A Museum Learning Lab

Journal Article | March 2008

The “Learning Lab: The Cell” exhibit was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Museum and the MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS). Specially designed for middle and high school…

A Virtual Circuits Lab

Journal Article | June 2010

The University of Colorado’s Physics Education Technology (PhET) website offers free, high-quality simulations of many physics experiments that can be used in the classroom. The Circuit Construction Kit, for example,…

Cemeteries as Science Labs

Journal Article | October 2005

Cemeteries can be outdoor museums, teeming with valuable information that tells a story. They provide archaeologists with an opportunity to examine how artifacts (tombstones and monuments) reflect cultural change and…

Focusing Labs on the Nature of Science

Journal Article | October 2004

After learning about the scientific method, students are often left with mistaken impressions about how scientists work. This article seeks to give students a better understanding of the nature of science through…

The Fifty-Cent Optics Lab

Journal Article | September 1999

Any teacher who has had the pleasure of giving students their first view of an image made by a handheld lens will agree that optics is addictive. Seeing how a magnifying glass works, building a telescope, and…

What Motivates Students in the Lab?

Journal Article | January 2002

Four types of motivational methods were examined in this study: quizzes, scheduled presentations, unscheduled presentations, and a control. The quiz group showed the most significant and positive change. Because…

Supercharging Lessons With a Virtual Lab

Journal Article | February 2013

A virtual lab supplements an exploration of simple circuits.

Writing Better Lab Reports

Journal Article | December 2009

As science teachers at a suburban California high school, the authors were concerned about the lab report conclusions written by their upper-level chemistry, biology, and ecology students—which were consistently of poor…

Not Your Ordinary Lab Day

Journal Article | August 2000

After reading a news story about two men who died in an accidental explosion while trying to make the controlled substance methamphetamine, students learn about the stereochemistry of organic molecules and various…