In this article, the authors describe an investigative activity in which their eighth-grade students reconstructed past environmental change in the New England area using data from lake varves in central Vermont to examine evidence of climate change. The investigation uses an authentic paleoclimate record (Ridge 2011) from the Pleistocene epoch,…

The researchers described in this case study how Service Learning was incorporated within the context of an early childhood program where the teachers used the Project Approach. The Service Learning project was embedded in an investigation about water and was designed to help tsunami victims in Asia. Participants included two teachers and 12…

The present research aims at pinpointing differences in spontaneous and non-spontaneous mental models of water cycle conceptions of two 4th grade student groups: the Jewish residents of a small provincial town and a group of students from an indigenous Bedouin community. Students' conceptions were elicited using the Repertory Grid technique as…

Learning about the water situation in other regions of the world and the devastating effects of floods on drinking water helps students study science while learning about global water quality. This article provides science activities focused on developing cultural awareness and understanding how local water resources are integrally linked to the…

Based on a photograph, the density of a watermelon floating in a pail of water is estimated with different levels of simplification--with and without consideration of refraction and three-dimensional effects. The watermelon was approximated as a sphere. The results of the theoretical estimations were verified experimentally. (Contains 6 figures.)

This article describes a simple and inexpensive way to create and to verify the parabolic surface of a rotating liquid. The liquid is water. The second part of the article deals with the problem of a boat on the surface of a rotating liquid. (Contains 1 table, 10 figures and 5 footnotes.)

This article examines several readily available "magic tricks" which base their "trickery" on physics principles, and questions the use of the word "magic" in the 21st century, both in popular children's science and in everyday language. (Contains 18 figures.)

An experimental project aimed at identifying stable reaction intermediates is described. Initially, the studied reaction appears to involve the simple hydrolysis, by aqueous sodium hydroxide, of methyl 3,5-dinitrobenzoate dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. On mixing the substrates, however, the reaction mixture unexpectedly turns an intense red in…

Integrated water resources management is one of the major bottom-up alternatives that emerged during the 1980s in North America as part of the trend towards more holistic and participatory styles of environmental governance. It aims to protect surface and groundwater resources by focusing on the integrated and collaborative management of land and…

Objective: To assess whether there was an improvement in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of students after the Healthy Eyes in Schools Project intervention and to complete a process evaluation to inform future implementation of health promotion interventions. Design: A descriptive, mixed-methods design was used, including questionnaires and…

This paper describes an innovative collaboration between instructors of non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses and scientists who teach STEM courses in the GATE (Green Action Through Education) learning community. The scientists in this project presented engaging science--in such diverse locations as a sewage…

The use of informal science education in rural areas, especially at rural middle schools has not been well documented. Although rural areas have accessible outdoor learning environments compared to urban areas, teachers are less likely to incorporate informal science activities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two seventh grade life…

During the century from the publication of the work by Einstein (1905 "Ann. Phys." 17 549) Brownian motion has become an important paradigm in many fields of modern science. An essential impulse for the development of Brownian motion theory was given by the work of Langevin (1908 "C. R. Acad. Sci.", Paris 146 530), in which he proposed an…

Field experiments are at the core of ecology, yet rarely find their way into education, probably due to a combination of technical challenges and risks associated with fieldwork. This may compromise student education and perception of the subject, making interesting, readily manageable experiments extremely important. We describe how the daily…

The modern food system involves high consumption of natural resources and other forms of environmental degradation. This paper is a presentation of internet resources such as scientific contributions, graphics, tables, images, animations and interactive atlases that can help to teach this subject. The discussion contains some subjects considered…