Presents an insider's view of the judging process at science fairs from a former student participant who has performed as a judge at many science fairs. Discusses who the judges are, on what judges tend to focus, parental involvement, gifted students and outside help, the interview process, and the formal rules of judging. (JJK)

Discusses modifications of the usual lecture approach for a environmental geology course by including class discussion, class projects, and group projects which are designed to help students see the relevance of geology to their lives. Author claims that in this interactive approach both instructor and students become more actively involved in the…

Describes ScienceFest, a program that teams up students and teachers in an effort to create and perform original science-related plays. (PR)

Describes enrichment activities in which students read selections from science trade books and perform hands-on science activities related to the readings. Suggests four readings and related activities involving trees, robots, spiders, and birds. (Contains 13 references.) (MDH)

Describes the implementation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration SEEDS Project in a sixth-grade class in Turlock, California. Describes student activities and media coverage surrounding the project. (MDH)

Describes problems with school science fairs including poor judging and a lack of understanding by the students of their own projects. Suggests improvements to the system. One suggestion is for science fair projects to be displayed only in classrooms and not district or regional fairs. (PR)

Describes a course where students design and construct a sundial, once they understand the apparent movement of the sun. Explains general issues of daily astronomy and describes the design and construction of three sundials. (PR)

Students explore the workings of the lever, wheel and axle, and the inclined plane as they build simple toys--a bulldozer and a road grader. The project takes four weeks. Diagrams and procedures are included. (PR)

Introduces an activity that features 16 oceanography work stations and integrates other disciplines. Assigns students different oceanic life forms and requires students to work in stations. Explains seven of 16 stations which cover oil spills, the periodic table, ocean floor, currents, and classification of oceanic organisms. (YDS)

A world away from the red dirt of Oklahoma, David Shields and Shelly Smith felt right at home. A national grant took the Meridian Technology Center automotive teachers on a trip to Germany that car lovers only dream about. The tour to the major automakers last summer has them geared up and bringing fresh ideas to the classroom. They spent four…

Following on from taking part in the successful "Getting Practical: improving practical work in science across the primary-secondary transition" CPD project, Uplands Community College with Wadhurst and Ticehurst Primary Schools in East Sussex worked together on developing the CPD--focusing on effective practical work across the…

With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), ITEEA members will contribute to the development of a hybrid professional development program designed to facilitate the scale-up of an innovative underwater robotics curriculum. WaterBotics[TM] is an underwater robotics curriculum that targets students in middle and high school classrooms…

The internet abounds with free science education applications. But, on their own, these applications have limited capacity to teach students curricular concepts or skills. The author integrated several free web-based applications into a broader pedagogical approach called T-GEM, in which the teacher guides student investigations. In this article,…

We present a science centre established in Genoa on an agreement between Municipality of Genoa and Department of Physics of University of Genoa. The aim is to offer children, young people and community an opportunity to approach science in a playful way. The centre staffs guide the visitors through the exhibits, attracting their interests towards…

Building a human-powered flying craft can be much more complicated than one would first imagine. There are no "premade" plans available for this type of craft. In addition, the crafts needed to be built with some "style," or in other words, they should represent something other than a flying machine. The concept of launching a…