Describes the effectiveness of cooperative learning on discipline problems, interdependence between students, and teacher-student interactions. Explains how to group students and introduces a laboratory activity on covalent and ionic bonds. (YDS)

Suggests that because controlled experiments are used extensively by professional ecologists to solve both theoretical and applied problems, experimentation should be a key component of secondary school ecology curricula. Describes five teaching principles to guide secondary school biology teachers in providing a more realistic view of the…

A teacher of students with hearing impairments outlines ways to integrate use of the scientific method into science laboratory experiences. A sample experiment is outlined, and the value of the applied science experiences for students who are concrete learners is stressed. (DB)

Presents a series of investigations focusing on the biodegradable packing materials ("peanuts"), which provide a method for exploring science through experimentation. These activities can help fourth through sixth graders sharpen their critical thinking and science process skills. (PR)

Summarizes the use of field experiments designed to investigate personal space invasion. States that the experiments were designed and conducted by introductory psychology students and complemented by classroom lectures. Reports that the experiments provided an understanding of personal space, personal space invasion, and the implications…

Describes the use of entomopathogenic bacteria for use in teaching general microbiology. (PR)

Presents the result of an empirical study on the reception and effectiveness of historical material being included in the physics program of a Swiss high school. (Author/NB)

Describes an educational project primarily aimed at teachers and 15 to 18-year-old students that describes the essential features of a modern high-energy physics experiment. (Author/CCM)

Explains how a school developed a model for ensuring progression in experimental and investigative science. Provides progression steps and examples of models. (CCM)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides an excellent tool for students to enter into inquiry-based science. This very simple organism is used to demonstrate that the principles governing life apply to all organisms. Students learn to design experiments using trypan blue and heat, build upon their findings with new experiments, and refine and repeat…

Presents an alternative way to teach chemistry by using transmuted laboratory activities in which students must predict outcomes within a certain error factor. Includes nine sample labs. (MKR)

Presents an alternative approach to bonding and geometry--the electron domain model--which avoids some of the problems with the conventional approach. Discusses difficulties with the orbital model at the introductory level, electron spin and the Pauli exclusion principle, electron pair domains, nonequivalent domains, multiple bonds, and origins…

Shows how ionization energies provide a convenient method for obtaining electronegativity values that is simpler than the conventional methods. Demonstrates how approximate atomic charges can be calculated for polar molecules and how this method of determining electronegativities may lead to deeper insights than are typically possible for the…

Presents a physics lab activity in which students determine if an electrode configuration simulates a section of concentric cylinders or concentric spheres. (WRM)