Describes activities that use Froot Loops breakfast cereal to help students master the concepts of valence electrons and chemical bonding and the implications of the duet and octet rules. Involves students working in groups to create electron dot structures for various compounds. (JRH)

Describes a constructivist approach to teaching about the phases of the moon. Addresses student misconceptions and encourages students to focus on the causes of the phases of the moon. (JRH)

Describes an approach that uses the learning cycle to meaningfully teach students about mineral properties while alleviating the tedious nature of identifying mineral specimens. Discusses mineral properties, cooperative learning, and mineral identification. (JRH)

Presents a laboratory exercise on photosynthesis suitable for high school biology. Allows students to perform the experiments with easily obtainable materials and within a lengthened period. Includes photosynthesis lab prep notes for teachers. (JRH)

Describes a DNA fingerprinting simulation that uses vegetable food coloring and plastic food containers instead of DNA and expensive gel electrophoresis chambers. Allows students to decipher unknown combinations of dyes in a method similar to that used to decipher samples of DNA in DNA fingerprint techniques. (JRH)

Presents activities in which students explore the conditions necessary for a candle to stay lit. Enables students to construct an accurate concept to explain their observation of water rising inside a tube in which a candle has burned out. (JRH)

Presents a unit on the body's response to hypothermia. Includes activities in which students measure the amount of heat absorbed by a white piece of cloth and a black piece of the same material, use cooperative-learning techniques to design a graphic organizer that explains metabolic responses to cold stress, and study the effect of temperature on…

Presents a classroom activity on estimating animal populations. Uses shoe boxes and candies to emphasize the importance of mathematics in biology while introducing the methods of quantitative ecology. (JRH)

Describes a project where students download seismological data from the Internet and use the data to plot earthquakes on a world map. Combines elements of geography, mathematics, and science. (JRH)

Presents a unit on chemical reaction kinetics that consists of a predemonstration activity, the demonstration, and a set of postdemonstration activities that help students transfer the concepts to actual chemical reactions. Simulates various aspects of chemical reaction kinetics. (JRH)

Presents an activity that teaches students about the properties of light by using a real-life situation as the basis of a science writing exercise. (JRH)

Presents an extension of the change in oxidation number method that is used for balancing skeletal redox reactions in aqueous solutions. Retains most of the simplicity of the change in oxidation number method but provides the additional step-by-step process necessary for the beginner to balance an equation. (JRH)

Presents a project-based interdisciplinary unit involving chemistry, physics, English, and geometry in which students are charged with the task of building a boat that will carry one student across the school's pool and back. (JRH)

Describes observations of tethered satellites or subsatellites. Presents tracking tips to help students observe a new satellite, the Tether Physics and Survivability experiment. (JRH)

Presents an activity to construct DNA and RNA models consisting of hundreds of nucleotide units. Provides students with insight into the composition and use of the DNA code. (JRH)