Volumetric titrations are an accurate and precise analytical method, which explains their use in industrial and research settings and their inclusion in senior secondary chemistry curricula around the world. Students often have difficulty understanding the intricacies of titrations because they are novices being presented with a long list of…

In this article, the author describes a chemistry gas experiment that she developed with the intent of integrating inquiry and Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The lab activity follows the principles of Ambitious Science Teaching (AST). Teachers (1) engage students with important science ideas, (2) elicit students' ideas while making visible what…

Australian company Antarctica Flights runs summer sightseeing trips out of Australian capital cities to tour the Antarctic coast. The Laby Foundation of the University of Melbourne, through its "Classroom Antarctica" program, sponsored Kent Street High School science teacher, Ms Suzy Urbaniak and 18 of her students to take the trip, to…

Energy is one of the most complex yet central concepts taught in schools and is featured in the Australian Science Curriculum, as one of the six key organising ideas (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2015). The literature portrays a multitude of complications associated with teaching energy (see Millar, 2005 for a…

The emissions of various types of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from natural and industrial sources are undergoing a great deal of scrutiny around the world. The three main GHGs that are of most concern are carbon dioxide (CO[subscript 2]), nitrous oxide (N[subscript 2]O) and methane (CH[subscript 4]). CO[subscript 2], N[subscript 2]O and CH[subscript…

There's always something new happening in the field of Astronomy. This includes the immediate environment surrounding Earth, the Solar system and the universe. This article looks at some of the recent research astronomers have been undertaking this year. Each article has reference to a web site so teachers can find out more information or ask…

Proteins are a diverse class of biochemical macromolecules, including substances as (apparently) unrelated as silk and sinew, hair and horn, feathers and flagella, enzymes and epidermis, gelatine (jelly) and gluten and gore, spider web, meat and fish muscle. Yet they are unified by being polymers of amino acids. Discovery of the nature of proteins…

This paper is a qualitative, practice based study describing the use of the Focus-Action-Reflection (FAR) Guide (Harrison & Treagust, 2000) to address the shortcomings of a pedagogical analogical model in Year 10 Science. The aim of this paper is to present my experience of the FAR Guide in relation to an analogical model that gave rise to…

A take-home experiment kit has been developed to reinforce the concepts in a first year physics course that both on and off campus students from a variety of educational backgrounds can successfully use. The kit is inexpensive and is composed of easy to obtain items. The experiments conducted with the kit are directed experiments that require…

The Australian Federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has funded a rollout of the STELR (Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance) Stage One Project to 150 secondary schools in 2010. Participating schools will receive, at no cost, curriculum materials, class sets of supporting laboratory equipment, two…

The polygraph (lie detector) may be an ideal vehicle for converting aspects of a physiology course into an interdisciplinary course, enabling discussion of interrelationships between science, technology and society (STS) and social dilemmas arising from technological developments. The authors present a way of incorporating the polygraph into a…