How do you get a fourth-grader excited about history? How do you even begin to persuade high school students that mathematical functions are relevant to their everyday lives? In this volume, practical questions that confront every classroom teacher are addressed using the latest exciting research on cognition, teaching, and learning. How Students…

Describes an experiment to determine the density of air within a 10 percent error range using a basketball and a triple beam balance. Provides the typical data and a graph. (YP)

This paper describes the author's experience of designing and teaching an interdisciplinary course titled "Light", in collaboration with a visual artist. The goals of the course, texts used, laboratory work, art studio work, and other course activities are discussed with an emphasis on how light was used as a theme to make connections between…

Presents an examination of the buoyancy principle which can serve as a simple but rigorous illustration of a falsification test that not only clears up a possible misconception but also points the way to a number of practical uses of buoyancy measurements that have not generally been recognized. (MVL)

Discusses the mechanism and the change of pH during the reaction. Notes that a dramatic rise in pH occurs when the reaction nears completion. Evaluates theories by other authors. (MVL)

In the framework of a curriculum reform in the Netherlands, an interdisciplinary open inquiry assignment has been introduced as a part of the final secondary school examinations. We developed and evaluated a preparatory open inquiry assignment to be used in science and mathematics departments of schools, in collaboration with each other: the…

Undergraduates from chemical engineering, applied chemistry, and environmental science courses, together with first-year postgraduate research students in electrochemical technology, are provided with an experiment that demonstrates the reduction of dissolved oxygen in aerated seawater at 25°C. Oxygen reduction is examined using linear sweep…

This digest presents a summary discussion of the value of holding science fairs in the elementary school context. Reasons for conducting science fairs for elementary students are discussed in terms of several learning theories. Developmentally appropriate types of elementary science projects are suggested. Goals for elementary school science fairs…

Shows the difficulties of understanding the hypothesis a posteriori. Describes a scientific method containing phenomenologic, hypothetic, and theoretic phases. Provides the results of an experiment on simple pendulum oscillation by using this method. (YP)

This study examined the writing strategies and text characteristics associated with discovering a scientific principle by writing about an experiment. Sixty-four university students (non-science majors) carried out a physics experiment concerning either buoyancy, or the forces acting on a balance scale, then wrote an informal journal-style note…

The candle burning experiment is usually conducted in lower secondary classes to prove the (about) 20% oxygen in air. The aim of this paper is to show that teachers misinterpret the results of the experiment to satisfy the objectives of teaching this experiment. However, when the results of this experiment are interpreted correctly, the objectives…

As science teachers, they understand the importance of gaining student interest to promote learning. They know how challenging it is to spark the curiosity to truly engage students in the processes of "doing science." One often-used method of motivation is the demonstration of science in action. Demonstrations such as "discrepant events". They are…

Plant tissue culture has developed into a valid botanical discipline and is considered a key area of biotechnology, but it has not been a key component of the science curriculum because of the expensive and technical nature of research in this area. This manual presents a number of activities that are relatively easy to prepare and perform. The…

This document presents a collection of articles selected from the Journal of College Science Teaching. The selected articles represent how college science teaching should be practiced and include modifications in classrooms and laboratories to allow for the development of inquiry skills. Articles include: (1) "What Should Students Learn about the…

Describes a study of college students who designed and conducted experiments involving control of variables after being assigned to one of four versions of a computer-based biology simulation learning environment. Finds that reason-justification prompts directed students' attention to understanding the employment of experimental design principles…