Examining living organisms in one's own backyard is a key first step toward appreciating the scope and importance of biological diversity throughout the world. The goals of this lab are to involve students in exploring the biodiversity around them, appreciating its scope, and asking questions of new organisms that they may never have noticed…

Describes InterLabs, a multidisciplinary computer laboratory developed at Bradley University (Illinois). Highlights include student leadership; experience-based learning; examples of work; a new curriculum called Social Informatics that addresses changes in society that follow technology changes; problems with administrative support and funding;…

Describes the development of an innovative, multimedia, interactive CD-ROM aimed at helping teachers tackle the problem that students have with evaluating science laboratory work. (Author/WRM)

Describes an experiment in which students determine the density of Coke and Diet Coke, consider density as an intensive property, and compare the accuracy and precision of different types of glassware. (WRM)

Describes a novel course in first-year undergraduate practical biology that introduces students to the principles and practices of a variety of biological techniques. (CCM)

Describes the history and uses of the coulometer, a device for measuring quantities of electricity. (Contains 27 references.) (Author/WRM)

Presents a series of experiments that can be used to demonstrate how aspirin can be synthesized and characterized, how the hydrolysis of aspirin can be used as an introduction to kinetics, and how coordination chemistry (chelation) can be introduced by preparing and characterizing the copper complexes of aspirin and salicylic acid. (Contains over…

A biotechnologist-turned-teacher introduces a series of laboratory modules incorporating concepts from microbiology, cellular biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and evolution. The Amylase Project aims to distill the biotechnology process into a few short steps using amylase, the easiest enzyme to detect of those commonly produced by…

Recommends beginning certain chemistry courses with revision and consolidation of mole calculations. Argues that by choosing examples related to health and safety, mole calculations can be made less academic while raising student awareness of important issues. (DDR)

Seven sites are designated as Department of Energy (DOE) National Environmental Research Parks and serve as irreplaceable outdoor laboratories for scientific research and education. The DOE has recommended the disposal of nearly one- quarter of the research park land holdings. Offers suggestions for developing a plan for protecting the…

A study of 723 University of Cape Town (South Africa) physics students investigated their prior experience with laboratory procedures and technical report writing. Results suggest that, although students are generally aware of the importance of these elements of learning, school experience with teaching of scientific concepts and skills is often…

Discussion of inequality in access to computer technology focuses on gender differences in attitudes toward using computers in libraries, based on experiences at the University High School, a laboratory school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Topics addressed include female role models and local support groups. (Contains four…

Describes an integrated curriculum for grade two at Metcalf Laboratory School, Normal, Illinois, that celebrates family histories and American immigration. Reports that the journey begins with the teachers sharing their own family backgrounds, followed by story reading, sharing the family history project with parents, collecting oral histories,…

Describes the transformation of a writing program at a small Canadian university from a subdivision of the English department into a separate, interdisciplinary Centre for Academic Writing. Describes the origins of the program and recounts the processes of review and transition the program underwent. Notes how curricular and…

Proposes a model for writing program administrators to use to assess the effectiveness of composition programs. Argues the need to consider local conditions, evaluate the internal coherence of programs, and consider the external relevance of programs. Describes how using this model led the Writing Center at Northern Arizona University to make…