All Resources

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Roller Coaster Inquiry

This project, which centers on roller coaster design, engages students in learning about physics and activates their prior knowledge in an open-inquiry environment. The activity also gets students involved with inquiry and group work during the first...

Journal Article

Editor's Note (September 2004)

The act of having students commit to an outcome makes them think. It is different than oral brainstorming because everyone is accountable. Students may not volunteer exactly what they are thinking. Like everyone else, they may just summarize. Stu...

Journal Article

Editor's Corner: May You Live in Interesting Times!

As the 2004-2005 began, science teachers were faced with unprecedented challenges. Limited budgets were stretched to the breaking point. The mandates of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), state and national standards, and high-stakes testing required teach...

Journal Article

"A" Is for Assessment

Assessment strategies do not have to be complicated in order to inform both learning and teaching. Assessment strategies described in this article include student drawings, journal entries, lists, dramatizations, individual interviews, constructions,...

Journal Article

Fostering Inquiry in Nonlaboratory Settings

Inquiry is an important learning strategy, even for students who cannot or do not perform actual experiments. The authors describe two activities, other than experimentation, that they used in introductory biology learning groups to emphasize inquiry...

Journal Article

Earth System Science Project

For several decades, science teachers have used bottles for classroom projects designed to teach students about biology. A model terrarium enclosed in a glass bottle was described in the 1975 edition of Science and Children (Ochs and Brock 1975). S...

Journal Article

Bernoulli's Principle

Many physics teachers have an unclear understanding of Bernoulli’s principle, particularly when the principle is applied to aerodynamic lift. Some teachers favor using Newton’s laws instead of Bernoulli’s principle to explain the physics behind...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: September in the skies

Although there weren't any visible planets at the beginning of the September 2004 school year, there were plenty of other celestial thrills to make up for it. These include the strangely shaped asteroid Toutatis that tumbled past the Earth, coming wi...

Journal Article

Adventures in Exercise Physiology

The author altered the format of an exercise physiology course from traditional lecture to emphasizing daily reading quizzes and group problem-solving activities. The SALGains evaluation was used to compare the two approaches and significant improvem...

Journal Article

Salty Microbiology

Using microbiology activities in the classroom is an effective way for teachers to address National Standards in the life sciences. However, they could be too risky to implement due to the likelihood of cultivating human pathogens. In addition, makin...

Journal Article

Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program—Students of Invention

Thomas A. Edison said, "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." Well, the finalists in this year's Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Award Program had no shortage of imagination but chose more useful items with which to work. With t...

Journal Article

Tricky Science

Science demonstrations can be excellent tools for capturing students' attention. This "magic trick" involves Super Gel (sodium polyacrylate) and "disappearing" water. This inquiry-based activity is designed to stimulate critical thinking and develop ...

Journal Article

NASA "ROCKS" Problem-Based Learning

With the National Science Education Standards as a driving force behind instruction, science educators must move toward classroom activities that allow students to guide their own learning experiences and form their own questions for investigation in...

Journal Article

First Day of School

Capture your students’ attention on the first day of school by breaking from the usual routine of reviewing class expectations, rules, and the course syllabus. Students will be captivated when you ask them to explain how a balloon was inflated insi...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Modeling a Sinkhole

Limestone lies underneath approximately 15 percent of the United States. Fractures, cracks, and weaknesses develop due to Earth’s natural processes or manmade sources, resulting in structural change to the limestone. As a result, the formation of s...