A person's first significant "hands-on" encounter with mechanical things during childhood often comes through use of a bicycle. Almost all of us have personal experience with this element of transportation technology. Educators can use the bicycle to address a variety of standards that involve tool use, mechanics, science, math, and the interplay…

Meaningful visual experience requires computations that identify objects as the same persisting individuals over time, motion, occlusion, and featural change. This article explores these computations in the tunnel effect: When an object moves behind an occluder, and then an object later emerges following a consistent trajectory, observers…

Stereotyped movements displayed by 6 participants and tics displayed by 6 children were evaluated using an antecedent behavioral analysis and a force sensitive platform. We found that tics occurred more often in an alone condition when compared to high preference toy and play conditions, whereas stereotyped movements were more variable across…

Purpose: Examination of movement parameters and consistency has been used to infer underlying neural control of movement. However, there has been no systematic investigation of whether the way individuals are asked (or cued) to increase loudness alters articulation. This study examined whether different cues to elicit louder speech induce…

In this article, the authors review "The Music, Movement, and Learning Connection," written by early childhood educator and musician Hap Palmer in the September 2001 issue of Young Children, which is of significant interest to parents and teachers. As trained musicians, the authors agree with Palmer's message about music's positive effect on…

If you've ever felt unprepared to teach students with learning disabilities, here's a book that will extend your brain-friendly teaching practices to address students with learning disabilities and other special challenges. Neurologist and classroom teacher Judy Willis explains how the research on how people learn can help you: (1) Build safe and…

Describes a laboratory experiment that demonstrates the simultaneous conservation of angular and linear momentum. (Author/CP)

Describes a course in elementary mechanics especially designed for students of athletics and dance. Includes photographs, taken in a gymnasium laboratory, used for analyzing human motion. Student response is described. (Author/CP)

Presents a derivation of the centripetal acceleration formula which does not involve calculus or vectors but uses only simple geometry. (MLH)

Describes an experimental project on boomerangs designed for an undergraduate course in classical mechanics. The students designed and made their own boomerangs, devised their own procedures, and carried out suitable measurements. Presents some of their data and a simple analysis for the two-bladed boomerang. (Author/MLH)

Simulates the problems of rocket propulsion, hovering, and soft landing. (GS)

One dilemma of constructivist modes of instruction, which involve engaging students in discussions concerning a range of possible explanations for a given phenomenon, is that such an approach may confuse students who believe that absolute scientific truth exists. Historical dialogues in which various perspectives are aired by key scientists of the…

Deals generally with historical errors in science teaching and specifically with Newton's conception of his second law of motion. With reference to Newton's "Principia", the author concludes that Newton would not understand what we today refer to as "Newton's Second Law." (MLH)