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Journal Article
A High-Stakes-Test Intervention: Moon-Phase Models as Viewed from Earth and Space
Schools are under increasing pressure to meet accountability requirements and show growth in student achievement across tested content areas. As a result, throughout the school year, student achievement data are analyzed to discover data trends that ...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: Putting the science back in the science fair
Despite the value of a science fair, the reality is that students often consult the internet to find a science fair topic. This usually means that their projects may not be something they are curious about, or they may be projects with answers provid...
Journal Article
Tried and True: Population 75 trillion: Cells, organelles, and their functions
Students are often required just to memorize information about the cell, instead of conceptualizing the relationships that exist between structure and function. However, Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2002) have proposed that student-created analog...
Journal Article
This article addresses misconceptions surrounding the Coriolis force and describes how it should be presented as a function within inertial and noninertial frames of reference. Not only does this demonstrate the nature of science as it strives to be...
Journal Article
Editor’s Roundtable: Too much assessment
Regardless of the context, the intent and meaning of “assessment” has remained the same: to determine what students know before a lesson starts, to monitor if they are “getting it” as the lesson unfolds, and to measure what they have mastered...
Journal Article
We want to challenge our students, but we need to give them tasks and assessments they can realistically succeed at and are valid indicators of their learning. Deconstructing planning, teaching, and assessment can help teachers instruct and assess mo...
Journal Article
Tried and True: Using Diet Coke and Mentos to teach scientific inquiry
Adding mint Mentos candy to a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke produces a fountain of soda foam that can reach 3 m high. A demonstration such as this can get a “Wow” out of most audiences, usually followed by a “Do it again!”—but can it be use...
Journal Article
Everyday Engineering: Ain’t she sweet—Bats, rackets, golf clubs, and all
The pitcher throws the ball and the batter takes a mighty swing. Crack! The ball is hit on the sweet spot and soars to the outfield. Or, you hear a thud! This time, the ball dribbles along the infield ground and the batter’s hands sting. Everyone w...
Journal Article
Editor’s Roundtable: A matter of confusion
Much of the information about atomic structure is too abstract and difficult for most middle level students to comprehend, so middle level teachers face a dilemma: If they introduce atomic theory too early and in too much detail, they may lose their ...
Journal Article
Scope on Safety: Permanent safety in a temporary lab
In the last issue of Science Scope, the author discussed the science teacher’s role in the construction or renovation of science facilities. As a follow-up, in this month’s column, he will discuss how science teachers can deal with being displace...
Journal Article
"It's ELEMENTary, My Dear Watson": A Crime Scene Investigation With a Technological Twist
The Crime Scene Labs is a technology-enhanced unit with seven laboratory stations. Probes at many of the stations facilitate students collecting and analyzing their own data (some lessons are adapted from Volz and Sapatka 2000). The labs are designed...
Journal Article
The ingredient lists of your shampoo, makeup, and moisturizer are likely to include a dizzying number of unknown ingredients. What these ingredients are and do is a mystery to most consumers. However, many cosmetics contain ingredients that are linke...
Journal Article
Little Shrimp, Big Results: A Model of an Integrative, Cross-Curricular Activity
This integrative, cross-curricular lab engages middle school biology students in an exercise involving ecology, arthropod biology, and mathematics. Students research the anatomy and behavioral patterns of a species of brine shrimp, compare the anatom...