It is well-known that a party balloon can be made to fly erratically across a room, but it can also be used for quantitative measurements of other aspects of aerodynamics. Since a balloon is light and has a large surface area, even relatively weak aerodynamic forces can be readily demonstrated or measured in the classroom. Accurate measurements…

A magnet suspended in a uniform magnetic field like that of the Earth can be made to oscillate about the field. The frequency of oscillation depends on the strength (magnetic moment) of the magnet, that of the external field, and the moment of inertia of the magnet. It is easily shown and verified by experiment that a simple but nontrivial…

I find that students have difficulty with Hamilton's principle, at least the first time they come into contact with it, and therefore it is worth designing some examples to help students grasp its complex meaning. This paper supplies the simplest example to consolidate the learning of the quoted principle: that of a free particle moving along a…

In the framework of Noether's theorem, a distinction between Lagrangian and dynamical symmetries is made, in order to clarify some aspects neglected by textbooks. An intuitive setting of the concept of invariance of differential equations is presented. The analysis is completed by deriving the symmetry properties in the motion of a charged…

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has recently decided to incorporate various information literacy skills for teaching analytical chemistry to the students. The methodology has been found to be extremely effective, as it provides better understanding to the students.

A practical hands-on course encompassing enzyme purification, biochemical characterization, and crystallization that completed the course work of 350 second-year bachelor students enrolled in molecular biology/biochemistry was given at the Universite Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg (France). The experimental part of the practical dealt entirely with…

In this general chemistry laboratory, flame emission spectrometry is used to determine the potassium ion concentration in saturated solutions of potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) in the 0-65 [degree]C temperature range. From these data the solubility products (K[subscript sp]), the Gibbs free energies of solution ([Delta][subscript…

This study draws on recent research on the central role of representation in learning. While there has been considerable research on students' understanding of evaporation, the representational issues entailed in this understanding have not been investigated in depth. The study explored students' engagement with evaporation phenomena through…

Toys can provide motivational contexts for learning and teaching about physics. A cheap car track provides an almost frictionless environment from which a quantitative study of conservation of energy and circular motion can be made.

When students begin the study of Newton's laws they are generally comfortable with static equilibrium type problems, but dynamic examples where forces are not constant are more challenging. The class exercise presented here helps students to develop an intuitive grasp of both the position-velocity-acceleration relation and the force-acceleration…

As part of a campus-wide, externally funded project to increase performance in, enthusiasm for, and retention within STEM disciplines, we developed an interdisciplinary, team-taught first-year seminar course. The construction and delivery of this course was designed to show the relevance of selected general chemistry topics such as matter and…

This paper deals with the features and design of explanations in public physics lectures. It presents the findings from a comparative study of three exemplary public physics lectures, given by practicing physicists who are acknowledged as excellent public lecturers. The study uses three different perspectives: the lecture, the lecturer, and the…

Today's society is continuously coping with sustainability-related complex issues in the Science-Technology-Environment-Society (STES) interfaces. In those contexts, the need and relevance of the development of students' higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) such as question-asking, critical-thinking, problem-solving and decision-making…

An anonymous survey instrument was used for a ten year study to gauge college student attitudes toward evolution. Results indicate that students are most likely to accept evolution as a historical process for change in physical features of non-human organisms. They are less likely to accept evolution as an ongoing process that shapes all traits…

This study investigated the effectiveness of 5E learning cycle on 6th-grade students' achievement of cell concepts, and their scientific epistemological beliefs. Epistemological Belief Questionnaire and the Cell Concept Test were administered as pre-test and post-test to a total of 153 sixth grade students in four intact classes of an elementary…