Science becomes engaging when students know that what they learn in the classroom relates to their own lives and communities. This article describes a project in which students use field exploration and online software to design virtual solutions to improve the hydrology of their school yard. The project is called Teaching Environmental…

Chemistry in high school is often presented as a jumbled mass of topics drawn from inorganic, analytical, and physical sub-disciplines. With no central theme to build on, students may have trouble grasping the chemical sciences as a coherent field. In this article, Stowe and Elvey describe an activity that integrates different facets of chemistry…

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…

Discussed are the basic and specialized skills needed for graphing exercises. Suggests approaches and activities that can be used in the teaching of graphing skills. Includes a listing of software programs for both teaching graphing and for analyzing data. (ML)

Points out the instructional applications and program possibilities of a unit on model rocketry. Describes the ways that microcomputers can assist in model rocket design and in problem calculations. Provides a descriptive listing of model rocket software for the Apple II microcomputer. (ML)

Reviews four software packages: (1) Agents of Infection; (2) The Earth Science Series; (3) Investigating Electric Fields; and (4) Aquatic Biology-PC. Describes the hardware needed, bibliographic data and specific details of the programs themselves. (CW)

Describes how students in a geoscience course are introduced to geographic information systems (GIS), a computer-assisted system for the acquisition, storage, analysis, and display of geographic data, through a practical experience involving collecting data and inputting it into a GIS program called IDRISI. (MKR)

Provides information on motivational activities, demonstrations, experiments, software, lessons, field trips, and a game as ideas for instructional use. Includes topics on digestion in paramecium, diffusion, cells, interactive displays, slime molds, and the construction of an underwater viewing device. (RT)

Course management systems (CMSs) enable teachers to easily post assignments, lesson plans, announcements, and course documents. They also allow students to participate in online discussions and chats and turn in assignments online. Unfortunately, commercial systems are often expensive to purchase and maintain, removing them from the reach of many…

Describes several ways to build data collection devices for microcomputers. The interface devices connect with either the computer's game port or an analog-to-digital converter. Discusses how teachers have designed the equipment and appropriate software to use with the computer in biology teaching. (TW)

Presents information and concerns regarding computer courseware, books, and audiovisual materials reviewed by teachers. Covers a variety of topics including dissection of common classroom specimens, medicine, acid rain projects, molecules, the water cycle, erosion, plankton, and evolution. Notes on availability, price, and needed equipment, where…

Demonstrates how a spreadsheet program can do calculations, freeing students to question, analyze data and learn science. Notes several popular spreadsheet programs. Gives an example using Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets for a sampling experiment in Biology. Shows other examples of spreadsheet use in laboratory activities. (CW)

Provides ideas for using the same port connection of personal computers to interface with laboratory instruments. Contains specific instructions on how to build transducers. Includes plans and diagrams for thermistors and light meters as well as computer programs for displaying instrument readings on monitors. (TW)

Offers a model of a computer-based evaluation program that can assist in science fair judging. Explains the program's procedures for scoring and its capacities for identifying cases of inconsistent judging. Provides examples of program outputs. (ML)

Reviews a software planetarium package called "Sky Travel." Includes two audiovisuals: "Conquest of Space" and "Windows on Science: Earth Science"; and four books: "Small Energy Sources: Choices that Work,""Stonehenge Complete,""Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives: Women in Science…