Introducing students to the process of scientific inquiry is a major goal of high school and college labs. Environmental toxins are of great concern and public interest. Modifications of a vertebrate developmental toxicity assay using the frog Xenopus laevis can support student-initiated toxicology experiments that are relevant to humans. Teams of…

Due in part to testing pressures, for years the science subject has taken a back seat to reading and math. And though topics like volcanos and time travel have the potential to get kids' attention, science's status as a curricular stepchild typically translates into dull textbooks and little budget for experiments or supplies. The tide is…

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a common technique used in high school and undergraduate science teaching. Students often do not fully comprehend the underlying principles of the technique and how optimization of the protocol affects the outcome and analysis. In this molecular biology laboratory, students learn the steps of PCR with an…

A reality show about a college course--a chemistry class no less? That's what "ChemLab Boot Camp" is. The 14-part series of short videos is being released one episode at a time on the online learning site of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The novel show follows a diverse group of 14 freshmen as they struggle to master the…

The paper presents results of "non-traditional" teaching of the basic course of Physics in the first year of study at the Technical University in Zvolen, specifically teaching via interactive method enriched with problem tasks and experiments. This paper presents also research results of the use of the given method in conditions of…

This study is based on two exploratory questions with the aim of determining the relative effectiveness of two different student activities, called "Reading, Presenting and Questioning" (RPQ) and "Experimenting and Discussing" (ED), in changing students' perceptions and attitudes about the impact of physics learning on the…

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of virtual versus physical manipulation using a simulation-based laboratory activity (SBL) and a microcomputer-based laboratory activity (MBL). Both the SBL and the MBL used computers to collect, graph, and analyze data. A major difference was that the MBL allowed the students to…

Experiments in continuous-stirred vessels were proposed to introduce methods in pharmacokinetics and drug transport to chemical engineering students. The activities can be incorporated into the curriculum to illustrate fundamentals learned in the classroom. An appreciation for the role of pharmacokinetics in drug discovery will also be gained…

There are many ways to visualize flow, either for laminar or turbulent flows. A very convincing way to show laminar and turbulent flows is by the perturbations on the surface of a beam of water coming out of a cylindrical tube. Photographs, taken with a flash, show the nature of the flow of water in pipes. They clearly show the difference between…

Many physics teachers have a set of slides of single, double and multiple slits to show their students the phenomena of interference and diffraction. Thomas Young's historic experiments with double slits were indeed a milestone in proving the wave nature of light. But another experiment, namely the Poisson spot, was also important historically and…

Three variants of the rotational viscometer employing a dc motor are considered. The viscometers are highly suitable for liquids of high viscosity, such as glycerol or oils (that is, for [eta] in the range 10-1000 mPa s). The set-ups are very simple and can serve as a first step to designing devices that are more complicated. Experimentation with…

A multidisciplinary experiment has been developed in which students each synthesize a combinatorial library of 48 hydrazones with the aid of a liquid-handling robot. Each product is then subjected to a Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion assay to assess its antibacterial activity. Students gain experience working with automation and at the…

Pharmacists, although not practicing chemists, often use skills and knowledge obtained in chemistry courses that are essential for success in their profession. This is especially apparent when preparing prescriptions for drugs that do not have a commercially available dosage form. Some well-publicized events indicate the potency of these drugs is…

Inexpensive electrodes for the measurement of pH have been constructed using the ionophore tribenzylamine for sensing H[superscript +] concentrations. Both traditional liquid-membrane electrodes and coated-wire electrodes have been constructed and studied, and both exhibit linear, nearly Nernstian responses to changes in pH. Measurements of pH…

Differential scanning calorimetry analyses of two easily prepared polymorphs of acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) are recorded. The density of the forms can be found in the literature. Rules for heats of transition, heats of fusion, and density, as well as methods for determining the solid-solid transition temperature between the forms,…