Citizen science programs are becoming increasingly popular among teachers, students, and families. The term "citizen scientist" has various definitions. It can refer to those who gather information for a particular science research study or to people who lobby for environmental protection for their communities. "Citizen science" has been called…

This article presents the science project "Kolumbus-Kids" as an example of the innovative use of "E-Learning" and other "new technologies" to advance student learning and new-media education. The project benefits from various technology-based education strategies and E-Learning scenarios which are employed during the…

We describe the projects "Eratosthenes 2009" and "Eratosthenes 2010 America," carried out during the International Year of Astronomy (2009) in Argentina and with almost all the countries in North and South America during 2010. More than 15000 students at more than 200 schools each year determined the radius of the Earth using…

The average American produces around 1,600 pounds of garbage every year, and it is estimated that 50 percent of that waste is material that could be composted (Clean Air Council, 2012). Instead, most is sent to landfills and incinerators. In technology and engineering education, a great deal of time is spent in talking, teaching, and thinking…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") emphasizes content and scientific practices, but what does this actually look like in a classroom? The "NGSS" integrates scientific and engineering practices with core ideas and crosscutting concepts, merging the three dimensions from "A Framework for K-12 Science…

All too often, subjects in schools present disjointed phenomena as a compilation of data or facts that seem isolated from students' lives. However, current science education pedagogy clearly emphasizes integration of knowledge and skills in real-world settings (NRC 2007). This integrated instructional approach addresses fundamental process skills…

A bunch of intrepid teachers spent a week in Iceland in a quest to learn more about the country's challenging landscape, by engaging in a unique and inspiring professional development opportunity to learn about innovative ways to teach science and mathematics outside of a classroom setting. A 2008 Ofsted report highlighted the benefits of learning…

Communities, Cameras, and Conservation (CCC) is the most exciting and valuable program the author has seen in her 30 years of teaching field science courses. In this citizen science project, students and community volunteers collect data on mountain lions ("Puma concolor") at four natural areas and public parks along the Front Range of Colorado.…

We have conducted an education project to communicate the wave energy concept to high school students. A virtual reality system that combines both hardware and software is developed in this project to simulate the buoy-wave interaction. This first-of-its-kind wave energy unit is portable and physics-based, allowing students to conduct a number of…

Donnelly, Idaho, is a small town surrounded by private ranches and Forest Service property. Through the center of Donnelly runs Boulder Creek, a small tributary feeding into Cascade Lake Reservoir. Boulder Creek originates from a mountain lake north of Donnelly. Since 1994 it has been listed as "impaired" by the Environmental Protection…

The German science project "NAWI-Interaktiv" is an example of innovative use of E-Learning and new media education. Since 2009, the learning platform provides learners and teachers with high-quality learning tools, teaching material, useful information and E-learning programs for free. This is to raise the pupils' motivation to learn…

In this article the author describes the "Derby Design Day" project--a project that paired high school honors physics students with second-grade children for a design challenge and competition. The overall project goals were to discover whether collaboration in a design process would: (1) increase an interest in science; (2) enhance the…

The Pelican's Nest, located near Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico, is a science center supported by a local educational foundation. Programs are geared toward marine wildlife and the coastal habitat with an emphasis on hands-on learning for students in grades K-6. The director of the science center conducts daily classroom labs and discovery trips…

This paper reports on a year-long citizen science project that focused on improving learning for students identified as most at risk of not succeeding at school. This project was one element of a broader university-based aspirations Initiative which aimed to engage students from low socio-economic schools in rigorous learning in order to increase…

In the summer of 2009, 22 African American middle school students in eastern North Carolina became participants in the Reach Up program to increase the number of underrepresented students participating in science-, technology-, engineering-, and mathematics-related activities. One of the goals of the program was for these students to participate…