The increase in ocean acidity since preindustrial times may have deleterious consequences for marine organisms, particularly those with calcareous structures. We present a laboratory experiment to investigate this impact with general, introductory, environmental, and nonmajors chemistry students. For simplicity and homogeneity, calcite was…

In the last decade, our understanding of the chemistry of olive oil has dramatically improved. Here, the essential chemistry of olive oil and its important minor constituents is described and related to the typical sensory categories used to rate and experience oils: color, aroma, bitterness, and pungency. We also describe experiments to explore…

From September 2015, schools in England will be teaching new A-level science specifications that have been developed by examination boards to encompass new higher levels of demand developed by the Department for Education. Integral to these new specifications is a radical change to the contribution of practical science to the A-level grade of the…

The article describes an innovative project for year 9 (age 13-14) students that has run since 2002 with the help of professional engineers and scientists and incorporates careers information and hands-on practical work. The programme was developed to highlight alternative energy as a subject and also to provide a hands-on practical day for the…

Though science education has been prominent in the Canadian educational system, researchers increasingly recognize the scientific and educational value of integrating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into their curriculum. Despite national strategies to integrate TEK, Canada has yet to initiate a comprehensive study of its prevalence and…

This paper argues that, despite its difficulties, climate change can (and perhaps needs to) be taught rigorously to students by enquiry rather than through transmission and that such a method will enable students to make judgments on other issues of scientific controversy. It examines the issues and barriers to the teaching of climate change,…

The teaching of instrumental analysis for many small colleges and high schools continues to be stymied by high-cost, complicated maintenance, high power requirements, and often the sheer bulk of the instrumentation. Such issues have led us to develop inexpensive instruments as part of a SMILE initiative (small, mobile instruments for laboratory…

People use many different products made from plastics every day. But conventional plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) do not always have a good reputation in society at large. Bioplastics such as thermoplastic starch (TPS) promise to be better alternatives but are they really better than conventional plastics? This article presents a new…

A three-year project aimed at embedding seismology into schools in northern England to support the teaching of the earth science strands in the National Curriculum for England and Wales is described. Seismometers were deployed in a range of high schools across the Yorkshire and Humberside region. Deployment was supported by a programme of staff…

An efficient laboratory experiment has been developed for undergraduate students to conduct hydrogen-deuterium (H-D) exchange of resorcinol by electrophilic aromatic substitution using D[subscript 2]O and a catalytic amount of H[subscript 2]SO[subscript 4]. The resulting labeled product is characterized by [superscript 1]H NMR. Students also…

Understanding what happens at the particulate level when ionic compounds dissolve in water is difficult for many students, yet this understanding is critical in explaining many macroscopic observations. This article describes a student-centered activity designed to help strengthen students' conceptual understanding of this process at the…

This article describes the results of using state-of-the-art, research-quality software as a learning tool in a general chemistry secondary school classroom setting. I present three activities designed to introduce fundamental chemical concepts regarding molecular shape and atomic orbitals to students with little background in chemistry, such as…

The physics curriculum is usually defined by content but this does not provide students with an authentic experience of the subject. An alternative is that physics is defined more as a way of thinking and this idea is explored in terms of the purposes of physics education, assessment and the relationship of the subject with other disciplines. A…

Biotechnology has been widely applied in various products throughout the 21st century. Malaysia selected the biotechnology sector as one of the key strategic technologies that would enable Malaysia to transform into a fully developed nation by the year 2020. However, to date, there has been very little research on the level of biotechnology…

This article outlines how to incorporate argumentation into a forensic science unit using a mock trial. Practical details of the mock trial include: (1) a method of scaffolding students' development of their argument for the trial, (2) a clearly outlined set of expectations for students during the planning and implementation of the mock…