The plasma membrane is the membrane that serves as a boundary between the interior of a cell and its extracellular environment. Lipid rafts are microdomains within a cellular membrane that possess decreased fluidity due to the presence of cholesterol, glycolipids, and phospholipids containing longer fatty acids. These domains are involved in many…

This article describes the many learning opportunities that broadcast technology students at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Missouri, experience because of their unique access to technology and methods of learning. Through scaffolding, stepladder techniques, and trial by fire, students learn to produce multiple television programs,…

In an era when technology seems to be changing almost daily, school boards, administrators, and teachers need to revisit their technology policies almost as rapidly, education experts advise. Internet chat rooms, online video games, and other electronic features that once seemed inappropriate for the classroom are proving useful for meeting many…

From the earliest civilizations, humans have used drawings and pictures as a form of communication and to convey information--whether it was the seasons or location of good hunting grounds. In this month's column, simple alphabet picture books show students how pictures can be used to communicate information about a topic. In the first activity,…

This study investigated the approaches to teaching by three fifth-grade teachers' of creative and non-creative mathematical problems for fractions. The teachers' personal constructs of the two kinds of problems were elicited by interviews through the use of the repertory grid technique. All the teaching was observed and video-recorded. Results…

We discuss approaches to develop and improve habits of mind in our students. Several illustrations and strategies are offered and we demonstrate how popular culture and mystery can be used to motivate students. We offer an approach to assessing the work ethic efforts of our students based on an historical approach used at the United States…

Museum resources for teachers that are available online today go way beyond the occasional lesson plan or thumbnail reproduction available via the Internet 10 years ago. New technologies have made it possible for art museums to imagine, create, and deliver a broad array of teaching resources, from online interactive multimedia to tools teachers…

This paper explores the effect teaching in a specially designed "creative learning space" has on students' engagement with the learning process, their motivation to explore, experience and discover (i.e. to be creative), and on them becoming more active, autonomous learners. It examines the notion of creative space, how it differs from teaching…

Computers and multimedia instruction have significantly changed the face of education and have greatly enhanced the learning process. The use of creative technological teaching strategies offers an effective, meaningful way of instruction delivery. In this article, the author examines several creative multimedia instructional approaches used in…

Left to their own devices, many students are happy to work within their comfort zone of skill and understanding, a level where they are confident that they will achieve regular success. The job of the classroom teacher is to help students reach beyond this and to help them make this level their new comfort zone. Clearly, teachers need to employ a…

The authors remind teachers that standards are not intended to fence in creative teachers or become obstacles for learners with special needs. To help teachers optimize learning for all children, they review brained-based research findings such as the importance of safe environments, the effect of emotions on learning, the use of multisensory…

The term "Web 2.0"--a buzzword for a technological evolution that's been taking place online for some time--has many different definitions. In general, it refers to Web sites that go beyond simply presenting words and images, often allowing users to share information and collaborate in new ways. Content on the Web used to be largely static. One…

Sierra Leone is only one of the more than 50 armed conflicts currently going on around the world. It is estimated that 20 million children were either refugees or displaced internally, and some 300,000 children under the age of 18 were used in hostilities at any given time as government or rebel soldiers, with about one-third reportedly fighting…

This article demonstrates how the use of creative movement and dance offers effective instructional strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of students in an inclusive classroom. Every day in one multi-age, fully inclusive classroom, students are meaningfully engaged in learning through movement--they move to learn science, social studies,…

This article examines the pervasive influence of progressive education and travel on a public school kindergarten teacher's professional life. In a statement included in her handwritten list of goals for the children in her classroom, she echoed John Dewey, noting that a kindergarten child should "....live life fully and well because this is a…