Science teachers are always looking for ways to demonstrate the relevance of science to students. By connecting science learning to important societal issues, teachers can motivate students to both enjoy and engage in relevant science (Bennet, Lubben, and Hogarth 2007). To develop that connection, teachers can help students take an active role in…

Water is an essential resource for all living things. How we live on our watershed can impact water quantity and quality. It is important to recognize how humans alter watershed dynamics, but students often find it challenging to visualize watershed processes and understand how decisions that they make as individuals and together as a community…

We report on the competition problems given at the 39th International Physics Olympiad held in Hanoi, Vietnam, which consist of three theoretical and one experimental problems. The abbreviated solutions are presented. The distribution of marks for the problems is also shown. (Contains 2 tables and 8 figures.)

You may have observed that a small goldfish swimming in a spherical fishbowl can suddenly disappear. Why does this happen? The effect is due to total internal reflection. In this paper we find the locations of the fish and the observer's eye for which the fish cannot be seen.

This study is designed to find out how people in rural communities residing in the middle Himalayas use indigenous knowledge to support environmental decisions while addressing water and land use related concerns. The study not only serves to enrich our understanding of community decision-making, especially as connected to land use and ecological…

In this article, a science teacher from the Midwest reflects on her summer vacation to the Gulf of Mexico. She felt that this vacation would help improve her teaching about the environmental problems in the gulf and elsewhere. After all, anyone can show photos of oil-laden birds and dead sea turtles and read news clips of a distant place, but to…

Every year, K-12 facilities waste millions of dollars in excess energy consumption. Those dollars may take the form of lost heat through walls, windows, doors, and roofs. Or the villain may be poorly conceived or mismanaged control systems. Those excess funds that districts are sending to the local utility companies could be invested "at home" to…

Cell water relationships are important topics to be included in cell biology courses. Differences exist in the control of water relationships in plant cells relative to control in animal cells. One important reason for these differences is that turgor pressure is a consideration in plant cells. Diffusion and osmosis are the underlying factors…

Stress is a biologically significant social-environmental factor that plays a pervasive role in influencing human and animal behaviors. While stress effects on various types of memory are well characterized, its effects on other cognitive functions are relatively unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of acute, uncontrollable stress on…

We explore associations among interpersonal (thick and thin) and institutional (legislative, executive, and judicial) trust and material hardship outcomes in Ghana. We use data from the 2008 Afrobarometer survey. Material hardship is conceptualized in terms of frequency of going without five basic necessities/consumptive deprivations, each of…

With this review of campus sustainability efforts in 2010, the editors aim to give readers--those who are often immersed in the day-to-day particulars of sustainability efforts--the same chance to take a step back and take a broader look at where they stand with sustainability in higher education. This inaugural 2010 Campus Sustainability Review…

Currently patient education programs and urology practices provide individuals with "lists of foods to avoid" for dietary management of kidney stones. However, "planned diets" that include daily meal plans and recipes provide structure and specificity for diet management and are preferred by many individuals. This article describes the development…

As American settlement spread to the Midwest, college and university campuses came to symbolize some of the greatest achievements of public policy and private philanthropy. However, the expansion westward often ignored the cultural precedents of Native Americans and the diversity of the varied native landscapes. Today, campus planners and historic…

Great strife has plagued the Middle East for decades. Israel and the Occupied Territories of the West Bank of Palestine' have been battling over the land they both claim as holy. Regional threats of war loom and increasingly violent rhetoric has been exchanged regarding the claims to holy sites, land, olives, water, and other natural resources in…

The Oregon 4-H Wildlife Stewards program has been training teachers and volunteers to convert school grounds to education sites by constructing schoolyard wildlife habitats since 1997. The publication "What Can We Learn at the Pond? 4-H Wildlife Stewards Master Leader Guide" (Bourdeau 2004a) was written to support the program's focus on developing…