An approach to online laboratory exercises for analytical chemistry students with demonstrated practical exercises through the use of remote-controlled gas chromatography (GC) instrumentation is discussed. The approach allows for a practical-based learning activity to be carried out by students who are unable to attend in-person laboratory…

Stimulating interest in science at an early age is important for STEM education. This work details an educational activity utilizing the anthocyanins found in butterfly pea flowers ("Clitoria ternatea"). This activity was developed for use in official classroom settings, online, and/or at-home with parental or educator guidance. Primary…

Practicing chemists use models, diagrams, symbols, and figures to represent phenomena which cannot be detected by the human senses. Although research suggests that these external representations (ERs) can also be used to address the challenges that students have in learning chemistry, it is not clear how instructors' use of ERs aligns with their…

Why Does It Take Longer to Boil Potatoes at High Altitudes? This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. This month's issue looks at why water boils at different temperatures at different altitudes.

Matter is an essential science topic that is often challenging to teach at the early elementary levels. Learning about matter helps students develop a solid foundation for more complex concepts that are taught in later years. Make this abstract concept developmentally appropriate for children by engaging them in investigations that focus on…

Homes have remarkable possibilities to act as science learning environments for young children (3 - 6 years old). This qualitative case study investigated what kind of support parents need to do online science activities with their children at home. Data consisted of parent's theme interviews (n=7). As a main result, a model of parents' need for…

In recent years, the integration of science and mathematics has become popular among educators because of its potential benefits for student learning. The purpose of this study is to introduce a two-day interdisciplinary lesson that brings science and mathematics concepts together, actively engaging students in working with percentages of the…

Children learn about properties of materials as they walk through a fabric store, help in the kitchen, or dig in the garden. Directed explorations in the classroom build on these early experiences. In the inquiry-based activity described here, students prepare to learn about wet and dry ingredients (liquids and solids) and how they mix together by…

This article describes a hands-on educational activity designed to introduce students (or industrial employees) in the pharmaceutical arena to some of the most common problems in the mixing of solids: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and lubricant (i.e. magnesium stearate) homogenization, characterization of segregation tendencies, and…

This guide provides teachers and students many opportunities. Chapters within the guide present the history of rocketry, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) 21st Century Space Exploration Policy, rocketry principles, and practical rocketry. These topics lay the foundation for what follows--a wealth of dynamic rocket science…

This collection of lesson plans designed for teachers of 4th- through 12th-grade students utilizes an assortment of teaching strategies for topics related to coal and the coal industry. Activities cover the following topics: coal formation; coal identification; "the geologist's dilemma" (a supply and demand activity); geologic time and…

Experimental design of packaging materials to withstand the impact of gravity by 5th grade students. (EJS)

Describes an experiment illustrating a lesson in wave interference using bright colors in a soap film. Illustrations provided. (MA)

Bacterial conjugation is a genetic transfer that involves cell-to-cell between donor and recipient cells. With the current method used to teach students in genetic courses at the undergraduate level, the transconjugants are identified using bacterial physiology and/or antibiotic resistance. Using physiology, however, is difficult for both…

You can't see, smell or taste air - but here's an easy method for experimenting with it. (Editor)