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Journal Article
Students who participate in community outreach programs develop a positive awareness for civic duty and observe applications of their learning (Waldstein and Reiher 2001). Teachers and students discover the most vivid benefits of service learning whe...
Journal Article
Scope on Safety: Plant the seeds of safety
Spring is in the air and many science classes take advantage of the good weather by conducting outdoor labs and taking field trips. Before venturing into the great outdoors with your class, review these plant safety tips....
Journal Article
Society for College Science Teachers: The Importance of Mathematics in Biology Courses
We do our students a great disservice if we do not involve them in the mathematical nature of biology. The lack of mathematics-based experiences in the sciences handicaps them and prevents them from being active in the scientific community. Even intr...
Journal Article
The Case Study: Can Case Studies Be Used to Teach Critical Thinking?
In this month’s column, case studies are touted as an effective means of promoting critical thinking skills. Most of them are discipline specific, certainly. But they all grapple with the essence of critical thinking—asking for evidence—develop...
Journal Article
After a 2001 wildfire in the state of Wyoming, scientists were interested in learning what hydrophobic layers existed in the heavily burned areas and at what depth. In a collaborative, inquiry-based project, high school students collected soil chemis...
Journal Article
The “Praise Acres Project,” which initiated from a letter written by a local resident, turned into a long-running, inquiry-based lesson benefiting high school students and the community. The resident expressed the desire to develop a wetlands and...
Journal Article
Point of View: The Community College Funding Gap
In this month’s opinion piece, the author expresses her displeasure with President Bush’s commitment to provide more funding for community colleges, made in his third State of the Union address in January 2004. He proposed “increasing our suppo...
Journal Article
Research and Teaching: Using Peer Teaching to Promote Learning in Biology
The author assessed the effectiveness of peer teaching in helping students learn biology concepts. Students performed the best on exam questions based on material they taught. Student test averages increased significantly after their teaching experie...
Journal Article
Inquiry-guided instruction (IGI) has the potential to greatly enhance the learning experience for both educators and students. Although studies show the benefits of IGI, implementation presents its challenges. Issues include the balance of content ma...
Journal Article
Science 101: What happens in a thunderstorm?
A thunderstorm is a localized storm accompanied by lightning and thunder. It may also have gusty winds and often brings heavy rain. Some thunderstorms also bring tornadoes and/or hail. In this selection a meteorologist provides the basics behind s...
Journal Article
These high-interest activities use humor to complement traditional classroom learning. For example, after completing a three-week unit of physics labs, middle school students watched several Three Stooges films and looked for examples of physics prin...
Journal Article
Editor's Corner: On Being World Class...
In this month’s column, the field editor reflects on the educational reform bill, Goals 2000, which was drafted into law during the Clinton administration and specifically challenged U.S. science educators to produce graduates who are “the best i...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: The Area of an Irregular Object
Science teachers are often looking for ways to integrate more mathematics applications into laboratory situations. Quantifiable data can provide students with a greater understanding of scientific concepts. Direct application of these skills provides...