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Wacky Machines: A unit on simple machines gets a new twist with old junk
Journal Article |
The next community yard sale might be a repository of old, quirky items that are just the things to get students thinking about simple machines. By introducing some "wacky machines" at lab stations as mystery objects,…
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Why Do Athletes Drink Sports Drinks?
Journal Article |
Why does an athlete reach for a sports drink after a tough game or practice? The learning cycle presented in this article helps students answer this question. Learning cycles (Marek 2009) are designed to guide students…
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Journal Article |
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a powerful vehicle for inquiry-based learning in which students use an authentic problem as the context for an in-depth investigation of what they need and want to know (Checkly, 1997).…
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Favorite Demonstration: Interactive Demonstrations -- Examples From Biology Lectures
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Demonstrations have long been a part of postsecondary science teaching. However, in today's constructivist classroom we know that to show completely, we must actively involve students in their learning. This need for…
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Commentary: Science and Service Learning
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An opinion piece about a successful service learning project in which students used research on plant types to bring a lively activity to local nursing home residents.
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Soil Studies: Applying acid-base chemistry to environmental analysis
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To help secondary students understand acid-base chemistry, two educators design experiments focusing on acid rain’s effect on soil. Students conduct experiments to measure the pH of rainwater and soil before and after…
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Scope on the Skies: We're back!
Journal Article |
This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month’s issue discusses the latest mission to Mars.
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Analyzing the <em>Standards</em>: Looking at using and possibly misusing the science standards
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Be they from Benchmarks for Science Literacy, the National Science Education Standards, or a state curriculum framework, standards offer educators a common foundation upon which to base curriculum, instruction, and…
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Editor’s Roundtable: Reading is fundamental—to science
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A student’s reading level is one of the predictors of his or her overall academic success in middle school and afterwards. Science teachers, however, do not need to be reading experts to help students develop close-…
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Science Sampler: Magic termites—Exploring scientific inquiry
Journal Article |
The objective of the termite experiment is to walk students through the process of designing and conducting an experiment while allowing them to use inquiry-based methods to infer why, in this lab, termites follow the…
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There's More to Teaching Science
Journal Article |
There's more to teaching science than stuffing kids with facts. They have to learn to question, to observe, and to explore. Kids need to think like scientists; to sort and sift and muse. Encourage novel thinking; new…
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Science Sampler: Chemistry in action—Triple delight
Journal Article |
Melt away the winter blues with this series of chemistry investigations. Here the author describes how she capitalizes on students’ love for snow days, bubble gum, and ice cream to reinforce what they have learned about…
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Methods and Strategies: A New Use for Semantic Maps
Journal Article |
Semantic maps are frequently used graphic organizers that help students analyze their reading or develop their vocabulary. However, semantic maps can also be used effectively as a preassessment strategy for science…
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Journal Article |
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…
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Journal Article |
The authors of "How Far are the Stars," featured in the February issue of The Science Teacher, showed how the measurement of parallax permits scientists to infer astronomic distances. Give your students the chance to…
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