The Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition has found that, if cross-cultural psychology has mounted a challenge to developmental psychology, it is because it has forced recognition of the fact that no context of observation, including the laboratory, is culturally neutral. Settings for behavior are embedded in larger systems of social…

Describes an experiment for the intermediate undergraduate optics laboratory designed to illustrate simultaneously some aspects of the phenomena of diffraction; interference, coherence, apodization, the Fresnel-Arago law; as well as of the interrelations between these concepts. (HM)

Describes how a sample of iodine-131-labelled tin (IV) iodide can be used to estimate the mass of tin (IV) iodide present in a mixture with sodium chloride, by isotope dilution analysis. (MLH)

Discusses the negative reactions to the Food & Drug Administration's proposed good laboratory practices for nonclinical laboratory practices. Industry representatives protest the inflexibility and excessive detail in the regulations. (MLH)

Noting the lack of time in the 2-year program and the impatience of most student technicians, the author suggests that physics should be taught inductively. Laboratory experiments with understanding of the underlying physics principles are suggested as the appropriate center of activity. Examples are given of this emphasis on experimentation as…

Selected time components of the cardiac cycle were determined during breathing in air, breathing through a snorkel during face immersion, apnea in air, and apnea during face immersion. (PBS)

Describes an experiment designed to determine ascorbic acid concentrations in natural orange juice. The experiment is used with undergraduate pharmacy students to allow understanding of the principles of operation of the coulometer and polarograph. (DDR)

Presents a laboratory investigation to demonstrate that habitat structure promotes increased organism abundance and species diversity by reducing predator effects on prey abundance. Investigates the effects of goldfish (Carassius auratus) predators on Gammarus sp. (an amphipod) and Daphnia magna (a cladoceran) prey in the absence and presence of a…

Examines the nature of an ideal K-12 environmental science curriculum. Evaluates major biology textbooks with regard to ecology readings and laboratory activities in each text. (YDS)

Describes the effectiveness of cooperative learning on discipline problems, interdependence between students, and teacher-student interactions. Explains how to group students and introduces a laboratory activity on covalent and ionic bonds. (YDS)

Describes how to perform the Meselson-Stahl experiment using Lego building blocks. Demonstrates how the products of DNA replication pass on to new generations of cells. (YDS)

Describes a novel method for inducing and measuring cosmic ray showers using a low-cost, microcomputer-based laboratory system. Uses low counting-rate radiation monitors in the reproduction of Bruno Rossi's classic experiment. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/YDS)

Institutions of higher education that use animals in laboratory research have become targets of intense scrutiny regarding the treatment of those animals, the value of research, and the amount of federal funds they receive. The largest and most active animal-rights organization is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (MLW)

To integrate a research/discovery component into one course, an experiment using the sea urchin embryo system is introduced because the teacher manages only one organism and students provide the variables. The materials, handling methods, and experimental methods of the experiment are described. (YP)

Describes some experiments showing both qualitatively and quantitatively that aerodynamic lift is a reaction force. Demonstrates reaction forces caused by the acceleration of an airstream and the deflection of an airstream. Provides pictures of demonstration apparatus and mathematical expressions. (YP)