remember this hands-on lesson.

These middle-school students are participating in a statewide "technology challenge" at Washington Township High School, conducted by Ed Denton and Michael Anderson. They are working in teams on designing a boat which must be made out of specific materials and meet various constraints.

These students in Lanette Waddell's math class at Crossroads Middle School (South Brunswick) are learning to use maps and plan trips, and, at the same time, are reinforcing their understanding of and facility with ratios, fractions, and decimals, while doing what they recognize are real-world problems.

This student in Liz Marquez' AP Calculus Class (North Brunswick High School) is comparing the graph of a function on the overhead projector to the graph on her graphing calculator. This class was discussing how to minimize the materials used in a can which contains a fixed amount of liquid.

An important theme in the videotape is workplace readiness, which plays a prominent role in the cross-content standards. After several business leaders discuss what skills are needed for the workplace, we show a number of classroom scenes juxtaposed with parallel workplace scenes. Pictured here are a student and an employee presenting their results.

In the closing portion of the videotape, we discuss how parents can help their children achieve the standards. One theme is that parents can involve their children in daily activities which use science or mathematics. In this scene, a child is pouring liquid from a measuring cup while her mother discusses her daughter's excitement about being involved in science.