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Science Sampler: Making an impact -- Shatter cones
Journal Article |
In this geology activity, students visited the Beaverhead, Montana site of a meteor impact and mapped the locations of shatter cones, which are geologic formations characteristic of an impact site. Using a global…
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Teacher's Toolkit: Troubleshooting: A Bridge That Connects Engineering Design and Scientific Inquiry
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This column provides how-to strategies and practical advice for the science teacher. This month’s issue discusses how to troubleshoot during the design process.
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Scope on Safety: Battery safety basics
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Batteries commonly used in flashlights and other household devices produce hydrogen gas as a product of zinc electrode corrosion. The amount of gas produced is affected by the batteries’ design and charge rate.…
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This exercise teaches students science by demonstrating the ability of calmodulin to bind and lose calcium with attendant alterations in protein conformation. To visualize conformation changes using the simple yet…
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Science Shorts: Maximum Capacity
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Many adults are more skilled in estimating “how long” and “how far” than in estimating other ways to measure—possibly because of the many instances of linear measurements in our everyday lives. Asking students to think…
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The Bermuda Triangle is famous for the unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft, and for strange meteorological phenomena that allegedly have occurred within its boundaries. The following activity asks students…
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Science Sampler: Teacher read-alouds make science come alive
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Demonstrations, hands-on activities, and videos are common ways an industrious science teacher will provide inquiry-based instruction, offering engaging access to the middle school science curriculum. In this article,…
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Case Study: The Mystery of the Blue Death—A Case Study in Epidemiology and the History of Science
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This case study introduces students to John Snow, considered to be one of the founders of both epidemiology and anesthesiology, and a remarkable figure in the history of science. Although historical case studies are…
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In this month’s column, the experts address the following question: My students wondered how scientists give scientific names to hybrids such as mules?
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A Change in Seasons: Increasing Student Observation Skills
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The ability to accurately observe and notice small details is a skill important to scientists. To help students develop this skill, have them record and share observations, successively focusing in on smaller, more…
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The Pennies-as-Electrons Analogy
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Everyday experiences familiarize students with the ways in which electricity is used, but often the underlying concepts remain a mystery. Teachers often use analogies to help students relate the flow of electrons to…
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Journal Article |
Students in a general education science course made significant gains in scientific reasoning skills when they were taught using carefully designed hands-on activities and writing assignments. The activities required…
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Captivating young children is at the heart of teaching, making it fun and challenging. Rogoff (1990) argued that children learn how to think and act in various settings mostly through informal apprenticeships in…
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Developing the Essential Features of Inquiry
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This lesson can be used at the beginning of the year to teach students how to conduct inquiries using the essential features described in Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996). The lesson is…
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Flexible Professional Development
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Among the major challenges for teachers is finding time to translate what they learned during professional development programs into materials they can use in the classrooms. To address this and other concerns, the…
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