Describes a project that helps students integrate biological concepts using both creativity and higher-order problem-solving skills. Involves students playing the roles of junior scientists aboard a starship in orbit around a class M planet and using a description of habitats, seasonal details, and a surface map of prominent geographic features to…

Describes a project designed to allow middle school students to learn some science concepts through application of science and mathematics lessons. (ZWH)

Describes a long-term project, Moonwatch, which introduces the relationships between the earth, sun, and moon, highlighting the broad conceptual themes of patterns and change. (MKR)

Describes the activities of the Physics Teachers Action Research Group in which college physics teachers work together in planning, revising, and evaluating student projects that foster greater conceptual understanding and address student misconceptions. Presents the details of a project in which students were asked to build an accelerometer. (JRH)

Describes a student project for building a laboratory balance. (PR)

This digest comments on various aspects of school science fairs. General expectations for science fair projects and participants are discussed, and tips for choosing a topic and completing a project are given. Organizational strategies for teachers charged with conducting science fairs are presented. Guidelines for parents in helping children with…

Describes a project where students build a motorized car that can perform well in two distinctly different competitions: traveling 20 meters in the shortest time and pulling a 500-gram mass the farthest distance in 20 seconds. Enables students to apply physics principles to a real problem and to discover the importance of teamwork on large…

Describes a student project to build a car powered by the energy in a mousetrap as part of a unit on simple machines. (PR)

Asserts that science instruction should have students behaving as real scientists. Discusses benefits of high school science research programs for precocious youths. (PR)

Today's curricula must incorporate activities that help students make science concepts and skills their own. Many suggest that teachers should allow students to relate classroom lessons to their own lives, explore a wide variety of applications and connections to other knowledge and experience, and consolidate the learning in ways they will…

Provides instructions for building a radio telescope for less than $120. (PR)

Science fairs can be used to advance a student's scientific knowledge, sharpen laboratory techniques, practice statistical analysis, and gain a better understanding of the process of science. This article describes an outline for developing a science fair that covers the objectives above and develops library and writing skills as well. (PR)

The underlying development behind this monograph grew out of a series of 14 panels (20 inches by 28 inches) illustrating the basic linkages between existing industrial arts/technology education activities and mathematics or science principles or societal and environmental impacts. Specifically, each panel contained a full-color photograph of a…

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

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)