Most likely a large number of students have heard of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), and know that they are a phenomenon in the sky. Although they may not have seen the Northern Lights, most have probably seen other phenomena in the sky, such as a rainbow, shooting star, or super moon. These experiences provide an opportunity for students…

Teaching the tools and concepts associated with modern physics can often be a daunting and difficult task for secondary science teachers. Classical physics is often perceived as intimidating and complex in its own right. Modern physics addressing quantum phenomena where Newtonian laws break down is even more abstract for learners. However,…

Spices, of course, do not make a meal, but they make a meal more enjoyable and memorable. Games do the same, allowing teachers to interact with their students in a different way than they normally do. They also have the potential to challenge and assess students' understanding of content. Games allow teachers to "play" with their…

When teaching how "tension" and "compression" relate to geometrical structures such as bridges, arches, and domes, The author shows a picture of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, completed in the 14th century, and presents a lesson on using the curve called a catenary to explain how he teaches about tension and compression…

Teaching about wave structure and function is a critical element of any physical science curriculum and supported by "Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)" PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. To support students' learning of these ideas, teachers often rely on developing graphic models of a…

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach to science teaching that supports the "Next Generation Science Standards" (Krajcik 2015; NGSS Lead States 2013). In a PBL lesson, students design and solve real-world problems or explain scientific phenomena. Students using a PBL model learn and retain more than those not using…

Science students should use mathematical and computational thinking to explain phenomena, but few examples of teachers engaging students in this important scientific practice have been found. This article describes a strategy for enhancing a lesson in which students use a mechanistic model to explain friction by adding mathematical and…

Quantum technologies refer to any technology developed based on the principles of quantum physics. Quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum sensing are applications of such technologies, in which quantum mechanics underpins the key assumptions on their design and development. Quantum technologies promise revolutionary and disruptive…

Science is a human endeavor; the way it is taught, applied, and in some cases exclude populations from having access to it, may affect people for generations (NGSS Lead States 2013). Science education continues to be a complex civil rights issue (Tate 2001), but there is hope. Movements to promote just, equitable, and inclusive opportunities to…

Along-standing energy lab involves dropping bouncy balls and measuring their rebound heights on successive bounces. The lab demonstrates a situation in which the mechanical energy of a system is not conserved. Although students enjoyed the lab, the author wanted to deepen their thinking about energy, including the connections to motion, with a new…

Examples of equilibrium are evident everywhere and the equilibrium rule provides a reasoned way to view all things, whether in static (balancing rocks, steel beams in building construction) or dynamic (airplanes, bowling balls) equilibrium. Interestingly, the equilibrium rule applies not just to objects at rest but whenever any object or system of…

One way to probe students' misconceptions about science during instruction is by using formative assessments. Described as assessments "for" learning rather than assessments "of" learning (Black and Wiliam 1998), they provide teachers with information about student understanding during instruction. Examples of formative…

A Rube Goldberg device is a complicated, yet comically involved machine that performs a simple task such as closing a door, watering a plant, or typing a key on a keyboard. Creating one is an open-ended activity that challenges students to use prior knowledge, resourcefulness, investigatory skills, and imagination. This reverse engineering…

This article describes a nuclear chemistry unit on the Manhattan Project, a research effort that led to the development of the world's first nuclear weapons during World War II. The unit is appropriate for an introductory high school chemistry or physics course and takes from four to six weeks. The unit poses this essential question: "Over…

This article describes a lesson on the greenhouse effect in which students explore blackbody radiation and Wien's law. The lesson, which has been tested in a variety of high school physics classrooms, uses probeware and online simulations and combines two well-established instructional strategies: the 5E Learning Cycle (Bybee et al. 2006) and the…