Vygotsky described the distinction between the "appearance and essence of things" as generating the need for science; he also discussed how this difference is responsible for the fundamental challenge faced by science teachers, as it often requires them to have to build bridges between students' ideas and those of science. Those bridges are often…

The effect of hands-on laboratory activities on secondary student learning was examined. Assessment was conducted over a two-year period, with 262 students participating the first year and 264 students the second year. Students took a prequiz, performed a laboratory activity (gas chromatography of alcohols, or photosynthesis and respiration), and…

An inquiry-based laboratory exercise is described in which introductory chemistry students measure the density of water five times using either a beaker, a graduated cylinder, or a volumetric pipet. Students are also assigned to use one of two analytical balances, one of which is purposefully miscalibrated by 5%. Each group collects data using…

Visualizing molecular properties is often crucial for constructing conceptual understanding in chemistry. However, research has revealed numerous challenges surrounding students' meaningful interpretation of the relationship between the geometry and electrostatic properties of molecules. This study explored students' (n = 18) use of three visual…

Winds in desert regions form the well-known barchan dunes. Frequently, human settlements are threatened by the migration of these dunes. But why do these dunes move? And how is dune migration in deserts connected to scour development in the vicinity of pylons in river beds or to snow cornices in alpine regions? This paper introduces the topic of…

The performance of a fan is usually estimated using hydrodynamical considerations. The calculations are long and involved and the results are expressed in terms of three affinity laws. In this paper we use kinetic theory to attack this problem. A hard sphere collision model is used, and subsequently a correction to account for the flow behaviour…

Middle school students hear about energy continuously: in the news, in many of their classes, and at home. Most students realize that recent wars have been fought over energy resources, and many will accept that overreliance on fossil fuels is changing the global climate. Students understand that as the world population surges past seven billion,…

In this article, the authors present an inquiry-based approach to facilitate student understanding of the differences among common cloud descriptive characteristics through the use of a semi-dichotomous key developed by a former West Virginia state climatologist. The authors also demonstrate how students can analyze common class data sets that…

This study examines the impact of successive versus non-successive scheduling of mathematics courses on the achievement of ninth-grade students in a suburban Oregon high school. The Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and student performance on the geometry course final exam were employed to compare the achievement of intact groups of…

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which more targeted instruction is helpful in eliciting students' scientific explanations of six selected carbon-transforming processes of combustion, cross processes, decomposition, growth, photosynthesis and respiration. We also examined these students' accounts regarding the corresponding…

Teachers' instructional practices fundamentally shape students' classroom experiences. However, it is still unclear what patterns of instructional practice are related to specific classroom goal structures, and how momentary changes in classroom goal structures affect students' momentary cognitive engagement in high school science.…

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined how ten secondary science teachers from a variety of different schools around the country understand and implement technological design in their classrooms. The results of this study indicate that these teachers were drawn to the tenets of technological design because of its inherent challenge to…

It is fascinating to listen to middle school students talk about food for plants and animals and how that food is used. Some students describe ideas that are essentially correct. Some comments suggest that students are familiar with the content, but their understanding is incomplete or includes inaccuracies. Finally, some students have little…

This article discusses an instructional strategy which explores eventual similarities and/or analogies between familiar problems and more sophisticated systems. In this context, the Atwood's machine problem is used to introduce students to more complex problems involving ropes and chains. The methodology proposed helps students to develop the…

SpaceShipTwo is a private spaceplane project which is intended for space tourism. Very few details about its construction and flight characteristics are available for the public, but with proper numerical methods some interesting results can be obtained using secondary school mathematics. An exercise about SpaceShipTwo can be used as a…