Presents an inexpensive take-home laboratory activity designed to enhance students understanding of atmospheric pressure by allowing them to engage in a hands-on, discovery approach to physics. (ZWH)

Describes an investigation in which students predict and verify the effect that the number of clicks of a toy copter gun has on the height that the copter will attain. Provides follow-up questions for the students. (MDH)

Discovery teaching advocates minimal teacher guidance. Materials from two curriculum development projects were evaluated with respect to this guidance. Results indicate a considerable discrepancy between curriculum intention and reality, as measured by the degree of teacher guidance afforded in the projects' instructional materials. (CP)

Presents activities that utilize balloons to encourage students to explore questions related to scientific concepts. Concepts explored include light, heat, charged ions, polarization, and the sense of smell. (MDH)

Reviews the objectives of laboratory work in chemistry education, current laboratory practice, and factors likely to impact on the nature of laboratory work in the future. Proposes that more investigation-style laboratory work be provided in order to foster the development of students' investigation skills. (Author/MKR)

Describes a unit on magnetism that utilizes hands-on activities in which students make hypotheses for discrepant behavior, discover whether a magnet attracts one object through another, measure the strength of magnets, explore levitating paper clips, and play a game dependent on magnetic attraction. (MDH)

Presents some introductory experiments involving the reaction between EDTA and several metal ions using metallochromic indicators. The experiments represent familiar reactions and are followed by suggestions for extension into areas of discovery work by students. (Author/SA)

Describes an inexpensive spectrum projector that makes high-dispersion, high-efficiency diffraction gratings using a holographic process. Discusses classroom applications such as transmission spectra, absorption spectra, reflection characteristics of materials, color mixing, florescence and phosphorescence, and break up spectral colors. (MDH)

Describes Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) laboratory methods and procedures developed to increase conceptual understanding in introductory physics laboratories. Gives an example of a typical beginning SDI lab manual section and a representative Socratic dialogue. Describes several examples of laboratory experiments developed for the SDI method.…

Describes the construction of durable, inexpensive and large sand-hourglasses for use in controlled experiments that allow students to observe, infer, measure, record data, and predict. This hands-on activity is designed to take place over a three-day interval. Includes materials needed, techniques, procedures, follow-up activities, and resource…

This book focuses on science teaching at the elementary school level. It includes chapters dealing with various science content areas and teaching processes including: (1) what is science; (2) why teach science; (3) process skills as a foundation for unit and lesson planning; (4) how to plan learning units, daily lessons, and assessment…

Proposes that the psychological problem of students expecting a particular result in an organic chemistry laboratory and, therefore, working in an unthinking manner be attacked by assigning experiments that give students unexpected results. Gives four examples of such experiments with strategies for teaching them. (CW)

Advocates the use of discovery or guided inquiry experiments for developing critical thinking in problem solving. Provides a stepwise method for creating inquiry experiments and provides an example by comparing the two methods for a freezing point experiment. (JM)

Describes an extra credit science project in which students compete to see who can build the most efficient water rocket out of a two-liter pop bottle. Provides instructions on how to build a demonstration rocket and launching pad. (MDH)

Discusses the need to teach problem-solving skills in science. Differentiates between guided discovery, guided inquiry, guided exploration, and guided investigation. Describes how guided exploration evolved and how it can be applied to the science curriculum. Provides a flowchart for guided investigation. (TW)