The purpose of this study was to report United States of America (USA) science teachers' understandings of the internal structures of the human body. The 71 science teachers who participated in this study attended a frog/pig, two-hour dissection workshop at the 2004 National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The…

A protocol that emphasizes lab report writing using a piecemeal approach coupled with peer review is described. As the lab course progresses, the focus of the report writing changes sequentially through the abstract and introduction, the discussion, and the procedure. Two styles of lab programs are presented. One style rotates the students through…

Writing formal "journal-style" lab reports is often one of the requirements chemistry and biochemistry students encounter in the physical chemistry laboratory. Helping students improve their technical writing skills is the primary reason this type of writing is a requirement in the physical chemistry laboratory. Developing these skills is an…

Static headspace analysis of accelerants from suspected arsons is accomplished by placing an arson sample in a sealed container with a carbon strip suspended above the sample. The sample is heated, cooled to room temperature, and then the organic components are extracted from the carbon strip with carbon disulfide followed by gas chromatography…

A new laboratory procedure for the evaluation of the mean molecular weight (mean relative molecular mass) of petroleum oils with high accuracy is described. The density and dynamic viscosity of three commercial petroleum oils are measured at different temperatures. These experimental data are used to calculate the kinematic viscosity as a function…

This article describes LabSkills, a revolutionary teaching tool to improve practical science in schools. LabSkills offers the chance to help improve the exposure that the average Key Stage 5 (age 16-19) student has to practical work. This is a huge area for development being highlighted by universities who are seeing a worryingly growing trend in…

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between chemistry laboratory anxiety, chemistry attitudes, and self-efficacy. Participants were 395 university students. Participants completed the Chemistry Laboratory Anxiety Scale, the Chemistry Attitudes Scale, and the Self-efficacy Scale. Results showed that chemistry laboratory anxiety…

Laboratory experiments that focus on protein folding provide excellent opportunities for undergraduate students to learn important topics in the expanding interdisciplinary field of biophysics. Here, we describe the use of Stern-Volmer plots to determine the extent of solvent accessibility of the single tryptophan residue (trp-59) in unfolded and…

In this laboratory experiment, students obtain information about the structure of a host-guest complex from the interpretation of circular dichroism measurements. The value and sign of the induced circular dichroism (ICD) on an achiral chromophore guest when it complexes with a cyclodextrin can be related to the guest penetration and its…

In this laboratory experiment, high school students are challenged to prepare a six-layered chemical "rainbow" in a test tube. Students start with six unknown, colorless liquids and six pigments ranging from violet to red. The experiment is problem based and forces the students to apply their knowledge of solubility and density and combine it with…

The laboratory synthesis of N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) is an effective way to combine organic chemistry teaching with a student's day-to-day life outside the classroom. Interest in DEET as a mosquito repellent has been heightened because of the rise of the West Nile virus across much of North America (1). To take advantage of the…

Liquid-vapor, solid-vapor, and solid-liquid-vapor equilibria are studied for the pure substance water, using modern equipment that includes specially fabricated glass cells. Samples are evaporatively frozen initially, during which they typically supercool to -5 to -10 [degrees]C before spontaneously freezing. Vacuum pumping lowers the temperature…

This case study places the high school student as a researcher for Carbonation Creators (fictional entity), a company responsible for making the Fizzy Forcer (a device to improve carbonation in previously opened bottles of soft drinks). The company faces a class-action lawsuit claiming that the Fizzy Forcer does not retain carbonation levels in…

Wood is transparent for microwaves and due to its anisotropic structure has anisotropic dielectric properties. A laboratory experiment that allows for the qualitative demonstration and quantitative measurements of linear dichroism and birefringence in the microwave region is presented. As the proposed experiments are based on the anisotropy (of…

The requirement that universities prepare students in practical competences, and assess the extent to which pre-established objectives are achieved, is generally accepted to be of growing importance. As a result, on one hand, there is an increasing volume of research related to task performance in assessment. On the other hand, there are…