There are many influences on a child's identity. Photobook technology purposefully prepared around science explorations presents a modern opportunity to repeatedly trigger memories that reinforce the "me, as scientist" viewpoint. Semi-structured interviews at 6 and 8 years of age were conducted with a child who was the subject of a photobook of…

This article reports on a research study that looked at the issues and challenges of training new science teachers to use the Internet in their planning and teaching. It was conducted within three university departments in England and focused on an exploration of the issues and challenges facing trainee teachers in using the Internet in their…

The website "Earthlearningidea" was developed for the International Year of Planet Earth in 2007 and continues with one new activity per fortnight. Activities are devised to catch the attention of students and to enable them to enjoy the science of the Earth. Many activities require minimal equipment, for schools in developing countries, but there…

Harry Keller is president and a founder of Paracomp, Inc., creator and marketer of Smart Science Education. In this interview, Keller talks about himself and what led him to develop Smart Science labs as an online learning technology. He discusses how schools integrate Smart Science labs into their K-12 science curriculum, the major weaknesses in…

To help teachers get off to a good start, this paper presents the updated "Back-to-School Guide" that is brimming with new-media ideas and resources. It outlines ten tips, along with easy-to-use tools, that will help teachers build their classroom community, survey students to bring out their ideas, and make learning more collaborative. Links to…

In 1609, Galileo Galilei turned his telescope to the night sky and began a series of observations of the cosmos. These observations, together with the work of Johannes Kepler and other scientists of the time, revolutionized our understanding of the universe and the process by which we do science. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed…

"Mashup" is a new technology term used to describe a web application that combines data or technology from several different sources. You can apply this concept in your classroom by having students create their own mashup maps. Google Maps provides you with the simple tools, map databases, and online help you'll need to quickly master this…

The convenient format, delivery, and accessibility of information offered by podcasting has made it a hot new trend. One of its limitations in educational applications, however, is its implementation primarily as a push technology--one that simply feeds users information. Podcasts tend to focus listeners inward and rarely encourage human…

This article presents the features, design and architecture of the Myst pervasive game platform that has been applied in creating pervasive mobile learning games in various contexts such as science festivals and museums in Finland. Based on our experiences with the development, we draw a set of design principles for creating successfully a…

Although weather, including its role in the water cycle, is included in most elementary science programs, any further examination of raindrops and snowflakes is rare. Together rain and snow make up most of the precipitation that replenishes Earth's life-sustaining fresh water supply. When viewed individually, raindrops and snowflakes are quite…

Explains how to do a science fair project and lists the necessary steps. Provides Internet resources. (YDS)

Describes a project where students publish their work on the World Wide Web. Enables students to share their work with other students and researchers around the world and to receive feedback from new sources. Discusses cyberscience, implementing web lab reports, and assessment strategies. (JRH)

Describes methods to access current earthquake information from the National Earthquake Information Center. Enables students to build genuine learning experiences using real data from earthquakes that have recently occurred. (JRH)

To immerse high school students in inquiry, as advocated by the National Science Education Standards (1996), and to take advantage of the Internet's power, students are engaged in a computer data-mining exercise to solve real science problems. After formulating their research question, students scour the Internet to locate raw data they can…

Describes a project where students download seismological data from the Internet and use the data to plot earthquakes on a world map. Combines elements of geography, mathematics, and science. (JRH)