While few disagree that science fair projects have great potential for student learning, the preparation and execution of projects can be stressful for teachers, students, and parents alike. While working as a fourth-grade teacher, the author's goal was to provide students with a science fair experience minus the pressure of trying to figure out…

Bumble bees are valuable pollinators of native and cultivated flora. Despite our knowledge of bumble bee nest site selection, most efforts to attract bumble bees to artificial domiciles have been met with limited success. Creating and evaluating artificial domiciles provides students an opportunity to investigate a real problem. In this lesson,…

The current paradigm in science education calls for greater emphasis on guiding students in active and extended scientific inquiry. This is supported by research suggesting that using a hands-on approach to learning fosters ownership in the learning process and allows students to gain greater appreciation for the design and implementation of…

STEM--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--has become a fixture of the education debate, and much effort already has been put toward improving student performance. Yet troubling statistics persist: On the latest round of testing for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 40 percent of fourth graders nationwide…

Many studies have been made on the impact of supplemental instruction in supported courses, with most showing significantly better examination results for students attending supplemental instruction in comparison to those who do not. However, remarkably little attention has been devoted to following up whether the benefits of supplemental…

A nanotechnology module was developed for ninth grade students in the context of teaching chemistry. Two basic concepts in nanotechnology were chosen: (1) size and scale and (2) surface-area-to-volume ratio (SA/V). A wide spectrum of instructional methods (e.g., game-based learning, learning with multimedia, learning with models, project based…

In recent years, a number of National Research Council reports have emphasized the need to improve science education and enhance science literacy for all students. In addition, the newly released "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" advocates engaging students in scientific practices and disciplinary core ideas. Children are not learning…

Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars at research universities will shape the future of undergraduate education in the natural and social sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the STEM disciplines) in the United States. In 2009 alone, more than 41,000 doctorates were awarded in STEM fields, and if employment trends hold,…

More emphasis should be placed on what can be done to help encourage and prepare students choosing STEM-based majors to enter college, be successful, and graduate. Summer bridge programs can provide pre-college experiences to help attract and retain future STEM majors by exposing them to experiences they would encounter in college math and science…

With the restructuring of the senior secondary education system in Hong Kong in 2009, the senior secondary curriculum was overhauled substantially by the conversion of the two-year Certificate Level and the two-year Advanced Level to a new three-year senior secondary level. This process entails changes to the contents and organization of various…

U.S. AND CANADIAN SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT EARTH SCIENCE FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL. MAJOR SECTIONS ARE DEVOTED TO ASTRONOMY, GEOLOGY, METEOROLOGY, OCEANOGRAPHY, AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. EACH SECTION CONTAINS LISTS OF (1) DEGREE-GRANTING DEPARTMENTS IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, (2) GOVERNMENT…

The problem examined in this study deals with the extent to which parental help in preparing for a science fair and parental support for the project affect students' attitudes toward the science fair. Fifty subjects were randomly selected from a group of 110 6th-grade students. There were 28 girls and 22 boys selected from the central-Virginia…

Favorite science topics like seeds and plants, evaporation, light and shadow, and animal observation are the subjects of the eight windowsill science centers included in this book. Each of the science centers includes a discussion of the process skills that students will use, several hands-on activities, explanation of key concepts and vocabulary,…

Describes a project-oriented high school chemistry course that utilizes laboratory units in which the students make a practical product, such as soap, thus exposing them to career possibilities. (MLH)

A long experience in undergraduate vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) process design projects is shared in this paper. The VCM process design is shown to be fully compliant with ABET 2000 criteria by virtue of its abundance in chemical engineering principles, integration of interpersonal and interdisciplinary skills in design, safety, economics, and…