Describes the characteristics, care, feeding, housing, and diet of garter snakes. Includes tips on using the snakes for short-term classroom projects and brief comments on handling snakes. (JN)

Describes the Space Shuttle Student Involvement Project which attempts to stimulate high school student interest in science and technology by engaging students in a competition to develop experiments suitable for flight aboard the Space Shuttle. Also describes "Getaway Specials" which allow individuals to send up experiments in the…

Frequently, science fair projects have little relevance to the goals of science. Criteria for judging projects are not evident to students, parents, judges, and other participants. Listed are seven steps to a better fair project which emphasize methodology and presentation. Also included are hints for involving parents. (DC)

Describes a school program in which two sixth-grade science classes researched, created, and put together an ocean museum targeted at kindergarten through eighth graders who are geographically distanced from the ocean. Details the process for investigating topical areas, organizing teams of students, researching, writing, creating displays, and…

Describes the organization of a school's physics competition for middle school students sponsored by Physics Section of STEEL (Science, Technology and Engineering Education in Lancaster) and an industry group. Presents one typical problem, marking, and prizes for the competition. A suggested marking scheme is appended. (YP)

Contains articles on digestive enzymes in grasshoppers; bird and badger observation; reactions between hydrochloric acid and sodium carbonate solutions; observing the migration of ions; pupil's heating skills (Bunsen burners); photolysis experimentation; capillary kinetics; experience with trireme; connection circuits; special relativity; a…

Relates a middle school teacher's experiences using the project-based science approach with two groups of seventh graders. Describes the features of project-based science and the content and activities of the units taught. Discusses the challenges of implementing this approach and compares the strengths and weaknesses of project-based and…

The brain is a truly fascinating structure! It controls the body and allows everyone to think, learn, speak, move, feel, remember, and experience emotions. Although the brain is a single organ, it is very complex and has several regions, each having a specific function. These functionally diverse regions work together to allow for coordination of…

The Chemistry/Physics Program at Evanston Township High School was designed to provide an environment for the rigorous teaching of advanced science and mathematics to accelerated students. This type of student makes up the bulk of students in the Advanced Placement Chemistry and Physics classes. However, there is a small number of students who…

Through an interactive partnership, fifth-grade students collected data on plants and joined an active scientific community of working scientists. This Web-based Integrated Science Environment (WISE) project involved asking questions about plants, growing plants in the classroom, and discussing their data with scientists online. (Contains 5…

The national network of Science Learning Centres aims to raise the quality of science teaching from Key Stage 1 through post-16 (ages 5-19). Short courses are provided locally through the regional Science Learning Centres and longer, more intensive programmes are available at the National Science Learning Centre in York. There are a growing number…

STEM--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--has become a fixture of the education debate, and much effort already has been put toward improving student performance. Yet troubling statistics persist: On the latest round of testing for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 40 percent of fourth graders nationwide…

In recent years, a number of National Research Council reports have emphasized the need to improve science education and enhance science literacy for all students. In addition, the newly released "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" advocates engaging students in scientific practices and disciplinary core ideas. Children are not learning…

Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars at research universities will shape the future of undergraduate education in the natural and social sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the STEM disciplines) in the United States. In 2009 alone, more than 41,000 doctorates were awarded in STEM fields, and if employment trends hold,…

Oranges, flying disks, pool noodles, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe may seem like items discarded after a Rube Goldberg experiment, but in fact, these objects were used in teaching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This article describes a project in which The Center of Ocean Sciences Education Excellence SouthEast (COSEE SE)…