FLEET is a free ship-design simulator that reaches students in their native environment--video games. It is also a physics simulator that applies content first learned through hands-on scientific investigations. Using FLEET, students design and use ships for various naval missions by mastering scientific concepts such as force, energy, and work,…

This article describes a unit in which students investigate total solar eclipses, such as the one coming August 21, from several perspectives. It incorporates mathematical thinking and aligns with the "Next Generation Science Standard." This article refers to physical, virtual, and mathematical modeling. Various models and perspectives…

Because Laura Lukes used to be a geologist, when she started teaching science, she wanted to incorporate field experiences in her classroom. But, like many teachers, she faced obstacles: insufficient budgets, testing requirements, a lack of chaperones and transportation, and the safety concerns that come with fieldwork. As a result, a real field…

This article describes the High-Adventure Science curriculum unit "Is There Life in Space?" This free online investigation, developed by The Concord Consortium, helps students see how scientists use modern tools to locate planets around distant stars and explore the probability of finding extraterrestrial life. This innovative curriculum…

Genetic engineering is taught in biology--but as a scientific tool and not as a means to explore engineering design. Yet, given the clever behaviors and patterns that can be found when examining living systems, biology classes seem well positioned to teach foundational engineering design principles (Kuldell 2007). This article examines a new,…

Probeware is the combination of sensors and software connected to a computer or handheld device. At the heart of probeware is a digital sensor that measures a particular physical parameter. One or more sensors are plugged into an interface, a calculator, and a handheld device. With the click of a button, probeware collects and graphs data in real…

An understanding of the periodic table is central to the study of chemistry. So it is no surprise that it is included in the National Science Education Standards. But how can teachers get students excited about the periodic table? And how can teachers help them learn it in a way that challenges their critical-thinking skills? The authors'…

Technology can be a powerful tool to increase motivation, engagement, and achievement (Park, Khan, and Petrina 2009). In this article, the authors describe their collaborative approach to integrating technology with a lab on bacterial transformation. Students view websites and create videos to increase their conceptual understanding. Although the…

One goal of 21st-century education is to develop mature citizens who can identify issues, solve problems, and communicate solutions. What better way for students to learn these skills than by participating in a science and engineering fair? Fair participants face the same challenges as professional scientists and engineers, even Nobel laureates.…

Classifying a particle requires an understanding of the type of bonding that exists within and among the particles, which requires an understanding of atomic structure and electron configurations, which requires an understanding of the elements of periodic properties, and so on. Rather than getting tangled up in all of these concepts at the start…

The Hudson River Watershed contains a variety of geologic, topographic, climatic, and hydrologic features and a diversity of land-use patterns--making it an ideal model for studying human impact on the coastal environment. In this article, the authors present the Hudson River Plume (HRP), a problem-based online module that explores nonpoint-source…

The 20th century saw some of the most important technological and scientific discoveries in the history of humankind. The space shuttle, the internet, and other modern advances changed society forever, and yet many students cannot imagine what life was like before these technologies existed. In the project described here, students take a firsthand…

The National Science Education Standards suggest that students work as real scientists in the classroom (NRC 1996; 2000). To accomplish this task, the authors developed community-based inquiry lessons (CBILs) that provide students with the opportunity to solve problems as a class, based on the concept of whole-class inquiry (WCI) presented by…

By studying Antarctica via satellite and through ground-truthing research, we can learn where the ice is melting and why. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA), a new and cutting-edge way for scientists, researchers, educators, students, and the public to look at Antarctica, supports this research and allows for unprecedented views of our…

Research Experiences for Teachers (RET), funded by the National Science Foundation, offer teachers an opportunity to participate in current, hands-on scientific research in laboratories across the United States. These experiences provide an avenue for teachers to understand the process of research and gain insight on emerging technologies with the…