The Pelican's Nest, located near Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico, is a science center supported by a local educational foundation. Programs are geared toward marine wildlife and the coastal habitat with an emphasis on hands-on learning for students in grades K-6. The director of the science center conducts daily classroom labs and discovery trips…

Learning celebrations are increasingly common in schools looking to put more emphasis on community and efficacy in place formulaic science fair projects. The celebration aspect is in the community's participation and interaction with the learners. Students are the main event, performing as they would in a school play or applying acquired knowledge…

In a regional gathering called the Youth Water Summit, high school students present projects that respond to the driving question behind their science curriculum: "How can you address a significant water resource challenge in your community's watershed?" Students exhibit scientific posters, interactive presentations, films, art projects,…

The number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is declining due in part to a lack of student interest (Fairweather 2008; NRC 2012; PCAST 2010). One reason may be the difference between how science is done in school and how it is done in the field (Osborne, Simon, and Collins 2003). An interdisciplinary…

An in-class activity is described that can be used not only to motivate hypothesis testing, but also to understand and compute the p-value and power in a statistical test. (Contains 3 figures.)

In the fall of 2011, Park Forest Middle School (PFMS) students approached the STEM faculty with numerous questions regarding the popular television show Myth Busters, which detailed Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor, Archimedes. Two episodes featured attempts to test historical accounts that Archimedes developed a death ray…

One author shares the unique opportunity to be immersed in the science of "sound at work" through participation in NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Teacher at Sea Program. A third- through fifth-grade learning outcome within the Nature of Science section of the "Next Generation Science Standards"…

Engaging students in both hands-on and minds-on experiences is needed for education that is relevant and complete. Many middle school students enter science classrooms with pre-conceived ideas about their world. Some of these ideas are misconceptions that hinder students from developing accepted concepts in science, such as those related to…

To capture students' excitement and engage their interest in rocketships and visiting planets in the solar system, the author designed lessons that give students the opportunity to experience the joys and challenges of developing straw rockets, and then observing which design can travel the longest distance. The lessons are appropriate for…

Practical project work based on eBay selling prices is described. It is suitable for secondary school students of a wide range of statistical expertise and it may be used to introduce a statistical package. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

We report a practical home-made microcentrifuge to be used for teaching purposes. It was made using a salad spinner and two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tubes racks. It can accommodate 2 standard size 96-well plates or 24 strips or up to 192 microfuge tube. The centrifuge is hand-operated and is ideal for short spin down purposes. (Contains 3…

The recently published National Research Council (NRC) report "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" (NRC 2011) offers a thoughtful research-based agenda that helps guide teachers in making the shift to a doing-led agenda in K-12 science education. In the December 2011 editions of the NSTA…

Living in the Adirondack Park and being an avid outdoorsman has often resulted in the author's love of the outdoors working its way into class projects. In 2010, the author gave a group of 25 students in grades 9-12 a challenge that required them to design and construct a prototype inexpensive, lightweight kayak for backpackers and fisherman. In…

The internet abounds with free science education applications. But, on their own, these applications have limited capacity to teach students curricular concepts or skills. The author integrated several free web-based applications into a broader pedagogical approach called T-GEM, in which the teacher guides student investigations. In this article,…

Assessment serves many purposes in the elementary classroom. Formative assessment, often called assessment for learning, is characterized by its primary purpose--promoting learning. It takes place both formally and informally, is embedded in various stages of an instructional cycle, informs the teacher about appropriate next steps for instruction,…