Educational versions of Millikan's oil-drop experiment have frequently been criticized; suggestions for improvement either focus on technical innovations of the setup or on replacing the experiment by other approaches of familiarization, such as computer simulations. In our approach, we have analysed experimental procedures. In doing so, we were…

Article focuses on defining the role of demonstration in general and experiments in particular in science education at the high school level, on the basis of psychological data and recent conceptions about the nature of science. (Author)

Presents simple and inexpensive demonstrations of properties of metallic glasses. (SL)

A list of demonstrations of discrepant events which have been found to stimulate the curiosity of students in science at the secondary school level are presented. A brief description of the materials and procedures for 15 of these demonstrations is outlined, with short explanations of concepts and principles involved. (MP)

Plant tropisms--their directional movement in response to stimuli--are a fundamental concept in plant science and excite students because they are the observable signs of life in plants. Unfortunately, the precollege teaching literature is full of tropism misconceptions. An inexpensive clock clinostat is invaluable for student gravitropism and…

Uses paper chromatography with food dyes to provide a simple and inexpensive basis for teaching chromatography. Provides experimental methodology and tabled results. Includes a solvent system comparison (Rf) for seven dyes and twenty-two solvents. (MVL)

Provides methodology for carrying out the synthesis of sec-butyltoluene by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of toluene. Suggests using simple elemental aluminum as the catalyst in place of AlCl3 or amalgamated aluminum. Notes satisfactory results for both macro- and microscale operations. (MVL)

Examines the influence of enzyme and substrate concentrations, pH, temperature, and inhibitors on catalytic activity. Follows the influence of different phosphate concentrations in the growth medium on enzyme activity. Studies regulation of enzyme synthesis by repression. Includes methodology for six experiments. (MVL)

Offers several advantages over other possibilities as the enzyme of choice for a student's first exposure to a purification scheme. Uses equipment and materials normally found in biochemistry laboratories. Incorporates several important biochemical techniques including spectrophotometry, chromatography, centrifugation, and electrophoresis. (MVL)

Describes a laboratory experiment to teach the principles of air sampling, gamma ray spectroscopy, nuclear decay, and radioactive equilibrium. Analyzes radon by carbon adsorption and gamma ray counting. Provides methodology and rate of decay equations. (MVL)

The Prime Minister's Committee on Natural Science in Education in Great Britain reported in 1918 that "...in many schools more time is spent in laboratory work than the results obtained can justify." Seventy years later this conclusion can often still be drawn. This is particularly a problem in open distance education where laboratory practicals,…

These units were produced by a team exploring the possibility of developing some of the basic concepts of mathematics through simple, but significant physical science experiments. The purpose of the entire project is to see if learning and understanding of mathematics can be improved by the use of these science-related units in mathematics…