Interactive Historical Vignettes (IHVs) can serve as introductions to scientific content, pique students' interest, and reveal the nature of science to students (Clary and Wandersee 2006). Additionally, pivotal episodes in the life of a scientist can reveal the humanness of science, and the cultural and societal constraints in which the scientist…

Renee Clary and James Wandersee implemented the Stratigraphy and Data Interpretation Project described in this article when they recognized that some students were having difficulties constructing appropriate graphics and interpreting their constructed graphics for an earlier mathematics-science project in their classrooms. They also previously…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) focus attention on integrating engineering and math in science instruction. The dinosaur trackway project described in this article shows that it is possible to assign engineering applications to students in disciplines other than physics and to integrate math and engineering applications in…

Some of the most important scientific studies are associated with either incredibly large dimensions (e.g., the universe) or extremely small proportions (e.g., the cell). While a teacher's curriculum may often switch from mega-expanses to minutia, they should question how easily students comprehend the change in sizes. This article addresses…

Gravel is a component of parking lots, highway shoulders, garden pathways, and filtration systems. Few people bother to scientifically examine gravel and determine its origin, but gravel can be an effective, inexpensive, and abundant resource for science classrooms. It can serve as a portal for several interdisciplinary science activities and…

Discover the secrets contained in fossilized feces. Few topics in middle school classrooms capture students' enthusiasm and interest as do coprolites. These trace fossils offer classroom opportunities for integrated life and Earth sciences study, a stranger-than-fiction history of science, and an opportunity to solve mysteries. (Contains 8…

This article discusses a creative visualization project to motivate and engage students. Students depict a dinosaur in its ecosystem and include all three elements of the environment: air, land, and water. Students explore scientific content in evolution, natural selection, food webs, ecosystems and geologic time. (Contains 6 figures.)

Dinosaurs in the middle school classroom can be exciting. These extinct reptiles are both an exotic subject and familiar to our students. Because students are inherently interested, dinosaurs can serve as an effective portal for the integration of biology, geology, ecology, and the history and nature of science. The field of dinosaur study is…

Professors of an online graduate-level paleontology class developed the concept of marquee fossils--fossils that have one or more unique characteristics that capture the attention and direct observation of students. In the classroom, Marquee fossils integrate the geology, biology, and environmental science involved in the study of fossilized…

In the 19th century, the race to uncover dinosaur fossils and name new dinosaur species inspired two rival scientists, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, to behave in ways that were the antithesis of scientific methods. Subterfuge, theft, and espionage were the ingredients of the Great Dinosaur Feud. Because students often enjoy…