In this article, the authors discuss finding teaching the standard on the apparent brightness of the Sun (5-ESS1-1) to be a challenging and frustrating experience due to the abstract nature of the standard and generally low interest of their fifth-grade students. They had previously used hands-on learning activities involving flashlights to model…

To better understand environmental electromagnetic wave exposure during the use of digital textbooks by elementary school students, we measured numeric values of the electromagnetic fields produced by tablet personal computers (TPCs). Specifically, we examined the distribution of the electromagnetic waves for various students' seating positions in…

Although the term "radiation" has a fixed place in everyday life as well as in the media, there is very little empirical research on students' conceptions about this topic. In our study we wanted to find out what students associate with this term. In 2009, we asked 509 students (between grade 4 and grade 6) from seven different schools…