Investigating stars can be difficult. The five-day unit presented in this article is designed for fifth graders to work toward Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) performance expectation 5-ESS1-1, with each lesson lasting about 30 minutes. Students investigate the relationship between the brightness of light and distance, apply their…

Design activities can serve as a concrete experience to address the similarities and differences between science and engineering, and also demarcate engineering from tinkering. They can lay the foundation for concept development of targeted disciplinary ideas. Minor, but crucial, changes to classroom tinkering activities along with targeting and…

The article presents a 5E environmental science lesson to help students understand the major environmental factors that lead to acid rain. Students are supported to ask scientific questions to solve the mystery of how acid rain might impact historical buildings. This lesson can be used in a variety of settings both in person and online modalities.…

Water and an immiscible organic liquid are placed in a small plastic bottle. Ten small pieces of a notecard which is shaded on one side by crayon or pencil (graphite or colored) are cut out and placed inside the bottle. After capping and shaking, the notecard pieces float at the liquid-liquid interface with the shaded side facing the nonpolar…

This paper describes the application of an accessible, benchtop mass spectrometer using an Atmospheric Solids Analysis Probe (ASAP) for easy sample introduction, coupled with Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI) as a soft ionization technique, to the inquiry-based identification of the metal composition of alloys, including coins.…

Understanding how and why science works is a major goal of science education. The aim of this article is to analyze the influence of a research experience in real science contexts, in the thinking and practice of preservice elementary teachers regarding inquiry and nature of science teaching. An in-depth case study which highlights the affordances…

Out-of-school science education is important for students' emotional outcomes, such as their interest in science. Not all students, however, have access to real outdoor environments for hands-on learning. To address this issue, live streaming technology allows for real-time interaction and video-based instruction, which can enhance students'…

What if you could challenge your fourth graders to create a minimally invasive, highly efficient dam? With this volume in the "STEM Road Map Curriculum Series," you can! "Hydropower Efficiency" outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines.…

In the study, repair activities were planned with prospective science teachers (f=24) using broken household appliances and it was aimed to establish a relationship between such practices and science teaching during the activities. The activities, which were carried out as a single group, were carried out in collaborative groups of four. Case…

Metabolism is always a challenging topic in biochemistry. In our project, a courseware called "Metabolism Metro" was developed. "Metabolism Metro" is a self-learning tool which aims to facilitate students learning of metabolic pathways in an interactive and easy-to-understand manner. The courseware includes both pre-class and…

A collection of four activities for science outreach events was developed to teach middle school students about the temperature dependence of scientific phenomena. Procedures are described for four interactive demonstrations on phase changes, fluorescence, viscosity effects on diffusion, and conductivity. Each hands-on activity helps students…

At the end of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign during World War 1, Lance Corporal William Scurry saved thousands of lives with his one simple invention. As the ANZAC soldiers prepared to withdraw from the disastrous 9-monthlong Gallipoli campaign, Scurry came up with the idea of setting up a large battery of rifles that would discharge automatically…

This article describes the NASA-Funded Space Grant Project BOREALIS: "Balloon Outreach, Research, Exploration, and Landscape Imaging System." BOREALIS conducts high-altitude balloon flights to the "edge of space" with flights typically reaching 100,000 feet and a current record flight in the summer of 2020 that reached 126,000…

The standing vertical jump (SVJ) is a classical topic in Newtonian mechanics (Fig. 1). Although the topic has also been treated by others (other terms used are "standing high jump" or "squat jump"), the present paper shows how a smartphone can be used to capture video of a jump and determine the jump height. A crucial…

The design and operation of an inverted cone, scalable vapor condenser, drawing cooling air from beyond the boundary layer and optionally working as a part of a gastight setup, are described and discussed. Besides its main use as a reflux condenser, it can also be used in one-plate distillations.