In this final “Ask the Experts” column, our own resident “expert” and Department Editor, Marc Rosner, addresses the following questions:

• Why is chocolate bad for dogs?
• Where does the color go when paper fades after sun exposure?
• How do you measure weight in space?
• Since “at risk” students often have difficulty with traditional academic work, it seems they should benefit from exploratory, constructivist activities. In practice, when teachers implement inquiry-type activities, controlling such classes in the requisite atmosphere of freedom can be a challenge. What advice do you have for teachers who wish to implement modern pedagogy with students not used to the new boundaries?
• What makes one element a better conductor than another?

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Did you know that oysters, simply by eating, filter the water they live in? An adult oyster can filter up to 225 L of water every day! In addition, oyster reefs play the important role of sheltering many fish and crab species. Today, the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population is dangerously low—down to only a few percent of its historic level. To improve the overall health of the bay, we need to restore the water-purifying, habitat-providing, marine animals. As an Oyster Restoration and Fisheries Scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Stephanie Reynolds supports this important ecological resource.
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The following physics lab activities are new versions of old experiments for measuring the speed of sound—what makes them new is their use of electronic interfacing, which can be exciting for students. Each activity addresses the National Science Education Standards dealing with Content Standard A, "Science as Inquiry" and Content Standard B, “Interactions of Energy and Matter” (NRC 1996).
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Many resources are available to elementary teachers who wish to support science learning with literature. Unfortunately, somewhere between middle school and high school, the emphasis on using literature to teach science content—particularly the exercise of reading aloud—has all but disappeared. However, the practice of reading aloud is helpful because most students have higher listening comprehension than reading comprehension (Trelease 2006)—low-reading level students, English language learners, and auditory learners in particular, tend to understand what they hear better than what they read. This article provides suggestions for including the practice of reading aloud in the high school science classroom.
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How successful will you be in guiding a new teacher’s professional development? While your success will be influenced by how you and your mentee conceptualize teaching, learning, and the nature of science, research indicates that your success is also highly dependent on how you and your mentee conceptualize mentoring itself. This article describes how conceptions of mentoring help shape interactions between new science teachers and their mentors.
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Students’ mobility impairments need to be addressed for access to and safety in science laboratories. Typical accommodations for mobility-impaired students include workstations, sinks, fume hoods, and safety eyewashes and showers, in addition to other adaptations. The following are some of the higher profile accommodations based primarily on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) expectations for mobility-impaired students and faculty members.
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As the upcoming school year approaches, many science teachers may be looking for new ways to incorporate inquiry in their classrooms. Fortunately, teachers have an array of inquiry activities at their fingertips. But with so many resources available, it can be challenging for a teacher to make an educated decision about which experiments to incorporate into the lesson plans. To help teachers select the most appropriate inquiry activities—which vary widely in the structure provided for students to conduct experiments—this article provides a rubric that can be used to compare experiments and suggests trajectories for structuring inquiry across the curriculum.
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On December 27, 1831, the H.M.S. Beagle left Plymouth Harbor for a round-the-world voyage. On board was would-be botanist Charles Darwin, the best tour guide biology has ever known. In 2009, we will celebrate Darwin’s 200^th birthday and the 150^th anniversary of The Origin of Species publication. What better way to prepare for this celebration than to plan your own voyage of discovery this summer? As in summers past, we have once again asked the reviewers of NSTA Recommends to help you plan that voyage by suggesting the best summer reading for teachers.
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To help make science relevant to student’s everyday lives, the authors required their 10^th-grade summer school students to read selections from a popular nonfiction science book. By doing so, they were able to promote literacy and provide an authentic portrayal of the nature of science in a way that was fun and interesting for their students. This article describes their experience using a nonfiction science book in the classroom and suggests literacy activities to enhance science and reading comprehension.
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Have you ever learned science outside of school, free of fact-based standards and tests? Were you at a museum, national park, or maybe in front of a TV? Science educators refer to this kind of learning as free-choice learning or informal learning. The terms are often used when talking about institutions such as museums, zoos, and science centers. With summer now upon us—the time of year when we are most likely to visit an informal learning institution—it seems particularly appropriate to introduce this research field.
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Schools in the United States are faced with an increasingly diverse student population and a dramatic increase in the number of English language learners (ELLs) in all grades. As such diverse populations grow in this era of high-stakes testing and accountability, there is increased pressure to make science accessible to all. To help promote multicultural science education, in this article the authors present a survey of tools and methods to enhance science learning for culturally diverse students whose native language is not English.
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