Many high school physics courses have deemphasized mathematics, which has changed the nature and role of the inquiry experiments in them. This article lays out an approach built upon an introductory unit, "Patterns in Nature," which aims to engage students in constructing their understanding of physics through contextualizing and…

After years of using Rube Goldberg-inspired projects to teach concepts of simple machines, the author sought a comparable project to reinforce electricity lessons in his ninth-grade Science and Technology course. The Friendship Detector gives students a chance to design, test, and build a complex circuit with multiple switches and battery-powered…

In this article, the author describes the "Be your own groundhog" project in her grades 9-12 Earth and environmental sciences courses, in which students use citizen science databases to research the physical changes that signal the arrival of spring. This project starts with a simple question, "When will spring spring?" This goes beyond the…

Teaching new biology concepts to ninth graders can be tough, and teaching students with disabilities even tougher--but we are accountable for "all" students. These authors used a cooperative learning strategy called "Collaborative Strategic Reading" in an inclusive ninth-grade biology class to see whether they could "hook" students and, at the…

When life hands you lemons, make a battery! In this article, the authors describe an activity they refer to as "Juan's Dilemma," an extension of the familiar lemon-battery activity (Goodisman 2001). Juan's Dilemma integrates oxidation and reduction chemistry with circuit theory in a fun, real-world exercise. The authors designed this activity for…

This article provides an instructional approach to helping students generate open-inquiry research questions, which the authors call the "open-inquiry question template." This template was created based on their experience teaching high school science and preservice university methods courses. To help teachers implement this template, they…

A major goal of education is to help learners store information in long-term memory and use that information on later occasions to effectively solve problems (Vockell 2010). Therefore, this author began to use the Rubik's cube to help students learn to problem solve. There is something special about this colorful three-dimensional puzzle that…

Too often, students enter our classrooms with insufficient knowledge of physical science. As a result, they have a difficult time understanding content in texts, lectures, and laboratory activities. This lack of background knowledge can have an impact on their ability to ask questions and wonder--both key components of inquiry. In this article,…

The declining cost of computers and wireless networks has made laptop programs more affordable than ever. At the same time, the internet resources available to teachers and students have grown exponentially in the 15 years since web browsers first became practical. As a result of these trends, growing numbers of students nationwide are provided…

By studying Antarctica via satellite and through ground-truthing research, we can learn where the ice is melting and why. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA), a new and cutting-edge way for scientists, researchers, educators, students, and the public to look at Antarctica, supports this research and allows for unprecedented views of our…

This study examines how the implementation of a novel curriculum, that emphasizes the use of published scientific data and media to learn about human impact and ecological function, influenced ninth-grade biology teacher (N - 36) dispositions toward using data and media in their ecology and human impact lesson plans. It explores how integration of…

This qualitative multiple-comparative case study investigates (1) The reported experiences and impressions of four pre-service teachers (PTs) on practicum placement in four different classrooms (grades 1-9) where a new Steps to Inquiry (SI) framework was being utilized to support students conducting open inquiry; (2) The relative dispositions of…

Anecdotal accounts from science educators suggest that few teachers are teaching science as inquiry. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. This study aimed to provide evidence-based documentation of the state-of-use of inquiry-based instruction and explicit instruction about nature of science (NOS). We examined the…

Along with the need to make their curriculum more comprehensive and reflective of the national and state standards, one school district also searched for ways to make students more passionate about learning science. As a result, they developed a new integrated science course that is centered around the environmental and Earth sciences with an…

The algebraic concepts and major ideas that govern Newton's laws of motion can often be a challenge for the majority of ninth-grade students. Therefore, to make learning these concepts less task-oriented and more enjoyable, the author developed lessons that allow students to construct and express their understanding of these ideas through…