Describes science-related questions asked by young students aged 4-6. Discusses appropriate responses to typical science questions. (WRM)

Describes an experimental system based on an engineered strain of bakers' yeast that is designed to involve students in the process by which scientific knowledge is generated. Students are asked to determine why the yeast grow to form a reproducible pattern of red and white. (WRM)

Uses data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to determine the extent of Israeli students' ability to give scientific explanations of events in earth, life, and physical science. Finds student explanations to be generally simple, often incomplete, and often consisting only of descriptive or teleological explanations.…

Describes a study of the effectiveness of computer-simulation programs in enhancing biology students' familiarity with ecological modeling and concepts. Finds that computer simulations improved student comprehension of ecological processes expressed in mathematical form, but did not allow a full understanding of ecological concepts. Contains 28…

Describes an activity in which students construct relationships between their leg lengths, stride lengths, and movements in order to estimate the speeds of the dinosaurs that made various fossilized tracks. (WRM)

Describes a cooperative, interactive problem-solving exercise for studying eukaryotic cell structure and function. Highlights the dynamic aspects of movement through the cell. Contains 15 references. (WRM)

Describes an experience as passengers in a car that traveled around the "Wall of Death" during a country fair show. Explains the physics behind riding vehicles around the Wall. Finds that cars don't need to lean, motorcycles must lean, and people should lean to avoid nausea while traveling around the Wall. (WRM)

Describes the experiences of two high school students who traveled to the Caribbean island of Curacao to view a total solar eclipse and prepare methods for teaching classmates about the eclipse the following school year. (Author/WRM)

Challenges some commonly-held beliefs about what primary children can and cannot learn about astronomy. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/WRM)

Finds that only half of practicing science teachers and a third of pre-service teachers surveyed in Singapore agreed with statements that biological evolution has a valid scientific basis. (Contains 12 references.) (WRM)

The purpose of this research was to determine how an inquiry-based, whole-plant instructional strategy would affect preservice elementary teachers' understanding of plant science principles. This study probed: what preservice teachers know about plant biology concepts before and after instruction, their views of the interrelatedness of plant parts…

Models and modelling are key tools for scientists, science teachers and science learners. In this paper we argue that classroom-based research evidence demonstrates that the use of models and analogies within the pedagogy of science education may provide a route for students to gain some understanding of the nature of science. A common theme to…

This paper presents a case study of the process of conceptual change in six-year-old children. The process of conceptual change in learning about floating and sinking is described from two different viewpoints: how the children's conceptions change during the instructional process, and how the social discussion during the experimental exploration…

In an investigation of 149 pre-service primary teachers' understanding of the terms "pure" and "natural," the participants were asked to provide definitions of the two words, and classify various substances including drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, nutriceuticals, and household substances as either natural or not natural, and…

In this study, Grade 9 students wrote experiment manuals for their peers describing a simple physics investigation to explore whether air takes space. Peers executed these manuals and their processes were videotaped. In several experimental conditions, these videotapes were played back for authors. Then they had to rewrite the experiment manual.…