The May event of I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here! harnessed fifteen scientists in three general zones, engaging almost 800 students from twenty two schools across the country, generating 624 answered questions, 406 comments and fifty three live-chat sessions. (Contains 4 photos.)

With one week to go, Year 12 chemistry made their final practical an event to be remembered. We decided to take that infamous Periodic Table to the next level, transforming it into an edible table! Armed with 114 biscuits, multiple tubs filled with coloured icing, plastic knives, and gloves and "Professional" piping bags, we converted the science…

People are increasingly trying to multitask while walking. Text messaging while walking is a significant area for concern. The number of text messages sent is expected to be more than 8 trillion in 2012. Texting is becoming so commonplace that people use this technology while engaged in other activities. The dangers of multitasking have hit the…

It is known that observers comoving with a uniformly accelerated point charge detect the electromagnetic field of a charge as a static electric field. We show that one can find a similar family of observers, which detect the field of a charge as a static electric field, in the general case of arbitrary point-charge motion. We find the velocities…

Family science nights are fantastic, but planning one can be overwhelming, especially when one considers the already overloaded schedule of a classroom teacher. To overcome this challenge, the authors--colleagues with a mutual love of science--developed a much simpler annual event called "Lab With Dad." The purpose was for one target age group of…

An interesting, quick, and inexpensive lab that we do with our students is to tape one end of a string just less than halfway around the back side of a uniform solid cylinder m[subscript 1] and attach the other end of the string to a mass m[subscript 2] that is below a pulley (Fig. 1). Data can be collected using either an Ultra Pulley (Fig. 2) or…

Some of the most important scientific studies are associated with either incredibly large dimensions (e.g., the universe) or extremely small proportions (e.g., the cell). While a teacher's curriculum may often switch from mega-expanses to minutia, they should question how easily students comprehend the change in sizes. This article addresses…

The stars closest to Earth are not particularly remarkable or exciting. They are average stars typical of the spiral arms of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, until recently, most astronomy and Earth science textbooks ignored all but the largest of them to focus on distant, more exotic objects like red supergiants or black holes. The recent discovery…

In this hands-on, inquiry-based lab, high school and undergraduate students learn about nanotechnology by synthesizing their own nanoparticles in a single class period. This simple synthesis of zinc oxide nanorods and zinc hydroxy sulfate nanoplates can be done in 15 min using a household microwave oven. Reagent concentration, reaction…

We propose an in silico experiment to introduce the classical density functional theory (cDFT). Density functional theories, whether quantum or classical, rely on abstract concepts that are nonintuitive; however, they are at the heart of powerful tools and active fields of research in both physics and chemistry. They led to the 1998 Nobel Prize in…

This laboratory exercise introduces undergraduate chemistry majors to the spectroscopic and theoretical study of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), corannulene. Students explore the spectroscopic properties of corannulene using UV-vis and Raman vibrational spectroscopies. They compare their experimental results to simulated vibrational…

Articles in the National Association for Science Teachers [NSTA] elementary journal "Science and Children" that describe an activity related to teaching nature of science [NOS] were analysed to ascertain the extent to which those activities align with research based suggestions for teaching NOS and the extent to which articles have…

This lesson addresses the three dimensions of science learning as laid out in the "Next Generation Science Standards"--science and engineering process skills, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas--in addition to embedding practical exposure to NOS tenets in an inquiry-based activity. In addition to the efficiency component,…

Children are engaged by finding out about science in the real world (Harlen, 2010). Many children will be cyclists or will have seen or heard about the success of British cyclists in the Olympics and the Tour de France. This makes cycling a good hook to draw children into learning science. It is also a good cross-curricular topic, with strong…

This article describes a transmedia learning experience for early school-aged children. The experience represented an effort to transition a primarily television-based series to a primarily web-based series. Children watched new animation, completed online activities designed to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)…