Describes the study of dung-inhabiting or coprophilous fungi to illustrate basic lab techniques and fundamental ecological concepts. Contains 24 references. (WRM)

Presents methods that can be used to isolate the enzyme tyrosinase and to assay its activity. Lists instructions for a laboratory activity that has variable but frequently dramatic results. (WRM)

Observed a laboratory play session to study development of anger expression during middle childhood. Found that 8- to 12-year-olds were remarkably composed in response to taunts from a same-age, same-sex confederate and to losing a computer game for a desirable prize. Also found gender differences in negative comments and gestures, and age…

Explains an oxidation-reduction experiment using lemon cells made from zinc and copper strips of metal placed into a lemon. (YDS)

Presents an activity that demonstrates the effectiveness of flame retardants--substances added to combustible materials to slow down or hinder burning--that can be introduced when discussing combustion reactions or during a practical or everyday chemistry unit. (ASK)

Flame tests are used for demonstration of atomic structure. Describes a demonstration that uses spray bottles filled with methanol and a variety of salts to produce a brilliantly colored flame. (Contains 11 references.) (ASK)

Electrochemiluminescence involves the production of light near an electrode surface by generating species that can undergo highly energetic electron transfer reactions. Presents a demonstration that uses Ru(bpy)32+ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) as the light-emitting molecule and tri-n-propylamine (C9H21N) as a coreactant. (Contains 25 references.) (ASK)

Describes how to adopt a Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) in an introductory college chemistry laboratory to promote a more positive attitude in students and better conceptual understanding of laboratory reports. (Author/MM)

Describes a laser refractometry experiment to estimate the refractive index of various liquids. (YDS)

The use of a Wiener filter estimate for the linear transfer function can significantly improve the description of behavioral dynamics. This report presents a two-pass, Monte-Carlo-based algorithm that is well suited to repeated-trials local average measurements. The Wiener filter transfer functions strongly suppress noise artifacts as well as…

Disoriented children could use geometric information in combination with landmark information to reorient themselves in large but not in small experimental spaces. We tested fish in the same task and found that they were able to conjoin geometric and non-geometric (landmark) information to reorient themselves in both the large and the small space…

Two experiments assessed masked priming for words presented to the left and right visual fields in a lexical decision task. In both Experiments, the same magnitude and pattern of priming was obtained for visually similar ("kiss"-"KISS") and dissimilar ("read"-"READ") prime-target pairs. These findings…

How well does competitive theory explain the outcome in experimental markets? The authors examined the results of a large number of classroom trading experiments that used a pit-trading design found in Experiments with Economic Principles, an introductory economics textbook by Bergstrom and Miller. They compared experimental outcomes with…

This paper addresses the question of whether particle ideas help or hinder young pupils' understanding of changes of state and dissolving. Two matched groups in a primary school in Greece (ages 10/11, n = 20 and n = 19) were respectively taught one of two parallel lesson schemes. Covering the same phenomena, one scheme incorporated particle ideas,…

As one of the authors was warning the fifth-grade class about protecting clothes from spills in the lab, one student commented that his pants wouldn't stain because they were covered with some "nano stuff." The class tossed water on the pants and watched it bead up and roll off "like magic." The class's interest was piqued, and the questions…