Discovering concepts through observation, exploration, and constructing scientific explanations of phenomena is best practice in science education. Instead of following lab procedures to verify a known answer or solution, involve students in the work of science. Begin by presenting a phenomenon to engage students in scientific inquiry and uncover…

Already when they enter primary school, children have rich everyday experience with factors influencing the rate of liquids' evaporation. Tea spilled into a large puddle on the table evaporates more rapidly than the same amount remaining in the cup, laundry hanging on a clothesline dries faster on a hot and windy day in comparison with a cold and…

Kids are drawn to dolls and dump trucks, and crashing the two together might just be a child's favorite pastime. Who knew such a simple pleasure could serve as an accessible, compelling phenomenon for instigating investigations of force and motion. With a few inexpensive materials straight out of the toy box (literally, a doll, a dump truck, a…

Background: Electric circuit concepts in physics are abstract in nature and students find it difficult to comprehend. Purpose: This study was designed to compare the impact of three different strategies: simulation, hands-on and a combined strategy in enhancing conceptual understanding on electric circuit for class X students. Design: A mixed…

The demand for improving student interest in science has increased efforts toward teaching Einstein's theory of general relativity in schools. Research has already shown that teaching Einsteinian gravity at the secondary level is feasible, however, appropriate resources must be readily available for science teachers to make Einsteinian gravity…

Special Relativity introduces students to Modern Physics, whose importance in the high school is increasing. Nevertheless its teaching and learning is a critical issue. Different solutions have been developed to overcome the encountered difficulties. In this paper we describe the spacetime globe, a mechanical instrument that allows to experience…

Electromagnetic (EM) waves are indispensable in modern telecommunications. Despite their essential role in modern technology, EM waves are considered to be an abstract concept by many students. In this activity, an inexpensive two-coil system was constructed in a teaching laboratory and used to demonstrate information transfer by non-sinusoidal EM…

The research examined the effects of hands-on teaching strategy on senior school learners' performance waves in Ilorin, Nigeria. Senior secondary school (SSS2) science students were sampled at intact classes using a purposive sampling technique. Researcher-designed instructional packages on waves and Physics achievement test on waves (PATW) were…

Watching over a coffee maker in operation, and designing a simple experiment using it, invokes familiar and unfamiliar physical phenomena and techniques involving calorimetry and heat transfer.

General relativity (GR) represents the most recent theory of gravity, on which all modern astrophysics is based, including some of the most astonishing results of physics research. Nevertheless, its study is limited to university courses, while being ignored at high-school level. To introduce GR in high school, one of the approaches that can be…

Research has found circular and rotational motion to be a challenging topic for undergraduate physics students. This article reports on Introductory Physics students' learning of concepts and quantitative principles in circular and rotational motion. It involves a teaching strategy that uses hands-on practical work, PhET simulations and a focus on…

Kinesthetic experiences in the classroom seek to engage students by muscle movement, touch, or some form of physical activity. In this article, I describe an active learning session wherein students develop a qualitative understanding of center of mass and support forces using their sense of touch. The set of activities detailed here is based on a…

The "Primary SPACE Project Research Report: Sound" (Watt and Russell, 1990) provides interesting reading relating to primary-aged children's concepts of sound. It reveals a range of children's views on how sound is made, how sounds are heard and how sound travels. While some children are shown to have knowledge that sounds travel and are…

The natural sciences, by their very nature, are based on the exploration of the physical world, and digital mobile devices are considered appropriate to support this exploration (Suárez et al., 2018) since they offer the tools that make this investigation more accessible but also ubiquitous (Crompton et al., 2017). Inquiry-based learning is a…

This study investigates the challenge faced by eighth-grade students at Southern State Middle School in grasping abstract concepts within the domains of physical science, physics, and chemistry. This difficulty is manifested in their poor performance on summative assessments. A comprehensive analysis of state-provided data, in conjunction with…