Activities for teaching about the solar system, the earth's rotation, plants, pendulums, and animal adaptation are described. Included are suggestions for building scale models to illustrate the solar system's proportions and the earth's rotation speed, and for using playground swings to demonstrate pendulum motion. (PP)

Instructions are given for working with a class on building kites. Included are the plans for a bullet kite, a section on the history of kites in America and spin-off activities from the kite exercise. (SA)

Tips are given for collecting and identifying diatoms for use in secondary school biology classes. Collecting sites described vary from freshwater to terrestrial habitats. (SA)

Describes an energy resources ranking simulation program for high school and college students. This program has the major objective of illustrating the complexity of issues concerning energy by involving students in a decision-making process that will call upon information from different disciplines. (HM)

Describes procedures that can help students to make model geodes from eggshells, copper sulfate, and other crystalforming substances. (HM)

Describes an integrated unit on bluebirds that culminates in students building bluebird boxes and creating an informational pamphlet to raise public awareness of the bluebirds' plight. Enables students to become more involved in their community and the environment. (JRH)

Describes the activities of the Physics Teachers Action Research Group in which college physics teachers work together in planning, revising, and evaluating student projects that foster greater conceptual understanding and address student misconceptions. Presents the details of a project in which students were asked to build an accelerometer. (JRH)

Describes an electronic circuit that can function as a prototype for chaotic systems. Specific applied voltages produce chaotic signals that can be viewed with an oscilloscope or be made audible with a home stereo system. Provides directions for assembly with typical costs, mathematical basis of chaos theory, and experimental extensions. (JJK)

Describes a six-week project, in which students ground their own mirror, built a working telescope, and learned how and why it all works. (PR)

Provides insights for college-level teachers beginning their tasks of directing student research. (PR)

Describes the use of "contracting" as a method to remind students of the importance of independent investigations. The contract is an agreement for learning between the student and professor. (PR)

This book offers a large collection of Earth science projects and project ideas for students, teachers, and parents. The projects described are complete but can also be used as spring boards to create expanded projects. Overviews, organizational direction, suggested hypotheses, materials, procedures, and controls are provided. The projects…

This book contains 49 science fair projects designed for 6th to 9th grade students. Projects are organized by the topics of soil, ecology (projects in habitat and life cycles), pests and controls (projects in weeds and insects), recycling (projects in resources and conservation), waste products (projects in decomposition), microscopic organisms,…