Engagement with socioscientific issues (SSI) is seen as an important citizenship goal of SSI-based science education. In this experimental study, Dutch students (age 8 to 13) participated in lesson series in which they learned about and discussed SSI, such as issues related to the textile industry and wastewater. Attitudes toward SSI indicating…

Nitrate is a crucial parameter for assessing water quality, owing to its dual function in ecological systems. These functions can be beneficial or detrimental depending on whether nitrate concentrations are low or high, respectively. The ultraviolet spectrophotometric method (standard as 4500-NO[subscript 3]--B) is a classic method for determining…

This dissertation examines the thesis that implicit learning plays a role in learning about scientific phenomena, and subsequently, in conceptual change. Decades of research in learning science demonstrate that a primary challenge of science education is overcoming prior, naive knowledge of natural phenomena in order to gain scientific…

This article describes a five-day online energy module, developed by the Concord Consortium (an educational research and development organization) in which students compare the effects of various energy sources on air quality, water quality, and land use. The module's interactive models explore hydraulic fracturing, real-world data on energy…

An interesting problem in fluid mechanics, with significant educational importance, is the classic hydrostatic paradox. The hydrostatic paradox states the fact that in different shaped containers, with the same base area, which are filled with a liquid of the same height, the applied force by the liquid on the base of each container is exactly the…

Many aquatic organisms survive by filter feeding from the surrounding water and capturing food particles. We developed a laboratory exercise that allows students to measure the effects of filtering by fresh water mussels on water turbidity. Mussels were acquired from Wards Scientific and exposed to a solution of baker's yeast. Over a period of one…

In light of increasing populations and dwindling natural resources, elementary teachers play a crucial role in ensuring children understand and commit to more sustainable lifestyles. Climate change, growing pressures on global fisheries, and the harmful effects of traditional agricultural methods exacerbate this call. Coupled with this emphasis is…

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in the United States faces a host of problems including low recruitment and retention in STEM disciplines, under-representation of multiple segments of the US population, and a host of other issues. These problems are well recognized and a variety of solutions are being implemented…

The decomposition of water by electricity, and the voltaic pile as a means of generating electricity, have both held an iconic status in the history of science as well as in the history of science teaching. These experiments featured in chemistry and physics textbooks, as well as in classroom teaching, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth…

There is on-going international interest in the relationships between assessment instruments, students' understanding of science concepts and context-based curriculum approaches. This study extends earlier research showing that students can develop connections between contexts and concepts--called "fluid transitions"--when studying…

We discuss an experiment on wind energy performed with home-made apparatus. The experiment reproduces a laboratory windmill, which can pump water from a lower level to a higher one. By measuring the gain of the gravitational potential energy of the pumped water, one can determine the power extracted from the wind. The activity was carried out with…

A wide variety of out-of-school time (OST) programs across the U.S. offer science education opportunities that cover many scientific disciplines and use diverse pedagogical practices (National Research Council [NRC], 2009). However, to improve youth's scientific literacy, OST educators need to "have the disposition and repertoire of practices…

The ocean is home to some of Earth's most important producers. Single-celled organisms in the ocean are responsible for more than half of Earth's productivity, as well as most of its oxygen. Phytoplankton are single-celled, plantlike organisms. That is, they have chloroplasts and perform photosynthesis, but are not true plants, which are typically…

This forum explores and expands on Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Eshach, Orion, and Alamour's article titled "Cultural Differences and Students' Spontaneous Models of the Water Cycle: A Case Study of Jewish and Bedouin Children in Israel" by examining how indigenous knowledge is appropriated in science classrooms; how students from indigenous…

This study aimed to determine how 33 urban 5th grade students' science conceptions changed during a place-based inquiry unit on watersheds. Research on watershed and place-based education was used as a framework to guide the teaching of the unit as well as the research study. A teacher-researcher designed the curriculum, taught the unit and…