Common over-the-counter medicines can be an exciting entry point for introducing students to the interesting chemistries that they encounter in their daily lives. In this inquiry-based activity, students are tasked with using a list of given supplies and information about four medications (Aspirin, Tums, Pepto-Bismol, and Tylenol) to design three…

Teachers can find opportunities to incorporate design thinking and scientific inquiry within any lesson where a constraint of the design can be connected to a scientific experiment. Within a lesson, this connection establishes context between engineering and science and can positively impact students' learning and interest in these subjects. The…

In this paper, we investigate an approach to supporting students' learning in science through a combination of physical experimentation and virtual modeling. We present a study that utilizes a scientific inquiry framework, which we call "bifocal modeling," to link student-designed experiments and computer models in real time. In this…

Variations in science lab design can differentially impact student learning. Quantification of these differential impacts can be used in modeling--an approach we term "optimal lab design." In this study we estimated relative influences of six characteristics of lab design on students' attitudes toward science labs in three different…

A discussion of the aerodynamics of a boomerang as it relates to that of a golf ball. (BB)

Describes the construction of an apparatus that demonstrates that electrostatic forces can be large and also gives some idea of dependence of electrostatic forces between charged parallel discs on potential differences and separation. (CS)

Describes various procedures applicable to secondary school science classes, including: (1) constructing a centripetal accelerometer; (2) demonstrating weightlessness with a small scale apparatus employing a catapult; (3) teaching hexadecimal counting by using the fingers; (4) demonstrating oscillation and resonance in tuned circuits. (CS)

Spacelab is a facility which enables scientists and engineers to go into space for in-orbit research studies. For the 10 European nations that designed, constructed, and financed Spacelab jointly through the European Space Agency and for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which designed, constructed, and financed the Spacelab…

For this 12-hour laboratory project students examine a model and explain why equipment is placed where it is, and then install some piping on the model. (BB)

The goal of many colleges is to make the organic chemistry laboratory completely flameless by using electric heating equipment. Benefits of eliminating the Bunsen burner, electrical heating equipment and accessories, hazards remaining in flameless laboratories, and design standards related to laboratory liability are the major topic areas…