The two-stage hydraulic pump is commonly used in many high school and college courses to demonstrate hydraulic systems. Unfortunately, many textbooks do not provide a good explanation of how the technology works. Another challenge that instructors run into with teaching hydraulic systems is the cost of procuring an expensive real-world machine…

The introduction of force at age 14-16 years is considered, starting with elementary student experiments using magnetic force fields. The meaningless use of terms such as "action" and "reaction", or "agent" and "receiver" is discussed. (Contains 6 figures.)

This study shows physicists' discussions on the meaning of Faraday's law where situations involving extended conductors or moving contact points are particularly troublesome. We raise questions to test students' difficulties in applying Faraday's law in motional electromotive force phenomena. We suggest the benefit of analysing these phenomena…

The "Saggi di naturali esperienze" was published in 1667 by one of the earliest scientific societies, the Accademia del Cimento. The book was a triumph for the ruling Medici family of Florence, and the commitment of the Accademia to experimentation helped the "Saggi" become the "laboratory manual" of the 18th century.…

Much of the mathematical reasoning employed in the typical introductory physics course can be traced to Pythagorean roots planted over two thousand years ago. Besides obvious examples involving the Pythagorean theorem, I draw attention to standard physics problems and derivations which often unknowingly rely upon the Pythagoreans' work on…

The main issue of this paper is the discussion around the question "How can we teach and motivate the why-generation learners and the generation Z learners?". The aim of our project was to find out teaching and learning methods that teachers and learners can use in 21st century classroom. Strategies how to engage gen Y and gen Z learners…

Many students probably know something about space from playing computer games or watching movies and TV shows. Teachers can expose them to the real thing by launching their experiments into near space on a weather balloon. This article describes how to use high-altitude ballooning (HAB) as a culminating project to a chemistry unit on experimental…

Density functional theory (DFT) is a type of electronic structure calculation that has rapidly gained popularity. In this article, we provide a step-by-step demonstration of a DFT calculation by hand on the helium atom using Slater's X-Alpha exchange functional on a single Gaussian-type orbital to represent the atomic wave function. This DFT…

Background: Scientific models have important roles in science and science education. For scientists, they provide a means for generating new knowledge or function as an accessible summary of scientific studies. In science education, on the other hand, they are accessible representations of abstract concepts, and are also organizational frameworks…

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of…

This standards-based science lesson introduces young learners to scientific inquiry and critical thinking by using activities to demonstrate three phases of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). By learning about the states of matter through a 5E instructional approach, students are encouraged to observe changes in the states of matter and to discuss…

We describe a laboratory experiment that employs the Nanoceria Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (or NanoCerac) Assay to introduce students to portable nanoparticle-based paper sensors for rapid analysis and field detection of polyphenol antioxidants. The experiment gives students a hands-on opportunity to utilize nanoparticle chemistry to develop…

This article addresses how we can develop learning environments that establish a need for scientific practices and provide a context for developing content knowledge through practice. It argues that Pickering's (1995) notion of "The Mangle of Practice" informs these efforts by focusing our attention on how resistance, or push-back from…

In this article, Renee Clary and James Wandersee describe the beginnings of "Classification," which lies at the very heart of science and depends upon pattern recognition. Clary and Wandersee approach patterns by first telling the story of the "Linnaean classification system," introduced by Carl Linnacus (1707-1778), who is…

At its core, science is about making sense of the world around us. Therefore, science education should engage students in that sense-making process. Helping students make sense of disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts by engaging in scientific practices is the key innovation of the "Next Generation Science Standards"…