The "Titanic" caught the attention and imagination of the public when, in 1985, the sunken ship was discovered 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland (PBS, 2012). Since that time, scientists have conducted numerous expeditions using high-resolution SONAR working in tandem with remote-operated vehicles (ROV) to collect information used…

This article invites teachers to let their students' imaginations soar as they become part of a team that will design a whole new kind of living technological museum, a facility that celebrates the world of infrastructure. In this activity, a new two-story building will be built, occupying a vacant corner parcel of land, approximately 150…

In this paper, the authors examine what it means to become a community science expert (CSE) and why this goal is important for youth in afterschool environments. Using "Green Energy Technology in the City" (GET City) as a case study, they describe how this afterschool program nurtures youth as CSEs. They draw on data gathered in…

This paper considers an approach to studying issues in technology and science, which integrates design and inquiry activities towards creating and exploring technological models of scientific phenomena. We implemented this approach in a context where the learner inquires into a biological phenomenon and develops its representation in the form of a…

We argue that student research skills in mathematics should be honed throughout the curriculum just as such skills are built over time in the natural and physical sciences. Examples used in the mathematics program at St. Olaf College are given.

This bioacoustics activity combines concepts in invertebrate taxonomy, animal communication, and acoustical physics while providing a unique opportunity for physics and biology teachers to collaborate and introduce their students to an exciting, interdisciplinary research field. Here, we propose a lab-and field-based activity that uses hydrophones…

It is generally accepted nowadays that History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) is useful in understanding scientific concepts, theories and even some experiments. Problem-solving strategies are a significant topic, since students' careers depend on their skill to solve problems. These are the reasons for addressing the question of whether problem…

This inquiry-based activity designed for the fifth through 12th grade allows students to engage in an outdoor, place-based experience, working collaboratively both in groups and as a class to accomplish the class goal of creating a local tree map linked to student-collected data about each tree. During Local Tree Mapping, students explore the…

The National Research Council developed and published the "Framework for K-12 Science Education," a new set of concepts that many states were planning on adopting. Part of this new endeavor included a set of science and engineering crosscutting concepts to be incorporated into science materials and activities, a first in science…

This design experiment aimed to answer the question of how to mediate the practices of authentic science inquiries in primary education. An instructional approach based on activity theory was designed and carried out with multi-age students in a small village school. An open-ended learning task was offered to the older students. Their task was to…

Students are provided with a mystery concerning dogs that are paralyzed. This motivates a laboratory exercise to measure parameters from the dog's "blood" to determine whether the paralysis is due to pesticide poisoning or an autoimmune attack on nerve myelin. Most of the materials are available from the grocery store. The real-world nature of the…

The separation of content between science, math, engineering, and technology education should not exist. Working with the relationship between these content areas enhances students' efforts to learn about the physical world--and the Bungee Jump offers one great way to go about it. This article describes an activity called the Egg Bungee Jump which…

In this paper, we engage in a thought experiment about how students might notate their reasoning for composing fractions multiplicatively (taking a fraction of a fraction and determining its size in relation to the whole). In the thought experiment we differentiate between two levels of a fraction composition scheme, which have been identified in…

There is a wide range of new products emerging from nanotechnology, and "nano ice cream" is an easy one that you can use to teach topics from surface area to volume applications. In this activity, students learn how ice cream can be made smoother and creamier tasting through nanoscience. By using liquid nitrogen to cool the cream mixture, students…

Race to the Future is an exciting and dynamic activity modeled after the reality television show "The Amazing Race." It exemplifies how 21st century skills can be incorporated into core subject instruction and at the same time positively enhance student engagement. In this activity, students work quickly and cooperatively with their…