This article presents an activity in which students pool their knowledge and creativity to make a song presenting what they have learned in a unit on the rock cycle. This highly motivating, integrated performance assessment incorporates multiple intelligences, reinforces learning, and is a student favorite in the elementary and middle grades.

Middle school science teachers report using textbooks regularly although these textbooks have been criticized for not following standards-based principles for concept learning, and student reading achievement has been stagnant for 20 years. Effective strategic reading instruction has been documented for middle school students but few teachers use…

During the past few years the authors have developed a new approach to the teaching of physical science, a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. This approach, called "Physics in Films" (Efthimiou and Llewellyn 2006 Phys. Teach. 44 28-33), uses scenes from popular films to illustrate…

The author describes how he used to teach a unit on food webs and ecosystems using actual food webs as models. However, the models used by the author tend to be either too simplistic or too complicated for his students. A few years ago, he solved these problems by making up his own food web, complete with invented plants and animals. The model has…

In this paper, I recall previous arguments for a hermeneutic approach to science and claim that such an approach necessitates attention to the development of dispositions. I undertake an analysis of Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics to identify and describe dispositions relevant to a hermeneutic approach to science. I then apply…

There are many schools (grades K-12) around the country that offer some sort of science research option for students to pursue. Often this option is a local science fair, where students do smaller projects that are then presented at poster sessions. Many times the top local projects can advance to some type of regional and, possibly, state science…

Microscale chemistry is an approach to conducting chemistry practicals which can help overcome increased concerns about environmental pollution problems as well as rising laboratory costs. It is accomplished by using miniature labware and significantly reduced amounts of chemicals. This paper reports on students' attitudes and motivation towards…

A "spring physics camp" for future physics teachers proved to be an interesting optional informal complement of the standard pre-service training. A scholarly programme at the camp is based mainly on small "miniprojects". This paper discusses the motivation and reasons for making such a camp, comments on some of its special features, presents…

Today's method of teaching the concept of falling bodies in French physics classes is ineffective, not only because it ignores the physical aspect of the phenomenon by addressing only its mathematical aspect, but also because it does not take into account students' initial conceptions, which are often incompatible with scientific knowledge. The…

The study is conducted using predictors to analyse the classroom practices and their connection with performance in first course introductory college chemistry. Trends in the predictors show that peer teaching is associated positively with higher grades, while individual work is negatively associated.

Reflecting on one's practice, whether it is a conversation with a single student, a lesson, or a unit plan, is the surest way for a teacher to improve. Going through the process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) is a journey of reflective practice. The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is a nonprofit,…

An activity is presented in which the thermodynamics of simultaneous, consecutive equilibria are explored. The activity is appropriate for second-year high school or AP chemistry. Students discover that a reactant-favored (entropy-diminishing or endergonic) reaction can be caused to happen if it is coupled with a product-favored reaction of…

The success of teaching molecular and atomic phenomena depends on the didactical strategy and the media selection adopted, in consideration of the level of abstraction of the subject to be taught and the students' capability to deal with abstract operations. Dale's cone of experience was employed to plan three 50-minute classes to discuss protein…

Today, geodesic domes are found on playgrounds, homes, over radar installations, storage facilities, at Disney's Epcot Center, and at World's Fairs. The inventor of the design, Buckminster Fuller, thought that geodesic domes could be used to cover large areas and even designed one to cover all of New York's Manhattan Island. This article details…

A pinhole camera is a camera without a lens. A tiny hole replaces the lens, and light is allowed to come in for short amount of time by means of a hand-operated shutter. The pinhole allows only a very narrow beam of light to enter, which reduces confusion due to scattered light on the film. This results in an image that is focused, reversed, and…