Explains how to use saliva instead of blood for classroom blood typing activities. Describes the protocol and equipment needed. (PR)

Describes the statistical test of chi-square analysis. Explains how this test can be used in biology instruction. Examples from blood typing are used. (PR)

Presents an interdisciplinary activity that combines math and science and enhances cooperative learning skills. Enables students to learn about the scientific method by designing an original research project, collecting and interpreting data, and drawing conclusions based on their research. (JRH)

Uses a true-to-life story of accusations made against a college football team to illustrate ideal gas laws. Students are asked to decide whether helium-filled footballs would increase punt distances and how to determine whether a football contained air or helium. (WRM)

Identifies and quantifies the chemistry conceptions used by students when solving chemical equilibrium problems requiring application of LeChatelier's Principle, and explores the feasibility of designing a paper and pencil test to accomplish these purposes. Eleven prevalent incorrect student conceptions about chemical equilibrium were identified…

Describes a concrete teaching model designed to eliminate students' misconceptions about current flow in electrochemistry. The model uses a semi-permeable membrane rather than a salt bridge to complete the circuit and demonstrate the maintenance of cell neutrality. Concludes that use of the model led to improvement in students' understanding at…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a Computer-Assisted Instruction Material (CAIM) related to "photosynthesis" topic on student cognitive development, misconceptions and attitudes. The study conducted in 2002-2003 academic year and was carried out in two different classes taught by the same teacher, in which…

This study analyzes the impact of an integrated sensory model within a thermal equilibrium visualization. We hypothesized that this intervention would not only help students revise their disruptive experientially supported ideas about why objects feel hot or cold, but also increase their understanding of thermal equilibrium. The analysis…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the beliefs of six experienced high school science teachers about (1) what is successful science learning; (2) what are the purposes of laboratory in science teaching; and (3) how inquiry is implemented in the classroom. An interpretive multiple case study with an ethnographic orientation was used. The…

To promote large-scale science education reform, developers must create innovations that teachers can use to learn and enact new practices. As part of an urban systemic reform effort, science materials were designed to reflect desired reforms and to support teacher thinking by addressing necessary content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content…

In this article, we describe the results of a study of the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of preservice chemistry teachers in the context of a postgraduate teacher education program. A group of preservice teachers (n = 12) took part in an experimental introductory course module about the use of particle models to help secondary school…

In this article, the author, at the very foundation of her teaching, was trying to establish an environment that would promote inquiry and create an investigative mindset in her first-grader students. First, she assessed her first-grade students' thinking about scientists by asking them to draw and write about what a scientist looks like and does.…

Students must understand the fundamental process of convection before they can grasp a wide variety of Earth processes, many of which may seem abstract because of the scales on which they operate. Presentation of a very visual, concrete model prior to instruction on these topics may facilitate students' understanding of processes that are largely…

A consensus of key nature of science ideas appropriate for inclusion in the K-12 science curriculum has begun to emerge from a review by science educators of the extensive literature in the history and philosophy of science. The authors in this issue of "The Science Teacher" suggest surprisingly parallel sets of NOS content goals for K-12 science…

Studying the history of science helps students develop a sense of science (and mathematics) as a dynamic, human enterprise, and also provides a better understanding of the role that science has played in the development of various cultures. It also shows students how difficult it was for scientific innovations to break through the accepted ideas…