Provides guidelines for simple acceleration experiments with string and attached weights as a means to stimulate the reticular activating system (RAS) of the human brain. Several methods (discrepant events, curiosity, choices, and doubt) are suggested for promoting RAS high-level thought. String drop experiments provide concrete experiences with…

An interdisciplinary art and science program for talented inner-city 11th graders is described through a photo essay. Students are involved in activities such as painting outdoors, rendering instructional charts for use in science classes, illustrating seasonal calendars, gardening, identifying insects, and learning about weather forecasting. (RM)

An elementary school teacher developed renewed interest in both teaching and learning after enrolling in an American Heart Association workshop. This article discusses how a science unit on the heart was taught in a creative and interesting way to fourth-grade students. (DF)

Suggestions for instructional improvement are provided in two topic areas. Explains the use of models in helping students to visualize selected concepts in genetic engineering and recommends the use of tropical tuber crops for encouraging students to conduct practical investigations. (ML)

Discusses an acid-base neutralization exercise requiring groups of students to determine: (1) combinations of solutions giving neutralization; (2) grouping solutions as acids or bases; and (3) ranking groups in order of concentration. (JM)

Discusses an experiment designed to introduce students to the basic principles of the fast Fourier transform and Fourier smoothing through transformation of time-dependent optical absorption data from an oscillating reaction. Uses the Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction. Describes the experimental setup and data analysis techniques.

Provides: (1) background information on insect habitats and microhabitats, examining what they are and why they are important to insects and animals; (2) six activities; and (3) materials (ready-to-copy games, puzzles, coloring pages, worksheets, and/or mazes). Activities include objective(s), recommended age level(s), subject area(s), list of…

Presents background information and six activities that focus on clouds, precipitation, and stormy weather. Each activity includes an objective, recommended age level(s), subject area(s), and instructional strategies. Also provided are two ready-to-copy pages (a coloring page on lightning and a list of weather riddles to solve). (JN)

Provides (1) background information on the many ways birds keep fit and are adapted to survive; (2) student activities on this topic; and (3) ready-to-copy materials (a game, worksheet, and coloring pages). Each activity includes an objective, recommended age level(s), subject area(s), list of materials needed, and procedures. (JN)

"Females in Engineering, Methods, Motivation, and Experience" (FEMME) is a precollege program at New Jersey Institute of Technology giving academically talented ninth-grade girls an introduction to engineering. Four experiments (windmill building, burglar alarm construction, electrochemistry, and spatial reasoning activities) helpful in achieving…

Describes the properties of colloids, listing those commonly encountered (such as whipped cream, mayonnaise, and fog). Also presents several experiments using colloids and discusses "Silly Putty," a colloid with viscoelastic properties whose counterintuitive properties result from its mixture of polymers. (DH)

Provides: (1) background information on ways people affect deserts and ways deserts affect people; (2) student activities on this topic; and (3) ready-to-copy materials (culture match worksheet and causes worksheet). Each activity includes objective(s), recommended age level(s), subject area(s), list of materials needed, and procedures. (DH)

Introduces an approach to teaching about the skin that involves making, comparing, and classifying its prints. Outlines the procedures for making skin prints and explains why different kinds of patterns exist in various parts of the body and also among individuals. (ML)

Provides directives for the assembly of a skin sensitivity tester that can be used to examine the skin's function of feeling. Procedures for this experiment are reviewed and a chart for recording the data is also included. (ML)

Presents a classification scheme for identifying sedimentary rocks in introductory geology laboratories. The key consists of an ordered sequence of tests to perform and observations to make which then suggests a rock name or directs the student to additional tests and/or observations. (ML)