Ask the Experts—April/May 2008

Journal Article | March 2008

In this month’s column, the experts address the following questions: • How does temperature regulate the gender of sea turtles (and other organisms) as they incubate? Also, how can XX females become male…

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 (Books published in 2010)

Journal Article | February 2011

What makes an outstanding book for a young reader? Although it would be hard to create a rubric for every book, experienced teachers recognize them quickly. They fascinate and captivate with both their content and style…

The Green Room: Student Sustainability Conferences

Journal Article | January 2011

A day-long conference can be a perfect student-centered sustainability project. Not only is it a great way to get students together to discuss their ideas for sustainability in schools, but it also creates an…

Editor’s Roundtable: At the breaking point

Journal Article | January 2008

Sobering articles and alarming predictions about the environment appear in magazines, journals, and the media daily. These warnings should not be overlooked and are a call to action for educators. Our students must…

Linking the Classroom to the Community

Journal Article | March 2005

The Youth Network for Healthy Communities (YNHC) is a teacher-driven project in Washington State in which students research environmental health issues in their communities and present their findings to other students…

Build Your Own Motor

Journal Article | January 1999

Most students perceive household appliances as "black boxes" that simply work when plugged in. In order to understand the science of electrical devices, students build simple electric motors for a hands-on investigation…

Improving Science Reading Comprehension

Journal Article | February 2005

Lend your struggling readers a helping hand with strategies that will enhance their comprehension of science reading materials. This article offers a few easy-to-implement strategies that teachers can use before, during…

Science Sampler: Shark detectives

Journal Article | October 2005

Oceans are often considered mysterious, fascinating places filled with unique and scary animals. One of the most misunderstood and therefore the scariest animals is the shark. This student-directed activity involves…

A Novel Lecture Series and Associated Outreach Program in the Environmental and Natural Sciences

Journal Article | February 2008

To address the low priority given to university-level outreach, the authors created an outreach program that makes it easy for scientists to connect with the public, while at the same time providing effective transfer…

Career of the Month: An Interview With Aeronautical Engineer Paul Moller

Journal Article | October 2008

Engineers are inventors, designers, and creators—they apply science, math, and imagination to make dreams a reality. As they work to craft technical solutions to consumer and societal needs, engineers bridge the gap…

Learning Online

Journal Article | February 2003

To improve large lecture courses, the authors designed a hybrid instructional format that couples online homework with in-class, active learning exercises. They assessed student perceptions of a pilot version this…

Building Background Knowledge

Journal Article | December 2009

Too often, students enter our classrooms with insufficient knowledge of physical science. As a result, they have a difficult time understanding content in texts, lectures, and laboratory activities. This lack of…

The Early Years: Where Did the Water Go?

Journal Article | March 2010

Everyday occurrences with evaporation are so ordinary that adults may not realize that children wonder about them and create explanations about what happens to water as wet objects dry. The process of evaporation is not…

Editor's Note: Geology Is Fundamental (December 2006)

Journal Article | November 2006

Geology is fundamental. The usual triad of sciences (chemistry, physics, and biology) is also clearly important. Not much can be explained without physics, for example. But geology, the history of Earth, is an…

Research and Teaching: Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning in Teaching Serial Dilutions

Journal Article | June 2008

The 5E model of inquiry-based learning was incorporated into a sophomore-level microbiology laboratory to increase student understanding of serial dilutions, a concept that is often difficult for most students to…