Designing the Knowledge Integration Environment

The Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) activities were designed to pro mote lifelong science learning. This paper describes the partnership proces s that guided the design as well as the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration fr amework that gave the partnership a head start on creating effective materi als. KIE activities take advantage of internet materials to engage students in debate of science questions like 'how far does light go?', to make scie ntifically oriented design decisions, and to critique science claims in the popular press. Other papers in this collection describe the design studies carried out to improve KIE activities. These studies have implications for improving the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration framework and can inform fu ture designers of science instruction.