For nearly one hundred years, from progressive education to critical pedagogy, philosophers, researchers, and educators have advocated for listening, respecting, and providing space for the learner's voice within education. When teaching challenging science content, it is vital to provide both a context for the knowledge and a reason for learning…

Recently, 57 undergraduate students at the University of Michigan were assigned the task of solving a crystal structure, given only the electron density map of a 1.3 Å crystal structure from the electron density server, and the position of the N-terminal amino acid. To test their knowledge of amino acid chemistry, the students were not given the…

The binding constant and stoichiometry ratio for the formation of iron(II)-(1,10-phenanthroline) or iron(II)-o-phenanthroline complexes has been determined by a combination of a low-cost analytical method using a smartphone and a molecular modeling method as a laboratory experiment designed for analytical and physical chemistry courses. Intensity…

This column shares safety information for the classroom. STEAM subjects--science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics--are essential for fostering students' 21st-century skills. STEAM promotes critical-thinking skills, including analysis, assessment, categorization, classification, interpretation, justification, and prediction, and are…

In practice, sustainable development is the use of natural resources in a manner that allows ecosystems to continue to function as natural ecosystems and biotic and abiotic interactions to maintain checks and balances are homeostatic. Historically, human activity has led to modification of nature that leads to (1) economic development, (2) biotic…

Parental engagement is an area of school life that school leaders often aspire to increase, but it can be a challenge. This is especially so when trying to attract parents whose engagement is already low or absent. Science presents opportunities for engagement from which other subjects may not benefit. The collaborative nature of science and the…

As science subject leader, the author wanted to explore pupil questioning in the early years and find a lesson format that could be replicated throughout the school to engage all the children in regular short discussions focusing on science enquiry. The author planned a weekly programme of 30-minute "Science Talk" sessions with one of…

The Royal Masonic School for Girls made history in February 2016 when it became the first school to establish a video link with the International Space Station via amateur radio--the result of a competition run by ARISS. Six girls from year 9 (age 13-14 years) qualified for Foundation Amateur Radio Licences, and students across the school took…

Here we examine the role art activities play in aesthetic experience and learning of science. We compare recordings of two sequential occurrences in an elementary school class. The purpose of the first sequence was scientific and involved the children in observing leaves with magnifiers. The second sequence had an artistic purpose, where the…

Many teachers and subject leaders in primary schools across England are currently struggling to get their heads around the challenges--and opportunities--of an education world "beyond levels." Central to making judgements about children's progress is a notion of security of understanding or "mastery" of the curriculum. Have…

Imagine 98% of children in your country leaving primary school without ever having done a science investigation. This almost complete absence of primary science is the situation just over the North Sea from Britain--in the Netherlands. A recent survey showed that only about 120 primary schools in the Netherlands, out of a total of 6000, do some…

Kinetics is an important part of undergraduate environmental chemistry curricula and relevant laboratory exercises are helpful in assisting students to grasp concepts. Such exercises are also useful in general chemistry courses because students can see relevance to real-world issues. The laboratory exercise described here involves determination of…

NASA's "Kepler Mission" has been wildly successful in discovering exoplanets. This paper summarizes the mission goals, briefly explains the transit method of finding exoplanets and design of the mission, provides some key findings, and describes useful education materials available at the "Kepler" website.

Analysis of self-reflections of undergraduate education students in a project involving web-supported counterintuitive science demonstrations is reported in this paper. Participating students (N = 19) taught science with counterintuitive demonstrations in local elementary school classrooms and used web-based resources accessed via wireless USB…

In the United States with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)'s emphasis on learning science while doing science, laboratory activities in the secondary school chemistry continues to be an important component of a strong curriculum. Laboratory equipment and consumable materials create a unique expense which chemistry teachers and schools…