Educating future scientists and citizens is more effective if students are guided to correctly apply what they learned in school to their daily lives. This experience-based work is focused on the study of a well-known commercial product: cat litter. This material offers different starting points for a critical examination. Questions related to…

Describes a sledding project for kindergarten students that engages them in designing, building, and testing miniature sleds. Uses a computer program to create blueprints and uses tools at a construction center in the classroom to build the sleds. Completed sleds were described by groups to the full class, then tested. Identifies connections…

Gives illustrated directions for five brain-teaser activities/experiments utilizing the sun shining into the classroom: sun shadow lines, analemma, hot-boxes, and solar crafts. (NEC)

From John Glenn's mission to orbit Earth to the International Space Station program, space food research has met the challenge of providing food that tastes good and travels well in space. Early food dehydration was achieved by cutting meat, fish, and certain fruits into thin strips and drying them in sunlight. Rubbing food with salt or soaking it…

Describes an activity for observing the pressure differences between mountain air and sea level air by bottling air. (YDS)

Describes techniques for enhancing the experiences of participants in nature hikes or other outdoor group learning activities. Presents three techniques: (1) "The Caboose Hike" that engages students in sharing information; (2) "The Five Tools" that emphasizes use of the five senses; and (3) "Nature Detectives" that engages participants in a search…

In this classroom activity, students perform a series of tests with deicers to decide which works better at melting ice and then decide if calcium chloride deicer is worth the extra cost. (MM)

Makes the case for the kitchen as a natural source of science exploration. Shares tried and tested activities and offers teaching suggestions such as the use of journals. Relates activities to the National Science Education Standards. (MM)

Discusses discovery, types, and actions of pheromones in bees, ants, moths, and butterflies. Describes field activities for studying the presence and effects of pheromones on insect behavior. (NEC)

Describes a program for teaching about tropical rainforests in a concrete way using what's outside the door. This activity uses an eastern deciduous hardwood forest as an example. Step-by-step instructions include introductory activities, plus descriptions of stations in the forest to be visited. Resources include books, audio-visual materials,…

Describes how to teach the light spectrum to students using hands-on activities in a physical science class at the middle school level. Explains how to build a spectroscope and lists required materials. Provides an internet address for sciLinks. (YDS)

Presents a lesson on rockets and provides information on how to build a water rocket. Discusses the safety procedures necessary during loading and launching. Explains how to grade students on their projects. (YDS)

Describes an investigation into the photosynthetic potential of the different developmental stages of the green unicellular alga Haematococcus pluvialis. Reviews the biotechnological applications of astaxanthin, the red pigment which can be extracted from Haematococcus pluvialis. (Author/MM)

Provides information to help students easily measure gravitational field strength to a few parts in 10,000, a degree of precision 1-2 orders of magnitude better than can be achieved with the simple pendulum. (CCM)

Space Shuttle Glider is a scale model of the U.S. Space Shuttle orbiter. The airplane-like orbiter usually remains in Earth orbit for up to two weeks at a time. It normally carries a six- to seven-person crew which includes the mission commander, pilot, and several mission and/or payload specialists who have specialized training associated with…