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Journal Article
The 1988 fires at Yellowstone National Park burned 1.4 million acres in the tri-state areas of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho—encompassing the greater Yellowstone area—and burned some 800,000 acres within the park itself (Franke 2000). This article ...
Journal Article
The Prepared Practitioner: Correlation and Causality
We are awash in data! Every week brings stories about scientific studies—especially those related to personal health. The news also brings stories about unscientific work that seems scientific, lending a veneer of importance to the work. Being scie...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: Knowing Without Seeing
In the following demonstration, students are asked to form a mental picture of an object hidden beneath a cardboard blind. Students must formulate hypotheses about the size, shape, and composition of the object while watching their teacher probe the ...
Journal Article
The “Under the Mistletoe” project was developed to capitalize on student curiosity about the American Christmas Mistletoe plant and draw learners into an engaging, inquiry-based exercise that incorporates numerous life science standards and colla...
Journal Article
Field studies are an excellent way for students to learn ecological concepts and practice doing science. This article presents an approach for the secondary science classroom that permits students to ask and answer their own questions, a prerequisite...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: “Show-that”—A Better Framework for Problem Solving
“Show-that” problems provide the answer in the form of an equation in the question itself—which changes the goal from finding a number to showing the reasoning behind the answer. Is that not what problem solving should be about? The following ...
Journal Article
Because of the variability exhibited by individual animals’ responses to their environment, studying animal behavior can be a wonderful way to engage students in self-directed, open-inquiry investigations. Individual animals react in ways that are ...
Journal Article
Career of the Month: An Interview with Musical Acoustics Scientist James Beauchamp
When we think of sound, several things come to mind, from irritating noises to our favorite songs. Musical acoustics is the scientific study of sound as it relates to music. Some musical acousticians research how instruments work and how they can be ...
Journal Article
Safe Science: Raining Down on Safety!
Emergency eyewashes and showers are critical safety devices that are required in high school science laboratories. Unfortunately, some science teachers are putting themselves at risk in terms of liability and also compromising their students’ safet...
Journal Article
Investigating the Earth and Its Environment
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 ...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: Convection in a Fish Tank
Understanding convection is fundamental for students to fully grasp the science behind large-scale events on Earth, such as global wind patterns, plate tectonic movement, ocean current patterns, and hydrothermal vent dynamics. Convection can also hel...