Though central to any pedagogical development of physics, the concept of mass is still not well understood. Properly defining mass has proven to be far more daunting than contemporary textbooks would have us believe. And yet today the origin of mass is one of the most aggressively pursued areas of research in all of physics. Much of the excitement…

Researchers and practitioners alike express concerns about the conceptual difficulties associated with the concepts of momentum and kinetic energy currently taught in school physics. This article presents an in-depth analysis of the treatment given to them in 44 published textbooks written for UK secondary school certificate courses. This is set…

In this article, the authors explore the question, "Does the Moon spin?", and show how the question is investigated. They emphasise the importance of the process by which people work out what they know, by "learning from the inside out." They stress that those involved in science education have to challenge current conceptions and ideas, making…

Prize-winning scientist and bestselling author James Trefil explains why every U.S. citizen needs to be "scientifically literate" and, therefore, why schools must teach the fundamental principles of scientific literacy to every student. He lays out those principles straightforwardly, so that educators--and everyone who is interested in…

Discusses the applications of the principles of mechanics to rock climbing techniques. Provides illustrations showing the applied force vectors. (YP)

You can't see, smell or taste air - but here's an easy method for experimenting with it. (Editor)

Describes several ways to partially levitate permanent magnets. Computes field line geometries and oscillation frequencies. Provides several diagrams illustrating the mechanism of the oscillation. (YP)

Describes the use of a creationist-derived lesson plan in a nonmajor zoology class to demonstrate students' grasp of scientific concepts and principles. (WRM)

Discusses the use and significance of geologic generalizations. Provides examples of different types of geologic observations and describes how they relate to the way explanations are formulated. Proposes that the mentioned generalizations be regarded as "laws." (ML)

The concept of paraphyly is defined and its importance in the teaching of evolution and taxonomy is discussed. Examples are included to illustrate this concept. A list of 14 references is provided. (CW)

Discusses the application of the laws of physics to natural phenomena, including Jackrabbit ears, transparent atmosphere, formation of ice, and long-wave radiation. (YP)

Explores the basic physical laws of the juggling activity. Derives some equations involving height, angle, time, and distance for common juggling objects. Describes the relationships among height, length, mass, number of clubs, number of spins, angular velocity, time, and angle in club juggling. (YP)

Describes a high school physics teaching sequence including more modern topics. The first quarter covers cosmology, astronomy, optics, wave mechanics, relativity, gravity, and quantum theory. The second quarter covers classical mechanics. The third quarter covers electromagnetism and electronics. The fourth quarter consists of thermodynamics and…

Discusses the use of logarithm and reciprocal graphs in the college physics classroom. Provides examples, such as electrical conductivity, reliability function in the Weibull model, and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation for latent heat of vaporation. Shows graphs with weighting of points. (YP)

Various phenomena in chemistry and biology can be understood through Gibbs energy utilization. Some common phenomena in chemistry are explained including neutralization, hydrolysis, oxidation and reaction, simultaneous dissociation equilibrium of two weak acids, and common ion effect on solubility. (Author/SA)