Educating the public about safety issues related to severe weather is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) mission. This article deals with a poster entitled, "Severe Weather," that has been created by NOAA to help educate the public about hazardous weather conditions. The four types of severe weather highlighted in…

During Earth Science Week (October 8-14, 2006), millions of citizen scientists worldwide will be sampling groundwater, monitoring weather, touring quarries, exploring caves, preparing competition projects, and visiting museums and science centers to learn about Earth science. The American Geological Institute organizes this annual event to…

In this undergraduate biochemistry laboratory experiment, the vacuolar ATPase protein complex is purified from yeast cell extracts by doing immunoprecipitations under nondenaturing conditions. Immunoprecipitations are performed using monoclonal antibodies to facilitate data interpretation, and subunits are separated on the basis of their molecular…

Considerable research has compared how students learn science from computer simulations with how they learn from "traditional" classes. Little research has compared how students learn science from computer simulations with how they learn from direct experience in the real environment on which the simulations are based. This study compared two…

From wind-stirred ripples to "large waves in a harbor," this paper describes science projects that can help students learn about and create their own ocean motion.

DNA microarray technology is revolutionizing biological science. DNA microarrays (also called DNA chips) allow simultaneous screening of many genes for changes in expression between different cells. Now researchers can obtain information about genes in days or weeks that used to take months or years. The paper activity described in this article…

For many biology classes, the year begins with the study of characteristics of life. Many biology teachers have their students read lists from biology books and then have examinations about those characteristics. However, it is doubtful if students really understand what those characteristics mean "in terms of the life of an organism." They may…

A technique to measure the potency of leaf compounds against herbivores with the use of a bioassay is described. Bioassays are useful in classes where students have career plans like medicine in which bioassays can be used as tools for screening plants for possible medicinal potency.

Two exercises that would provide beginning quantum theory students with an introduction to more advanced quantum mechanical treatments, especially the hydrogen atom are given. The exercises are stepwise in difficulty, leading naturally to the full hydrogen atom development and greatly extend the pedagogy of most multidimensional Cartesian systems…

Teaching about forces provides a good opportunity to encourage children to start thinking about energy transfer. Children come into the classroom with a number of ideas about the nature of energy. These often become apparent when eliciting their ideas about forces, particularly when discussing "push" and "pull". In this article, the author…

The eyes are the most complex organs in the body. Children's eyes are still developing until they are around 8-9 years old; therefore it is important to check that they are working properly before it is too late to rectify any problems. So how do they work, and why do they sometimes go wrong? In this article, the author explains children's eye…

This article provides teachers with ten tips for introducing young children to activities involving water. The 10 tips include: (1) Prepare Your Water Play Space; (2) Use Containers Within Containers; (3) Keep Things Interesting; (4) Explore Ice; (5) Survey the Effects of Salt; (6) Go With the Flow; (7) Extend Exploration with Spray Bottles; (8)…

Most students consume fizzy drinks and will have seen the bubbles that appear when the drinks are poured. But how much gas is in the bottle or can? Simple investigations can answer this and other questions both theoretically and experimentally.

An educational study of the barometric effect of cosmic rays was carried out using an inexpensive experimental set-up that allowed for long-term monitoring of atmospheric pressure and cosmic ray flux as measured in a Geiger counter. The investigation was intended as a pilot study in view of ongoing involvements of high-school teams operating…

Wind energy is the fastest-growing renewable energy source in the world. Over the last 20 years, the wind industry has done a very good job of engineering machines, improving materials, and economies of production, and making this energy source a reality. Like all renewable energy forms, wind energy's successful application is site specific. Also,…