The advent of cheaper SLR digital cameras and associated software has allowed the rapid creation of digital images. We explain three simple techniques that allow the generation of micrographs. A further technique is described that allows the production of an image from a full section of the microscope slide. Class sets of micrographs greatly…

"Nuggets" are suggestions with practical advice to help in communicating biology to students. They are shorter than the formal papers and have not been peer-reviewed, but may provide ideas for the classroom. This article presents inexpensive alternative methods for students to measure small volumes of liquids in school biology laboratories.

The Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the National Science Education Standards strongly suggest that students should be engaged in hands-on learning. However, from many corners, the original "mental training" rationale for school labs has been criticized, the "cookbook" nature of laboratory exercises condemned, and the prevalence of using…

The enzyme orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase is an attractive choice for the central theme of an integrated, research-based biochemistry laboratory course. A series of laboratory exercises common to most instructional laboratories, including enzyme assays, protein purification, enzymatic characterization, elementary kinetics, and…

Computers are routinely used to control experiments in modern science laboratories. This should be reflected in laboratories in an educational setting. There is a mismatch between the power that can be delivered by a computer interfacing card or a TTL logic circuit and that required by many practical pieces of laboratory equipment. One common way…

In this article, we detail how to produce two inexpensive micromanipulators that offer high precision (approximately 25 micrometers) along a single axis of movement. The more expensive of the designs provides improved versatility along multiple axes. Both manipulators offer substantial savings over commercially available micromanipulators with…

We present a simple laboratory activity for introductory-level physics students which involves rolling balls down pipes and analysing their subsequent flight trajectories. Using balls of equal size but different mass allows students to confront their misconceptions of a mass dependence of the exit speed of the balls from the pipes. The concepts of…

Universities and medical schools in China are faced with an ongoing shortage of cadavers for education and research because of insufficient numbers of cadaver donations. This article will examine the main obstacles to cadaver donation in the Chinese culture. These include superstitious traditional views about the body, a lack of legislation…

At the Medical College of Wisconsin, a procedure was developed to allow computerized grading and grade reporting of laboratory practical examinations in the Clinical Human Anatomy course. At the start of the course, first year medical students were given four Lists of Structures. On these lists, numbered items were arranged alphabetically; the…

The aim of this project is to study the quality of the discussions in groups of students during laboratory work. The project builds on a study of the role of communication in science classrooms with students aged 14-15 years. An intervention with role-playing for example reporting to another group is carried out to foster discourses that focus…

The Mechanical Equivalent of Heat Apparatus from PASCO scientific provides the means for doing a simple experiment to determine the mechanical equivalent of heat, "J." A necessary step of this experiment is to determine the temperature of an aluminum cylinder. By measuring the resistance of a thermistor embedded in the cylinder, one is able to…

A simple mixing of a hot- and cold-water stream at a T-junction was investigated. The main objective was to use mass and energy balance equations to predict mass low rates and the temperature of the mixed stream after the T-junction, and then compare these with the measured values. Furthermore, the thermocouple location after the T-junction and…

This article describes a hands-on educational activity designed to introduce students (or industrial employees) in the pharmaceutical arena to some of the most common problems in the mixing of solids: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and lubricant (i.e. magnesium stearate) homogenization, characterization of segregation tendencies, and…

The [Co(4-pyrimidinolate)[subscript 2](H[subscript 2]O)[subscript n]] species, which can be easily and selectively prepared by simple addition of aqueous solutions of the 4-pyrimidinolate organic ligand to Co(II) acetate (or nitrate) aqueous solutions (n = 4, 6) or by controlled heating of the hydrated phases (n = 0), proved to be versatile…

Listening comprehension has had a long and ever-evolving history. Within the last 100 years, we have seen it progress from analog phonograph recordings, through the audiotape era, and into the digital realm. Questions arise as to how this evolution has proceeded, what pitfalls and accomplishments we have experienced, and where we might envision…