Analogies: Powerful Teaching-Learning Tools

Book Chapter | February 2010

In this activity, teachers explore how teaching shares some attributes with a variety of other occupations, students consider their respective roles as learners, and both consider the reciprocal, interactive nature of…

Talking Tapes: Beyond Hearing to Understanding

Book Chapter | February 2010

The need to combine fun, hands-on “play” with the mentally engaging, minds-on “work” of learning should be emphasized in professional development settings and in science methods courses. Teachers should emphasize…

Super-Absorbent Polymers: Minds-On Learning and Brain "Growth"

Book Chapter | February 2010

Super-absorbent polymers (SAPs) absorb and retain water up to several hundred times their mass and increase in volume up to 600%. Unlike this prop, students’ brains do not grow/learn by passive absorption of received…

Mental Puzzles, Memory, and Mnemonics: Seeking Patterns

Book Chapter | February 2010

Various mental puzzles and memory tasks can seem difficult until a heuristic or generalizable problem-solving technique is discovered or invented. A mnemonic (memory device) can help learners remember information. A…

Sound Tube Toys: The Importance of Varying Stimuli

Book Chapter | February 2010

Sound is a form of energy created and transmitted as a vibration or mechanical wave that can vary in pitch (frequency) and volume (amplitude). Simple toys can be used to engage interest and to develop and assess the…

Convection: Conceptual Change Teaching

Book Chapter | February 2010

Two bottles of different-colored water are placed vertically, one on top of the other with open ends together. They remain stable if the bottle with the hotter (red-colored) water is placed on top of the bottle with the…

Brain-Powered Lightbulb: Knowledge Transmission?

Book Chapter | February 2010

This activity explores the closed, battery-powered circuits that convert chemical potential energy to electrical energy to light energy. Since Edison’s invention of the lightbulb, it has been commonly used as a visual…

Air Mass Matters: Creating a Need-to-Know

Book Chapter | February 2010

Air has weight and exerts a pressure of 10 N/cm2 (or 14.7 lbs/in2) at sea level. Gases are not “no thing.” Gases have mass, occupy space, exert pressure, and are composed of molecules separated by truly “empty” space.…

3D Magnetic Fields: Making Meaningful Connections

Book Chapter | February 2010

In this activity, a sealed, transparent container filled with a clear, colorless oil and several tablespoons of iron filings is shaken and a cylindrical magnet is suspended in the middle of the container. Beautiful…

Electric Generators: Connecting With Students

Book Chapter | February 2010

Most students have a very limited sense of where electricity comes from. In this activity, a hand-powered electric generator converts mechanical energy into direct current (DC) electricity that can be used to power a…

Static Electricity: Charging Up Two-by-Four Teaching

Book Chapter | February 2010

Static electricity is created when two different insulating materials are rubbed together, creating friction that allows electrons to shift from one material to the other. In this activity, a 6-8 ft., 2 in. x 4 in.…

Möbius Strip: Connecting Teaching and Learning

Book Chapter | February 2010

A Möbius strip is a nonorientable, two-dimensional surface with only one side. The one-sided nature of the Möbius strip is an example of an emergent property—a property that is found in a system as a whole, but not in…

Needle Through the Balloon: Skewering Misconceptions

Book Chapter | February 2010

Prior experiences and conceptions that students have about a wide variety of science phenomena (e.g., sharp needles pop balloons) often form barriers to developing more scientifically valid understandings. In this…

Happy and Sad Bouncing Balls: Student Diversity Matters

Book Chapter | February 2010

This activity features two seemingly identical black rubber balls—one happy and one sad—that behave quite differently. The two balls can be used to introduce the National Science Education Standards’ unifying concepts…

Electrical Circuits: Promoting Learning Communities

Book Chapter | February 2010

Direct current (DC) electricity flows through a closed circuit of people, and a battery-powered ball lights up. In this activity, the Energy Ball (or UFO Ball) is a Ping-Pong ball look-alike battery-powered ball that…