Describes a funded cooperative project, Bumble Boosters, which aims to create a community of learners to conduct authentic research on bumble bees in Nebraska. (Author/SOE)

Describes student work to restore the salmon population in a local tributary. (KHR)

Adapts three high-interest activities using biogenic and physical traces in the re-creation of past events that were created to help develop student understanding of the process of science without sacrificing substantive geoscience content. Presents adaptations of human footprints, dinosaur tracks, and sliding rock trails investigations. (Contains…

Presents a scenario-based anatomy exercise designed for middle schools students. Investigates the anatomy of alfalfa and sweet clover plants while focusing on seedling anatomy. (YDS)

Demonstrates the differences in protein structures by focusing on isoelectric point with an experiment that is observable under certain pH levels in gel electrophoresis. Explains the electrophoresis procedure and reports results of the experiments. (YDS)

Introduces a brine shrimp assay to demonstrate the effects of the biological activity of herbal remedies. Describes two protocols, one using aqueous extracts and the other using methanol extracts. (Contains 21 references.) (YDS)

Uses forensic chemical science in an elementary setting and investigates how students apply knowledge to a real-world scenario. (YDS)

Describes qualitative lecture demonstrations that show that bubbles can indeed sink a body, including the case of ice in water. Presents a quantitative experiment to determine the density of bubbly water required to sink a spherical body. (Author/YDS)

Describes a microbiology laboratory experiment in which students test their own microbial flora of Staphylococcus for antibiotic resistance. Provides directions on how to conduct the experiment. (YDS)

Presents a hands-on, investigative lab activity for use in an introductory zoology course. Tests the behavioral hypothesis that substrate texture affects earthworm locomotor ability. Provides background information on earthworm locomotion followed by details of the lab exercise. (NB)

Presents three biographical sketches of scientists including John Wesley Powell (first to explore the geology of the Grand Canyon), Joseph von Fraunhofer (his work in optics led to the science of spectroscopy), and Gregor Mendel (of Mendelian genetics fame). Other scientists are mentioned along with sources for additional biographical information.…

Describes a garden project by elementary students in an urban school. Students chose to rehabilitate a courtyard area and have since created three separate gardens including a butterfly garden. The project was a collaborative endeavor involving parents and other community members working with students and their teachers. (DLH)

Describes a method for calculating lines of best fit that is easy to understand and apply. Presents an example using the Arrhenius plot of a first-order reaction from which the energy of activation is calculated. (MM)

Reports on the design of a multi-week cooperative learning activity for an undergraduate introductory volcanology class which culminates in the simulation of a volcanic monitoring crisis. Suggests that this activity creates an effective and exciting learning environment in which students have the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts to a more…

Explains the benefits of including polymer topics in both graduate and undergraduate physical chemistry courses. Provides examples of how to use rubberlike elasticity to demonstrate some of the general and thermodynamic concepts including equations of state, Carnot cycles and mechanochemistry, gel collapse, energy storage and hysteresis, and…