Life Lab's Language Acquisition and Science Education in Rural Schools (LASERS)  program showed the positive links between language development and hands-on science using the Life Lab Science curriculum.

This theme was recently revisited by the National Gardening Associations Kidsgardening.com newsletter.Learn more about LASERS from this past post:

• 1995 LASERS

And from these documents:

• The LASERS Model

• English Language Learner Institutes

• Integrating Inquiry Science and Language Development for English Language Learners  Trish Stoddart, America Pinal, Marcia Latzke, Dana CanadayJournal of Research in Science Teaching, 2002, 39(8), 1-25.