In this activity, students observe chemical and physical properties of elements using an online periodic table, where these properties were shown numerically and by colors. Then the elements were divided into metals, nonmetals, and metalloids, and their periodic properties were visualized using statistical concepts such as normality, kurtosis,…

Historically, undergraduate anatomy and physiology (A&P) has been a challenging course for incorporating conceptual learning techniques due to large class sizes and an emphasis on content and terminology. The project utilized the Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy to create short activities based on real-world scenarios that incorporated…

Understanding how to interpret and manipulate large data sets is increasingly important today; however, this experience has been slow to trickle down to the typical undergraduate student. Here, we describe the implementation of a project-based learning experience that uses portable air sensors for the real-time measurement of carbon dioxide,…

Thanks to the development and deployment of federally funded satellite-, buoy-, and aircraft-based remote sensing instruments, continuous streams of Earth and space data are publicly available via online databases. This accessibility provides flexibility to explore geoscience data that are interesting and relevant to students--keystone components…

Scientific Data Analysis Toolkit (SDAT) is a rigorous, versatile, and user-friendly data analysis add-in application for Microsoft Excel for Windows (PC). SDAT uses the familiar Excel environment to carry out most of the analytical tasks used in data analysis. It has been designed for student use in manipulating and analyzing data encountered in…

Students often need to obtain, organize, clean, and analyze data in order to draw conclusions about a particular phenomenon (e.g., why tidal heights change). When conducting a science investigation in biology, chemistry, physics, or Earth science, data can be collected by the student or can be provided to them via secondary data sets. This article…

The study of earthquakes can help students build connections between theoretical analysis and real-world applications. However, units on earthquakes typically struggle to bridge that gap between theory and application. Traditional class activities focus on measuring earthquakes, such as triangulating epicenters by analyzing P and S wave arrival…

The oxidation of iron is an important reaction due to its high economic impact. In this laboratory exploration, the total order of this reaction was determined using commercially available handwarmer packets that rely on the iron-oxygen reaction to generate heat. The active ingredient in the handwarmer packet is iron, which interacts with…

Students learning the skills of science benefit from opportunities to move between the scientific problems and questions they confront and the mathematical tools available to answer the questions and solve the problems. Indeed, students learn science best when they are actively engaged in pursuing answers to authentic and relevant questions. We…

Imagine saving just one of the 23,000 species threatened with extinction. Students studying endangered species in a general life science course faced the decision of which species to save as a summative assignment in a unit on scientific explanation and argumentation. They used the claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER) framework in which students…

In this activity, students are given the opportunity to combine skills in math and geometry for a biology lesson in the cell cycle. Students utilize the data they collect and analyze from an online onion-root-tip activity to create a paper-plate time clock representing a 24-hour cell cycle. By dividing the paper plate into appropriate phases of…

Advances in 3D printing technology over the past decade have led to its expansion into all subfields of science, including chemistry. This technology provides useful teaching tools that facilitate communication of difficult chemical concepts to students and researchers. Presented here is the use of 3D printing technology to create tangible models…

Teaching students to make daily weather observations is one way educators assist them as they learn to dress appropriately. In addition, it provides a natural and developmentally appropriate link between science and other curriculum areas, such as literacy and language development. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will define science education for the foreseeable future, yet many educators struggle to see the bridge between current practice and future practices. The inquiry-based methods used by Extension professionals (Kress, 2006) can serve as a guide for classroom educators. Described herein is a method of…

Every high school graduate should be able to use data analysis and statistical reasoning to draw conclusions about the world. Two core statistical concepts for students to understand are the role of variability in measures and evaluating the effect of a variable. In the activity presented in this article, students investigate a scientific question…