New media technology becomes more and more important for our daily life as well as for teaching physics. Within the scope of our N.E.T. research project we develop experiments using New Media Experimental Tools (N.E.T.) in physics education and study their influence on students learning abilities. We want to present the possibilities e.g. of…

During a five-year period the authors taught over 100 students in a graduate course (The Nature of Science) counting toward teacher certification at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Despite the fact that students had undergraduate degrees in the sciences, most of them found the application of models in science challenging and the…

Physics First is offered to ninth graders at high schools in Aurora, CO. A unique new asset of this school system is an embedded research lab called the "Innovation Hyperlab." The goal of the lab is to connect secondary school teaching to ongoing university scientific research, supporting the school district's aim to create opportunities to…

The current review examined modeling literature in top science education journals to better understand the pedagogical functions of modeling instruction reported over the last decade. Additionally, the review sought to understand the extent to which different modeling pedagogies were employed, the discursive acts that were identified as important,…

The interpretation of data and construction and understanding of graphs are central practices in science; therefore, an important skill needed in the undergraduate physics laboratory is the ability to analyze data obtained from experiments. Often students are not able to reach logical deductions based on data, acquired from the experiments that…

What students and teachers often ask is, how are nano-sized materials made when they are so small? One answer is through the process of self-assembly in which molecules, polymers, and nanoparticles connect to form larger objects of a defined structure and shape. Two hands-on experiments are presented in which students prepare capsules in real time…

From the time they are born, children have a natural curiosity toward the world around them. Even though they can't speak, one can still observe that they are skilled at discovery. Science fair projects can nurture this natural curiosity and give elementary students the opportunity to explore their interests in a rewarding way. Participation in a…

Suzuki couplings are powerful chemical reactions commonly employed in academic and industrial research settings to generate functionalized biaryls. We have developed and implemented a discovery-based, microscale experiment for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory that explores green Suzuki coupling using water as the primary solvent.…

We present a sensitive diffusion cloud chamber which does not require any radioactive sources. A major difference from commonly used chambers is the use of a heat sink as its bottom plate. The result of a performance test of the chamber is given. (Contains 8 figures.)

After agreeing to host over 200 students on a daylong genetics field trip, the author needed an easy-to-prepare genetics experiment to accompany the DNA-necklace and gel-electrophoresis activities already planned. One of the student's mothers is a pediatric physician at the local hospital, and she suggested exploring genetic-disease screening…

We construct a thermometer exploiting the electric resistance of the filament of a small lamp used in micro-illumination settings. The instrument may guarantee a response time better than 10 ms, i.e. much faster than commercial thermocouples or other quite expensive devices. This makes our thermometer a useful one in several processes which are…

Trees transport water from roots to crown--a height that can exceed 100 m. The physics of tree hydraulics can be conveyed with simple fluid dynamics based upon the Hagen-Poiseuille equation and Murray's law. Here the conduit structure is modelled as conical pipes and as branching pipes. The force required to lift sap is generated mostly by…

A simple but physically intuitive double-source model is proposed to explain the interferogram of a laser-capillary system, where two effective virtual sources are used to describe the rays reflected by and transmitted through the capillary. The locations of the two virtual sources are functions of the observing positions on the target screen. An…

Many high school science students do not encounter opportunities for authentic science inquiry in their formal coursework. Ecological field studies can provide such opportunities. The purpose of this project was to teach students about the process of science by designing and conducting experiments on whether and how honey bees (Apis mellifera)…

As Yogi Berra said, "Predictions are hard, especially about the future." In this article, the author offers a few forward-looking observations about the emerging impact of information technology on scientific research. Scientific research refers to a particular method for acquiring knowledge about natural phenomena. This method has two dimensions:…