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Tornado in a Bottle: The Vortex of Teaching and Learning
Book Chapter |
In this activity, two 2 L plastic soda bottles are connected at their mouths. Colored water from the upper bottle falls in the lower bottle quickly only after the two bottle system is given a twist to create a spiraling…
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Floating and Sinking: Raising FUNdaMENTAL Questions
Book Chapter |
Learning science is FUNdaMENTAL—that is, it is a combination of hands-on FUN and minds-on MENTAL activity. It builds on students’ prior knowledge that has been acquired both from formal instruction and from daily life…
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Cartesian Diver: A Transparent but Deceptive "Black Box"
Book Chapter |
An eyedropper “diver”—eyedropper, dropper, diver, and Cartesian diver are used interchangeable in this activity—can be made to float, sink, or remain suspended in the middle of a water-filled, capped, plastic 2 L soda…
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Crystal Heat: Catalyzing Cognitive Construction
Book Chapter |
A small metal clicker/disk within a sealed pouch containing a clear, colorless liquid is clicked, and the liquid rapidly crystallizes into a solid mass and releases a large quantity of heat. If the solidified pouch is…
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Perceptual Paradoxes: Multisensory Science and Measurement
Book Chapter |
Perceptual paradox activities challenge assumptions in ways that are both playful and mentally challenging and that point to the need for quantitative measurements. These activities also demonstrate that human meaning-…
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Optical Illusions: Seeing and Cognitive Construction
Book Chapter |
Optical illusions can be used as interactive, everyone-participates demonstrations to show teachers that the act of visual observation is not a passive, mindless, stimulus-response, camera-like operation. Optical…
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Utensil Music: Teaching Sound Science
Book Chapter |
“Sound science” is more than just a play on words—it is a powerful metaphor for the mind-opening and mind-expanding effect of integrated curriculum, instruction, and assessment. This simple, hands-on exploration…
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Identification Detectives: Sounds and Smells of Science
Book Chapter |
This simple, hands-on exploration can be used to emphasize the role of sensory perception as a necessary antecedent to mental conception, the nature of science, and the pedagogical value of a “fun phenomena first.”…
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Two-Balloon Balancing Act: Constructivist Teaching
Book Chapter |
This activity explores LaPlace’s law where membranes exert pressure on their contents that decrease as the membranes are stretched to larger sizes and their thickness decreases. The internal pressure of a spherical…
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Batteries and Bulbs: Teaching is More Than Telling
Book Chapter |
This activity features a simple, three-component system that can be used to explore a variety of concepts including closed versus open electrical circuits and conductors versus insulators. It also can initiate further…
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Comeback Cans: Potentially Energize “You CAN Do” Science Attitudes
Book Chapter |
Learners predict-observe-explain the rolling behavior of the two cans in terms of kinetic and potential energy conversions and friction. Two seemingly identical opaque cans are set against each other in a race on a flat…
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Follow That
Star: <i>National Science Education Standards</i> and True North
Book Chapter |
Earth’s magnetic field and its effect on compasses can help people find their bearings relative to a fixed target or direction. In this activity, many learners will have difficulty locating their compass bearings if…
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“Horsing Around”: Curriculum-Instruction-Assessment Problems
Book Chapter |
The nature of science (NOS) involves actively seeking (rather than avoiding) challenging problems that may require looking at situations differently and thinking outside of artificially imposed constraints. Science,…
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Magical Signs of Science: “Basic Indicators” for Student Inquiry
Book Chapter |
Advertisements capture consumers’ attention and motivate them to buy certain products. Similarly, teachers need to sell science to students by walking the talk of research-informed best practices. Magic signs with (dis)…
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Verifying Vexing Volumes: “Can Be as Easy as Pi” Mathematics
Book Chapter |
Mathematics is both a key to unlocking the secrets of nature and, for many students, a stumbling block to conceptual understanding in science. In this activity, two sheets of 8.5 in. × 11 in. paper are used to construct…
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