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Journal Article

What’s the Matter With Teaching Children About Matter?

When it comes to learning about solids, liquids, and gases, children often bring interesting yet inaccurate ideas to the topic. When children’s ideas conflict with the concepts we seek to teach, they interfere with learning. Therefore, we must cons...

Journal Article

An Environmental Town Meeting: Balancing Environmental Decisions and Real-Life Issues

In order to help middle school students understand the many aspects that go into making decisions about environmental issues and concerns, as well as identifying the players involved in these decisions, an environmental town meeting activity was deve...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Calibrated Peer Review Assignments in Science Courses—Are They Designed to Promote Critical Thinking and Writing Skills?

Calibrated Peer Review (CPR), an online program that purportedly helps students develop as writers and critical thinkers, is being increasingly used by science educators. CPR is an enticing tool since it does not require instructors to grade student ...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Clearing the air on ventilation

Poor ventilation is often a topic of conversation relative to safety concerns in school science laboratories. Too often, school science laboratories have ventilation systems that are inappropriate and ineffective for removing hazardous chemical vapor...

Journal Article

Issues In-Depth: How “bright” is it to use CFLs? A look at the controversy

Commonly referred to as CFLs, compact fluorescent light bulbs are rapidly replacing traditional incandescent light bulbs for residential use. However, controversy and even comic parody have arisen surrounding CFL use. CFLs contain small amounts of me...

Journal Article

Tech Trek: No need to weather the storm to collect data

At a time when climate change is at the forefront of the media and is a topic of worldwide scientific inquiry, it is critical to engage middle school science students in technology-based activities that integrate climate change into course instructio...

Journal Article

Building a Better Biology Lab? Testing Tablet PC Technology in a Core Laboratory Course

Tablet PC technology can enliven the classroom environment because it is dynamic, interactive, and “organic,” relative to the rigidity of chalkboards, whiteboards, overhead projectors, and PowerPoint presentations. Unlike traditional computers, t...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Fueling interest in science—An after-school program model that works

As our society becomes more technologically advanced and jobs require additional related skills, it is important that all girls, not just those interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (commonly referred to as the STEM disciplines), t...

Journal Article

Editor’s Corner: A Look Back (2008)

The end of the year is always a time for reflection and looking back. Even though December may feel more like midyear for teachers, the end of the calendar year inevitably brings top 10 lists, reviews of the best the year had to offer, and vows for i...

Journal Article

Science Shorts: Comparing Liquids

Children experience the physical properties of liquids as they watch raindrops run down a window, observe how insects can walk on water, and notice how the “shape” of a liquid matches the container in which it is held. Thinking about similarities...