Science 2.0: Engineering, Modeling, and Computational Thinking

Journal Article | January 2012

This column shares web tools that support learning. This month’s issue describes software programs used for modeling.

Scope on Safety: STEM: A question of safety.

Journal Article | August 2012

This column shares safety information for your classroom. This month’s issue discusses the growth of STEM lessons and the need to address hazard recognition and safety training relative to the use of hand and power…

“Creative Final Projects” in Mathematics and Science: An Educational Instrument for Maximizing Students' Learning and Understanding

Journal Article | January 2000

In a final class project, art and communications students taking science and mathematics courses at Chicago’s Columbia College and the Illinois Institute of Art produce a significant creative work using a media of their…

Storm Trackers: In an inquiry-based unit, students learn to track hurricanes

Journal Article | December 2000

Storm Trackers is an inquiry-based unit designed to combine science, mathematics, geography, and English in an Earth science class. It places students in realistic problem-solving situations and presents meteorology…

The Sun Tower

Journal Article | October 2000

With funding and support from the NASA Office of Space Science through the IDEAS program, a team of teachers from Gullett Elementary School in Austin, Texas, and a research scientist at the University of Texas, worked…

Action Research Brings Results

Journal Article | October 2001

Action Research, defined as long-term efforts by teachers to collect and examine their own data to make informed decisions about instruction, is one form of professional development that allows teachers to choose from a…

Science 101: How does photosynthesis work?

Journal Article | March 2007

Energy transformations are an important part of the functioning of ecosystems, and a key part of those energy transformations is photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, bacteria, and other…

Guest Editorial: Physics or stamp collecting? Pitfalls of the hierarchy of disciplines

Journal Article | October 2009

In science and in academia, there is often a de facto hierarchy of disciplines with the so-called “hard” sciences (physics, chemistry) at the top, and the “soft” sciences (psychology, sociology) at the bottom (Tudge…

Scope on Safety: Avoiding the burn

Journal Article | January 2009

A major cause of injuries in middle and high school science laboratories can be summarized by one word—heat. Heated liquids, glassware, and hot plates are the most common source of student burns in the lab. Training—the…

Career of the Month: Foodborne Disease Epidemiologist

Journal Article | August 2005

Did you know that Salmonella and E. coli are just two of more than 250 different identified foodborne diseases? To Jack Guzewich, a Foodborne Disease Epidemiologist with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center…

Editor's Note (July 2005)

Journal Article | June 2005

Summer is the time to work on next year with the luxury of time. This section gives an overview of ideas that involve time for preparation or coordination. This is time that November may not provide but that summer…

Career of the Month: An Interview with Genetic Counselor Jennifer Facher

Journal Article | October 2003

This column shares interviews with professionals using science in the workplace. In this month’s issue find out about Jennifer Facher's rewarding job as genetic counselor.

The Green Room: The Ecology of Food

Journal Article | June 2012

This column focuses on making your teaching more environmentally friendly. This month’s issue discusses modern agricultural technologies.

Cold Scat Creamery: Using Ice-Cream-Parlor Tricks to Create Fake Scat

Journal Article | March 2013

Create fake scat that reflects animal diets and have students learn about local wildlife, animal sign identification, and a variety of animal diet classifications.

Turf Protecting Toxins

Journal Article | September 2002

Allelopathy is a naturally occurring process by which chemicals produced by a plant have a detrimental effect on competing plants. This activity explores how trees protect their limited resource through chemical warfare.