Experiments are essential for both doing science and learning science. The aim of the German youth science fair, "Jugend forscht," is to encourage scientific thinking and inquiry methods such as experimentation. Based on 57 interviews with participants of the competition, this study summarises students' conceptions and steps of learning…

The number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is declining due in part to a lack of student interest (Fairweather 2008; NRC 2012; PCAST 2010). One reason may be the difference between how science is done in school and how it is done in the field (Osborne, Simon, and Collins 2003). An interdisciplinary…

In the fall of 2011, Park Forest Middle School (PFMS) students approached the STEM faculty with numerous questions regarding the popular television show Myth Busters, which detailed Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor, Archimedes. Two episodes featured attempts to test historical accounts that Archimedes developed a death ray…

How can educators provide children with a genuine experience of carrying out an extended scientific investigation? And can teachers change the perception of what it means to be a scientist? These were key questions that lay behind "The Human Condition" project, an initiative funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust to explore a new…

One author shares the unique opportunity to be immersed in the science of "sound at work" through participation in NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Teacher at Sea Program. A third- through fifth-grade learning outcome within the Nature of Science section of the "Next Generation Science Standards"…

Discusses approaches to science projects designed to eliminate negative reactions, improve topic selection and problem identification, and create excitement. These include creating classroom resource centers, bulletin boards, and student committees to help students develop their projects by narrowing broad topics to specific problem statements and…

Frequently, science fair projects have little relevance to the goals of science. Criteria for judging projects are not evident to students, parents, judges, and other participants. Listed are seven steps to a better fair project which emphasize methodology and presentation. Also included are hints for involving parents. (DC)

At Park Senior High School (Cottage Grove, Minnesota), 46 juniors and seniors planted 384 red pine seedlings in connection with their original research on acid rain, with advice from Dr. Harriet Stubbs, director of the Acid Precipitation Awareness Program (West Saint Paul), which has been developing acid rain teaching materials. (MH)

Science fairs represent the culmination of student research efforts under the guidance of teachers and other persons interested in science topics. The total scientific process should be involved in the development of a project which results in a science fair exhibition. The student should learn to recognize problems, plan an experiment, gather and…