Presents an analogy used in introductory college chemistry to help students understand the procedure for determining the percentage purity of sodium carbonate. Employs a monetary analogy. (DDR)

Presents three experiments to introduce students to different kinds of chromatography: (1) paper chromatography; (2) gel filtration chromatography; and (3) reverse-phase liquid chromatography. Written in the form of a laboratory manual, explanations of each of the techniques, materials needed, procedures, and a glossary are included. (PVD)

Argues that procedural understanding--or the "know-how" of science--is a key issue in employment but one that is not easily identified. When questioned about the science they use in their work, employers and employees tend to refer to traditional scientific concepts and find it difficult to describe the procedural knowledge required in…

Presents the rigor mortis process in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) as a tool for better understanding skeletal muscle metabolism. Describes an activity that demonstrates how rigor mortis is related to the post-mortem decrease of muscular glycogen and ATP, how glycogen degradation produces lactic acid that lowers muscle pH, and how…

Documents the collaborative coordination of multiple resources--talk, gesture, and writing--as represented in the interaction among three high school seniors working on a physics laboratory task. Through close analysis of the moment-to-moment construction of task, the study draws attention to complex yet taken-for-granted practices that are…

Discusses the merits of the Spectrum Techniques gamma spectroscopy system as used by university students to determine the mass-energy of an electron from measurements of the energies of Compton-scattered gammas. (WRM)

States that after a qualitative survey of participating instructors suggested the success of an in-class tutoring program at the open-admissions Kingsborough Community College, a quantitative survey compared the writing performance of students served by the program and those who were not. Indicates the program's success--more of those tutored…

Uses density to engage students in making quantitative observations that conflict with qualitative observations. Encourages discussion of the discrepancy thereby providing a natural means for student self-assessment and reflection. (DDR)

Uses data from a survey of Perth lower secondary science teachers to reveal low levels of inquiry and determine the nature of the laboratory work undertaken by their students. Contains 29 references. (DDR)

Measurement of the compositions and temperatures of H2O-NaCl brines in equilibrium with ice can be used as an easy in-class experimental determination of a liquidus. This experiment emphasizes the symmetry of the behavior of brines with regard to the minerals ice and halite and helps to free students from the conceptual tethers of one-component…

Describes two simple laboratory exercises that allow students to test hypotheses concerning the requirement of cell energy for osmosis. The first exercise involves osmotically-caused changes in the length of potato tubers and requires detailed quantitative observations. The second exercise involves osmotically-caused changes in turgor of Elodea…

Argues that Lewis diagrams can be easily done by students using a minimal number of clues. Presents a method to draw the Lewis structure of molecules, polyatomic ions, and radicals whereby students no longer need to move bonds or lone pairs of electrons. (DDR)

Discusses a year-long course of study called Chemistry in the Community, or ChemCom, developed by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to improve chemistry studies in high schools and to relate chemistry to the real world of students. Students spend half the time in the laboratory with more discussion on nuclear, organic, and biochemistry than that…

Focuses on how teachers understand the place of the laboratory and laboratory work in their practice. Observations are based on interviews conducted with secondary science teachers in England. Contains 27 references. (DDR)

Details the incorporation of safety procedures and issues into the curriculum of an undergraduate chemical engineering unit operations laboratory course. Includes checklists and sample reporting forms. (DDR)