Throughout the general chemistry lab curriculum, a common shortcoming is the way in which students measure, record, and manipulate quantitative data. From initial measurements with different digital and analog instruments to proper conversions, calculations, and comparisons, students are often expected to be experts before they have been taught…

What follows is a description of the procedure for and results of a simple experiment on the formation of impact craters designed for the laboratory portions of lower mathematical-level general education science courses such as conceptual physics or descriptive astronomy. The experiment provides necessary experience with data collection and…

A set of exercises for use in a typical physical chemistry laboratory course are described, modeling the unimolecular dissociation of the ethyl radical to form ethylene and atomic hydrogen. Students analyze the computational results both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative structural changes are compared to approximate predicted values…

Quantitative reasoning is a key intellectual skill, applicable across disciplines and best taught in the context of authentic, relevant problems. Here, I describe and assess a laboratory exercise that has students calculate their "carbon footprint" and evaluate the impacts of various behavior choices on that footprint. Students gather…

Mode estimation, the visual determination of the proportions of the components of a rock, is a valuable tool in geology, providing one of the most efficient means of describing rock mineralogy and chemistry. However, current methods of teaching mode estimation suffer from the often-mediocre mode-estimation skills of the instructors. Fifty-nine…

A three-point linkage system in tomatoes is used to explain concepts of gene mapping, linking and statistical analysis. The system is designed for teaching the effective use of statistics, and the power of genetic analysis from statistical analysis of phenotypic ratios. (Author/SA)