Internet collaboration among laboratories allows scientists to work together at a distance, and will eventually enable researchers to examine microscope-produced images simultaneously and participate in meetings and seminars remotely. If the ventures succeed, the resulting technology will allow smaller institutions to cooperate more easily.…

Describes an activity in which teams of students locate laboratory safety equipment in a scavenger hunt contest. (WRM)

Presents an inexpensive activity to stimulate student interest in biotechnology that was developed in partnership with a biotechnology company. Focuses on the use of DNA by a commercial laboratory; describing the analysis procedure; important uses of DNA technology in modern society; and ethical, social, and legal issues related to biotechnology.…

Describes an activity that reduces the biosphere to a water-filled jar to simulate the relationship between cellular respiration, photosynthesis, and energy. Allows students in high school biology and related courses to explore quantitatively cellular respiration and photosynthesis in almost any laboratory setting. (ASK)

Explains the benefits of using plastinated specimens on students' conceptual understanding. Argues for dropping the dissection component from introductory biology courses due to threatened animal populations and the high cost of providing some of the specimens. Describes how to use plastinated specimens in an investigative laboratory approach.…

Investigates the effects of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) format on student's achievement, thinking abilities and motivation. Focuses on distribution equilibrium and assesses student understanding by studying metacognitive and practical factors. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/YDS)

Describes a science laboratory that plays an important role in making modern physics accessible to teachers, school classes, and individual students. Claims it is a resource and a complement to the traditional education system. (Author/CCM)

Summarizes the recent research on pollen germination and introduces some basic studies on pollen tube growth that can be conducted in a secondary school laboratory. Discusses the use of a light microscope and refrigerator to study pollen. (Contains 13 references.) (Author/YDS)

Science teachers who are committed to excellence in the classroom continually seek ways to improve teaching and learning, and the concept of multiple intelligences holds promise as a method for accomplishing this. The essence of the theory of multiple intelligences is to understand the many differences among students, the variations in the ways…

A bioinformatics laboratory exercise based on inherited human morphological traits is presented. It teaches how morphological characters can be used to study the evolutionary history of humans using parsimony. The exercise can easily be used in a pen-and-paper laboratory, but if computers are available, a more versatile analysis can be carried…

We have devised and implemented a DNA fingerprinting module for an upper division undergraduate laboratory based on the amplification and analysis of three of the 13 short tandem repeat loci that are required by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Combined DNA Index System (FBI CODIS) data base. Students first collect human epithelial (cheek)…

I present a proposal for a laboratory practice to generate and analyze data from a saturation equilibrium binding experiment addressed to advanced undergraduate students. [[superscript 3]H]Quinuclidinyl benzilate is a nonselective muscarinic ligand with very high affinity and very low nonspecific binding to brain membranes, which contain a high…

The process of construction of meanings for the concepts of concentration and neutralization is explored in terms of "contextualizing practices" (Lemke, 1990, "Talking Science. Language, Learning and Values," Norwood, NJ: Ablex) creation of meanings through connections established among actions and their context. This notion is expanded to include…

"Mystery Powders" is a popular exploratory activity in which secondary students describe properties of several white, powdery substances by means of observing their structure through magnifiers or dissection scopes, reactions with a variety of liquids, and heat. Once students or groups have determined the properties of the various powders, they…