"Problem-Based Learning in the Life Science Classroom, K-12" offers a great new way to ignite your creativity. Authors Tom McConnell, Joyce Parker, and Janet Eberhardt show you how to engage students with scenarios that represent real-world science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. The scenarios prompt K-12 learners to immerse…

Everyone has problems, from the smallest ant competing for a food source to the largest elephant needing to cool down. Fortunately, organisms have structures that function to help them solve these problems. So when a group of fourth-grade students look for solutions to their problems, who do they turn to? A biological champion, of course! Plants…

Discusses how chemists describe an amount of material and provides a visual representation for the solution of typical stoichiometry problems. (YDS)

Introduces a chemistry lab activity that is suitable for almost any level of science class. Provides students with five solutions and asks them to determine if they have five distinct compounds or if any are the same. (YDS)

Explains that, to teach students how to solve problems, defining the problem should be the focus, and the skills to solve the problem should be analyzed. Differentiates between exercises and real problems. (PR)

Describes an activity on density and its role on an object's floating or sinking. Uses canned regular and diet Coke soda pop to demonstrate differences in density. (YDS)

Describes how Newton's Law of Cooling and the Method of Mixtures are used to solve the basic dilemma of whether to add the cool cream to the hot coffee or to let the black coffee cool down first and then add the cream. (ZWH)

Provides a method to help students understand problem-solving techniques used in introductory physics courses. (MVL)

Notes that when using the screw as a simple machine, the pitch of the screw is important in the amount of force that will be produced. (MVL)

Suggests reasons for the lack of change in biochemistry courses and proposes mechanisms to enhance change. Advocates a problem-solving approach using nontraditional questions on examinations. Provides examples of how traditional questions can be rewritten to reflect a problem-solving approach. (PR)

Authors propose a simple and inexpensive activity to provide an exciting source of information about biological processes that occur during eutrophication of lakes and ponds. The observations and interpretations that take place during the eutrophication of the Windogradsky water column constitutes an illustrative approach for understanding…

Introduces an inquiry-based lab design in which students try to find evidence on a particular problem. Investigates the effects of decreases in the pH level on the environment. Includes students' hypotheses and research results. (YDS)

Explains Occam's razor which is a guiding principle in scientific methodology. Describes a genetics problem to demonstrate Occam's razor. (YDS)

Identifies the misunderstandings and problem-solving strategies of secondary students when solving stoichiometry problems. (Author/CCM)

Explains what successful scaffolding requires and discusses three problems that teachers have when using scaffolding. (YDS)