The continuing fascination of young people with celestial bodies leads them to pose challenging questions to their science teachers, such as how was the universe born? How were the stars formed? In this paper we present an extremely inexpensive but highly engaging activity to teach the basics of spectroscopy. Guided by the question "how do…

Background: Pupillometry has been studied as a physiological marker for quantifying cognitive load since the early 1960s. It has been established that small changes in pupillary size can provide an index of the cognitive load of an individual as he/she performs a mental task. The utility of pupillometry as a measure of expertise is less well…

This study explores finding the areas of polygons with a smartphone light sensor. A square and an irregular pentagon were chosen as our polygons. During the activity, the LED light was placed at the vertices of our polygons, and the illuminance values of this LED light were detected by the smartphone light sensor. The smartphone was placed on a…

Light pollution has emerged with the industrial development in recent decades. It is becoming a significant environmental issue for cities today and it will probably become more important in the near future. However, very little research has been carried out on this issue in the field of science teaching, despite there being a general agreement…

This article outlines a research study focused on the connections between natural science and art. In the instructional unit designed for the research study, multiple art forms were utilized, in order to reach multiple types of learners. Interdisciplinary, or integrated art instruction is a way to enhance understanding of and the connections…

In this time of concern over climate change due to the atmospheric greenhouse effect, teachers often choose to extend relevant classroom work by the use of physical models to test statements. Here we describe an activity in which inexpensive backyard models made from cardboard boxes covered with various household transparent materials allow…

We present a simple method to determine the refractive indices of transparent media using a laser distance meter. Indices of refraction have been obtained by measuring the speed of light in materials. Some speed of light techniques use time-of-flight measurements in which pulses are emitted by lasers and the time interval is measured for the pulse…

Supplemental melatonin has been used to treat sleep onset insomnia in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), although the mechanism of action is uncertain. We assessed endogenous and supplemental melatonin profiles in relation to sleep in nine children with ASD. In endogenous samples, maximal melatonin concentration (C[subscript max]) and…

With a new data-acquisition system developed by PASCO scientific, an experiment on telemetry with an optical fiber can be made easier and more accurate. For this aim, an alternative strategy of the remote temperature measurements is proposed: the frequency of light pulses transmitted via the light guide numerically equals the temperature using…

Contrarily to color research, white values of paint are the most commonly applied finish selection on classroom walls today. White walls have been used in American schoolhouse settings since the first discovered paint, also white, was invented and made available some two hundred years ago. Originally, white paint was seen as hygienic and…

Fluorescent proteins are commonly used in cell biology to assess where proteins are within a cell as a function of time and provide insight into intracellular protein function. However, the usefulness of a fluorescent protein depends directly on the quantum yield. The quantum yield relates the efficiency at which a fluorescent molecule converts…

The authors describe the design and formative evaluation of a sensor toolkit for Android smartphones and tablets that supports inquiry-based science learning. The Sense-it app enables a user to access all the motion, environmental and position sensors available on a device, linking these to a website for shared crowd-sourced investigations. The…

Despite its familiarity and the fact that it becomes a formal area of study in early upper primary grades, optics remains a cognitive challenge for young as well as advanced learners, not only because much of it is counter-intuitive but also because its conceptual comprehension involves negotiating the vocabulary and graphical symbolism involved…

The goal for this research is to articulate and test a new hybrid Augmented Reality (AR) environment for conceptual understanding. From the theoretical lens of embodied interaction, we have designed a multi-user participatory simulation called ARfract where visitors in a science museum can learn about complex scientific concepts on the refraction…

This paper describes the construction of a simple inexpensive scanner which can be used in conjunction with a data logger to produce intensity plots of diffraction and interference patterns. Making use of the drive mechanism from an old inkjet-printer is the central feature. (Contains 7 figures.)