A teaching--learning sequence is presented that is designed to help high school pupils gain awareness about the independence of the vertical and horizontal components of free fall motion. The approach we propose is based on the use of experimental activities and computer simulations designed specifically to help pupils reflect on the experiments…

Using cultured fibroblast cells, undergraduate students explore cell division and the responses of cultured cells to a variety of environmental changes. The students learn new research techniques and carry out a self-designed experiment. Through this project, students enhance their creative approach to scientific inquiry, learn time-management and…

Trypsin and soybean trypsin inhibitor (Kunitz inhibitor) can be used in a relatively simple and inexpensive student exercise to demonstrate the usefulness of enzyme kinetics. The study of enzyme kinetics is essential to biology because enzymes play such a crucial role in the biochemical pathways of all living organisms. The data from enzyme…

The purpose of this study was to survey the quantity and quality of laboratory work conducted by Grade 11 and 12 biology students in British Columbia High Schools, to analyze student performance on laboratory based questions on Provincial examinations, and to examine the curriculum for recommended laboratory work. Examination and curriculum data…

The use of participatory lecture demonstrations in the classroom is described. Examples are given for the following topics: chromatography, chemical kinetics, balancing equations, the gas laws, kinetic molecular theory, Henry's law of gas solubility, electronic energy levels in atoms, and translational, vibrational, and rotational energies of…

Explains some experiments involving thermal methods of analysis for undergraduate chemistry laboratories. Some experiments are: (1) the determination of the density and degree of crystallinity of a polymer; and (2) the determination of the specific heat of a nonvolatile compound. (HM)

Discusses the formation of lipid peroxides as important degradative biomolecules. (SL)

Reviews three experiments which can be used to introduce microscale techniques. Highlights the benefits and advantages of having undergraduate students prepare and purify derivatives on the small scale. (ML)

Presents a laboratory exercise that illustrates stoichiometry, limiting reagents, and proportionality. Highlights the safety and low cost factors of this exercise. Outlines procedures for the students. (ML)

Describes how short-term laboratory projects were used to teach population and community ecology to undergraduate environmental science students. Directed students to formulate and implement their own hypotheses and experimental designs. Uses questionnaire results and written reports to assess the contribution of the course to student…

Examines the usefulness of cyclic voltammetry to the determination of a complex compound's stoichiometry. Discusses the experimental design, laboratory equipment, and results. (CW)

Presents several teaching suggestions associated with the raising of monarch butterflies in classrooms. Emphasizes how this endeavor can be used to enhance the use of science process skills. (TW)

Describes two complementary laboratory exercises that use the glass fiber assay to assess receptor specificity and hormone binding affinity in rat liver cytoplasmic extracts. Details the methods, materials and protocol of the experiments. Discusses the basic concepts illustrated and the feasibility of using the experiments at the undergraduate…

Explains the "Overview-Case Study Method" for teaching high school physics which has evolved from the author's experience/success with a program in which 90 percent of the high school's students take physics as an elective. Areas considered include methods, case studies, textbooks, multilevel physics, qualitative physics, and real-life…

Describes a series of challenges related to areas other than the knowledge content of a course to achieve a similar goal. These challenges are designed to teach not only analytical skills but also such process skills as organization, record keeping, report writing, cooperation with fellow workers, and resolution of discrepancies. (JN)