Equipped with drinking straws and stirring straws, a teacher can help students understand how resistances in electric circuits combine in series and in parallel. Follow-up suggestions are provided. (ZWH)

Compares the aerodynamics involved in bird flight, movement of a tortoise, and a gliding plane. (ZWH)

Describes the Capacitor-Aided System for Teaching and Learning Electricity (CASTLE) project which is a high school electricity curriculum developed by high school and college physics teachers. The project is motivated by research on students' conceptual difficulties in electricity. The instructional materials developed allow students to challenge…

Critiques the Capacitor-Aided System for Teaching and Learning Electricity (CASTLE) curriculum. Criticism is made of the model's use of a compressible-fluid model to demonstrate charge conduction. An alternative model is proposed. (ZWH)

Describes high-speed photographic methods used to demonstrate that the tip of a snapped towel does break the sound barrier. (ZWH)

Describes the use of chromatic musical instrument tuners to make frequency measurements of sound waves and as an exercise in the conversion of pitch to frequency. (ZWH)

Discusses evaluation methods applicable to exploratory research areas, provides an overview of qualitative and formative methods for exploratory research on intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) and describes an exploratory study in ITS knowledge acquisition which involved working with three educators to build an ITS for high school physics.…

Presented is a map of the night sky in the northern hemisphere during the month of March 1991. A calendar of celestial highlights including the positions of the planets and several stars is included. (CW)

Human and electronic sensors that can indicate the presence of light, sound, temperature, pressure, and movement are discussed. Activities that investigate the human senses are described. Directions for making an electronic touch sensor are provided. (KR)

Discussed is an approach to learning in which students are given the opportunity to discuss and rationalize the conflict between the students' existing misconceptions and the phenomenon to be studied. Curriculum materials for a unit on acids and bases were developed using this strategy. (KR)

Presents information for teachers on science fairs including international competitions, finding research students, and starting research classes and science clubs. Provides advice for helping students with research. (PR)

Among the conclusions from an microanalysis of 29 high school physics student's concept mapping behaviors were that concept maps lead to sustained discourse on the topic and improved declarative knowledge. On the negative side, concept maps let scientifically incorrect notions become ingrained and go unchallenged. (PR)

Using graphs and diagrams, the authors describe a simple fermentation chamber and provide key experiments that can be used in the classroom to give students meaningful insight into metabolic processes. (ZWH)

Describes Science/Technology/Society (STS) curriculum efforts in the United States which grew out of Project Synthesis. Discusses STS, biology, and life science education. (PR)