Students have several misconceptions about thermodynamics. However, an understanding of basic concepts in this branch of physics remains fundamental to explain thermal phenomena. The purpose of this activity was to extend students' conceptual understanding of heat, temperature, energy, and thermal insulators and conductors. Two groups of students…

Although science is a core subject, educators at Uphall Primary School have found in recent times pupils do not display the same enthusiasm for science as they do for other subjects. In order to raise the pupils' science capital and generate an eagerness among the pupils to experiment, learn and develop their curiosity about the world around them,…

Renal clearance, the volume of blood cleared of a substance in a particular time period, is commonly recognized as one of the most difficult concepts in physiology. This difficulty may in part reflect the quantitative nature of renal clearance since many life sciences majors perceive that mathematics is irrelevant to their discipline. Students may…

The Association of Research Libraries E-Science Working Group developed a survey to "build an understanding of how libraries can contribute to e-science activities in their institution" and "identify organizations and institutions that have similar interests in e-science to leverage research library interests." The August 2009…

Chemical process simulation is one of the most fundamental skills that is expected from chemical engineers, yet relatively few graduates have the opportunity to learn, in depth, how a process simulator works, from programming the unit operations to the sequencing. The University of Calgary offers a "hands-on" postgraduate course in…

Chemistry students are often introduced to the concept of reaction rates through demonstrations or laboratory activities involving the well-known iodine clock reaction. For example, a laboratory experiment involving thiosulfate as an iodine scavenger is part of the first-year general chemistry laboratory curriculum at Dalhousie University. With…

Working at scientists' elbows is one suggestion that educators make to improve science education, because such "authentic experiences" provide students with various types of science knowledge. However, there is an ongoing debate in the literature about the assumption that authentic science activities can enhance students' understandings…

Of all sports, ice hockey is possibly the one with the widest array of physics elements in it. The game provides many examples that can bring physics to life in the classroom. Ice hockey (or just "hockey" as many Canadians would say) sees athletes sliding on ice at high speeds and in various ways, shooting and slapping pucks, and…

This article uses a functional view of language to frame and analyze issues of language and content in mainstream classrooms. Describing a Western Canadian grade one/two science class, it examines how a teacher and her class of young ESL students were able to build up a simple theory of magnetism in a scientific register, link its technical terms…

Many educators and policy makers argue that science literacy and numeracy are vital skills for successfully participating in the economy of this century. But how do educators increase the levels of scientific literacy, let alone make science a subject for all students, when the subject matter itself has been keeping students away? In this article,…

In the city where the authors live, located on the shore of Lake Ontario, children have ample opportunity to interact with snow. Water vapor rising from the relatively warm lake surface produces tremendous "lake effect" snowfalls when frigid winter winds blow. Snow piles along roadways after each passing storm, creating impressive snow…

Reports on the analysis of several syllabus guidelines and school textbooks that indicate that DNA appears mainly in upper school curricula where the emphasis is on cellular responses and classical Mendelian genetics and substantial areas of contemporary genetics are omitted. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/YDS)

Discusses three kits developed by museums in British Columbia for use in rural classrooms. The science kit on marine biology consists of modules which included specimens, books, audiovisual materials and student activities. (BR)

This document consists of activities and references for teaching astronomy. The activities (which include objectives, list of materials needed, and procedures) focus on: observing the Big Dipper and locating the North Star; examining the Big Dipper's stars; making and using an astrolabe; examining retograde motion of Mars; measuring the Sun's…

This guide is one of a set of 10 science guides, each covering a separate grade in Manitoba, together covering kindergarten through grade 9. The guides have been designed to provide a framework for building scientific concepts and developing the learning of process skills. They replace an earlier set of guides dated 1979. Each guide is essentially…