Explores the natural forces that created the Colorado Plateau, examines a few of the myriad plants and animals inhabiting the six life zones on the plateau, and provides an overview of the challenges faced by land managers seeking to care for the plateau's extraordinary life and land forms. Contains 17 references. (WRM)

Provides a protocol for examining the mechanisms of animal thermoregulation in a straightforward but more sophisticated manner than using a thermal gradient. Describes a methodology for conducting operant conditioning to examine thermal set points for ectothermic animals. Contains 20 references. (WRM)

Describes a study that investigated the relationship and development of fifth-grade students' conceptual ecologies of heat. Contends that relying on a single mode of assessing students' learning can lead to a restricted view of what they truly know. (WRM)

Describes a freshman biology laboratory project that uses the polymerase chain reaction to introduce students to the interrelationship between biology and chemistry. Students must develop their own experimental protocol, perform calculations introduced in freshman classes, and evaluate group dynamics. (Author/WRM)

Investigates the effects of both computer animations of microscopic chemical processes occurring in a galvanic cell and conceptual-change instruction based on chemical demonstrations on students' conceptions of current flow in electrolyte solutions. Finds that conceptual change instruction was effective at dispelling student misconceptions but…

Describes an experiment that extends Newton's instantaneous-impulse method of orbital analysis to a graphical method of orbit determination. Discusses the experiment's usefulness for teaching both horizontal projectile motion and instantaneous impulse. (WRM)

Analyzes a teaching episode to determine how a conflict is perceived and overcome by students as a result of verbal interaction between the teacher and the students. Discusses the particulate nature of matter with students aged 15-16 after observing a glass of water containing a rock and an ice cube. (Contains 25 references.) (Author/YDS)

The thinking process does not always start with problem situations that produce cognitive conflict, and the confrontation of students' misconceptions is not always successful as a teaching approach. Contends that curiosity and mystery appear to excite human thinking and could therefore be considered to be the starting point in science teaching and…

Reports on a study of whether limited use of inquiry activities as a supplement to a traditional lecture and demonstration curriculum would improve student achievement in introductory physics classes for preservice teachers and general education students. Finds that students who engaged in inquiry investigations significantly outperformed other…

Presents the results of a cross-age study of 7- to 15-year-old children on their thinking about vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Suggests experiences that could be included in the school science curriculum and argues for more classroom work relating structure with function in order to address students' conceptual difficulties. (Contains 18…

Investigated how Israeli secondary physics student teachers developed understanding of the concept of force during preservice teaching. Results from a longitudinal study included the fact that most respondents: held the Aristotelian impetus misconception; held the fading-away concept; had difficulty recognizing reaction as a force; and were…

Pans of popcorn are popped to varying degrees in order to compare them to the earth's surface with volcanic pressure building up in this demonstration. Volcanic activity is also related to bodily functions to help students make connections. For example, the release of gas through burping after drinking soda pop is related to the release of…

Reviews the following software: "Pizza to Go,""A World of Animals,""First Start Science,""MediClip,""Zurk's Learning Safari,""Paul Parkranger," and "Forces and Motion." (PR)

Discusses and presents activities for learning about plant fossils. The first activity uses teacher-prepared "fossils" made from plaster of Paris. Students attempt to classify the plants. In the second activity, students observe actual plant fossils. (PR)

Presents background information on the method used by Hipparchus to determine the distance between the earth and the moon. Describes student activities that employ Hipparchus's Method and Aristarchus's Method for determining the relative distance of the sun and the moon from the earth and Eratosthenes's Method for finding the circumference of the…