Interviewed Chinese migrant students concerning recognition and comprehension of science concept labels in Chinese and English. Found mean recognition and comprehension scores to be higher in Chinese, with indications that science knowledge learned in Chinese deteriorated with increasing time of residence in Australia. Discussed implications for…

Presents an experiment that makes manifest the energy lost to friction of an iron ball moving along an inclined iron rail, which allows students to compute the rolling friction coefficient. Uses a method based on measurement of deformation produced in a piece of Plasticine by an inelastic collision with the ball and combines mechanical concepts…

Identifies misconceptions related to the fundamental characteristics of atoms and molecules held by twelfth-grade students. Data were obtained by administration of semistructured interviews to a stratified, random sample of 30 students. Fifty-two misconceptions were observed and reported. Some of the misconceptions identified parallel the…

Reflects on researchers' conceptions about psychological growth over the last century. Discusses five themes relevant to developmental research: (1) the selection of phenomena for study; (2) the use of continuous dimensions or categories to describe children's characteristics; (3) continuity versus discontinuity in development; (4) the influence…

Uses diagrams and text to illustrate the use of Lissajous figures (the figures that are traced out when two simple harmonic motions are combined at right angles to each other) in teaching basic physics concepts. Covers the mathematics of the Lissajous Figure; demonstrating Lissajous Figures; and a typical class. (ZWH)

In "Thriving on Chaos," author Tom Peters suggests that future managers will need the quick reactions of video game players. Patient observation may work better. Chaos theory teaches that random happenings cannot be controlled; the toughest, randomly caused problems have no solutions; a leader's vision or moral code cannot be imposed on…

Describes an interactive computer program (RelLab) that acts to introduce the fundamental ideas of relativity to students. Students working cooperatively investigate paradoxes of relative motion by constructing thought experiments and discussing their findings. (ZWH)

Described is an activity in which students determine the percent composition of zinc and copper in pennies minted before and after 1982. Students also use pennies to show the natural relative abundance of isotopes and to explain how the weighted atomic mass of the elements is determined. (KR)

Discusses problems teaching counter-intuitive scientific concepts. Discusses implications for science instruction. Describes three activities that challenge students' misconceptions. (RS)

Presents an activity for introducing students to geologic time. Students choose their own metaphor for geologic time, selecting milestones in Earth history and scaling these events to their metaphors.(PR)

Describes the conversion of a standard biological brightfield microscope for examination of thin sections and characterize, in detail, the use of both black and white and color photomicrography in the geological sciences. Several illustrative examples on the use of transmitted and reflected polarized-light microscopy to solve geological problems…

Described are the results of a conceptual physics survey given to a small group of high school physics students with the goal of identifying common misconceptions held by students. Three common misconceptions were identified and are discussed in detail. (CW)

Presents an evaluation of a correlational reasoning module using content from a variety of topics implemented in 12 grade 9/10 classrooms. Among the findings are that performance on a multivariate correlational task increased substantially and the average treatment student scored higher than 99% of those in the control condition. (PR)

Examines the relative importance of middle school students' explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge in carrying out open-ended laboratory investigations. Results indicate the students (n=207) provided with explicit knowledge through instruction performed significantly better in overall achievement in such investigations than those using only tacit…

Provides easy to teach and understand laboratory exercises for three fundamental concepts (plate movement, rock mechanics, and geologic time) that are often left out of the geology and Earth science curriculum. (ZWH)