A sample class project utilizing Excel spreadsheets to develop a flash drum simulator is demonstrated. In addition to solving equations for mole and enthalpy balances, students are trained to carry out vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations. More importantly, students gain a solid understanding of the link between hand calculations and simulator…

EngQuest, an initiative of Engineers Australia, provides an exciting, non-competitive way for students to participate in free, fun and educational engineering activities involving mathematics, science and technology. This article describes a project designed to teach middle school students how to construct a water catchment system. Water…

"Project-Based Learning in the Math Classroom" explains how to keep inquiry at the heart of mathematics teaching and helps teachers build students' abilities to be true mathematicians. This book outlines basic teaching strategies, such as questioning and exploration of concepts. It also provides advanced strategies for teachers who are…

What if you could challenge your 12th graders to understand car crashes in the context of physical forces, manufacturing challenges, government safety standards, and individual rights? With this volume in the "STEM Road Map Curriculum Series," you can! "Car Crashes" outlines a journey that will steer your students toward…

At Portledge School in Locust Valley, New York, ninth graders in their upper school study art history for one semester. The visual arts department has created a vigorous new syllabus culminating in an hour-long mock art auction. The department selects several art movements (e.g., Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, Social Realism,…

Technology offers ample opportunities to bring reality into the classroom. Students and teachers nowadays have many tools to work in an authentic way with real data in mathematics and science education. However, much research and development are still needed to create a consistent learning trajectory out of the many exciting single activities.…

This report describes a classroom project that groups sophomore biology students into "companies" bidding for a "contract" to build a self-sufficient, enclosed city by producing a manual and model of their version of a biosphere. Students must develop technological support systems, social and economic parameters, and systems…

An 18-week economics course for high school students is described. Students develop and present a group project that explains and justifies an economic policy for the United States, develop their own economic seminar consisting of student-invited speakers from the community, conduct economic research, and simulate a community business. (RM)

How to use elementary school children as curators of a classroom museum is described. The teacher decides the concept or unit to be showcased in the museum. As curators students are responsible for many tasks including writing descriptive paragraphs for the artifacts and arranging the artifact display. (RM)

Suggestions are offered for a classroom project of planning and conducting an archaeological dig on or near school property. Principles of archaeological practice such as making drawings of the site and using a grid frame to record locations are explained. Also suggested is a simulation activity in which students pick imbedded "findings" out of…

A reenactment that attempts to re-create and relive the sequence of events of a significant historical happening can be an essential power for learning history. Suggestions to help teachers develop and plan a reenactment are made. (RM)

Activities to stimulate interest in and knowledge about economics among seventh graders are described in this paper. Major activities include: (1) initiating a round of student team interviews with parents and other working adults, (2) presenting a case-study simulation whereby a panel of community experts evaluates student decision-making and…

The functional skills activity, "On Your Own," provides an opportunity for adolescents with mild disabilities to apply cognitive and academic skills in the program's four phases (choosing a career, finding an apartment, furnishing the apartment, and learning to budget) involve direct instruction, hands-on activities, small-group discussions, and…

The educational objective of this exercise is for students to use a risk assessment tool to evaluate a hazardous release site and for students in grades 8-12 to increase their experience with geology, aquifers, soils, land use, pollution, data analysis, and map concepts. Students use background information on hazardous materials, the Environmental…

A unit on medieval religion, monasteries, and convents for seventh-grade students is presented. Students converted the classroom into a monastery and experienced as realistically as possible the life and spirit of medieval religion. (RM)