Presents the planning, implementation, and assessment of a four-week summer program entitled Florida Education in Geology and Ecology: FLEDGE-ling Camp for Girls. Exit surveys and follow-up interviews proved that girls learned most from field and hands-on activities. Outcomes included a change in view of science and scientists and an increase in…

Describes a partnership between a middle school and an elementary school that pairs Grade Eight and Grade Two students. The middle school students have autonomy over the strategies and materials they use to teach a particular science lesson. Presents the details of implementing such a program. (DDR)

Three science experiments teach elementary school students about marine-life locomotion. One teaches primary students how octopi and jellyfish move, using balloons and umbrellas. Another teaches K-6 students the up and down movement of fish in water, using condiment packets. A third teaches 4-6 students about the effect of fish swim bladders,…

Describes mathematics and science instruction in the Czech Republic and results from the performance assessment of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Czech performance on the written test was excellent, but performance assessment results show the low priority given hands-on tasks and performance assessment in the Czech…

Explores the difficulties students have in understanding the relationship between surface area and volume. Examines four cases where the ratio of surface area to volume varies, and makes recommendations for demonstrating each with models. (Contains 15 references.) (WRM)

Introduces young children to the safe study of insects and promotes respect for the study specimen. Children craft insects out of marshmallows, toothpicks, and cardboard and practice using a clear plastic cup to collect and observe insects through a magnifying lens. With their new skills, they can move on to studying real insects. (PVD)

The basic contention that a more imaginative, creative, and challenging approach will result in better achievement in SATs--in other words, if the children enjoy their science they will do better--was the basis of a project at Oxford Brookes University. The project was devised to encourage and enable the participating teachers to develop a…

The need to support bioinformatics training has been widely recognized by scientists, industry, and government institutions. However, the discussion of instructional methods for teaching bioinformatics is only beginning. Here we report on a systematic attempt to design two bioinformatics workshops for graduate biology students on the basis of…

"Hands-on Current Electricity" gives K-8 teachers the opportunity to experience inquiry learning about current electricity by (1) experimenting with current electricity through a variety of activities, (2) discovering preconceived mental models of electricity used to understand their observations, (3) creating new mental models that have greater…

This article describes a simple and inexpensive hands-on simulation of protein folding suitable for use in large lecture classes. This activity uses a minimum of parts, tools, and skill to simulate some of the fundamental principles of protein folding. The major concepts targeted are that proteins begin as linear polypeptides and fold to…

A new, simple classroom technique helps cell biology students understand principles of Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. A student mimics the enzyme and the student's hand represents the enzyme's active site. The catalytic event is the transfer of marbles (substrate molecules) by hand from one plastic container to another. As predicted, increases…

Educators question whether performing a laboratory experiment as an observer (non-hands-on), such as conducted in a distance education context, can be as effective a learning tool as personally performing the experiment in a laboratory environment. The present paper investigates this issue by comparing the performance of distance education…

Today's biology teachers are confronted with many challenges as they endeavour to maintain or improve the quality of their courses. Increasing enrollments, decreasing budgets, environmental considerations, student concerns, and curriculum changes often necessitate change. Providing a quality laboratory experience under such constraints is…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of science and technology summer camps on the confidence, values, and future intentions of female and male campers. The week-long camps were administered by Actua, a national organization with a mandate to increase awareness of science and technology among Canadian youth. Campers completed a…

"Hands-on" activities play an important, but controversial, role in early science education. In this study we attempt to clarify some of the issues surrounding the controversy by calling attention to distinctions between: (a) type of instruction (direct or discovery); (b) type of knowledge to be acquired (domain-general or domain-specific); and…