Google Earth is a free online software that provides a virtual view of Earth. Using Google Earth, students can view Earth by hovering over features and locations they preselect or by serendipitously exploring locations that catch their fascination. Going beyond hovering, they can swoop forward and even tilt images to make more detailed…

Researchers in the field of bioinformatics have developed a number of analytical programs and databases that are increasingly important for advancing biological research. Because bioinformatics programs are used to analyze, visualize, and/or compare biological data, it is likely that the use of these programs will have a positive impact on biology…

This book explores the challenges of implementing and assessing educational interventions in varied classroom contexts. Included are reflections on the challenges of designing studies for improving the instructional core of schools, guidelines for establishing evidence of interventions' impacts across a wide range of settings, and an assessment of…

Drawing on sociological and philosophical studies of science, science educators have begun to view argumentation as a central scientific practice that students should learn. In this article, we extend recent work to understand the structure of students' arguments to include judgments about their quality through content analyses of high school…

Poster presentations are one way scientists present their latest research findings at professional meetings. This format also works well in the classroom and gives students the opportunity to communicate the results of their experiments (perhaps the most critical portion of their studies). In a performance-based task such as a poster session,…

The Chemistry/Physics Program at Evanston Township High School was designed to provide an environment for the rigorous teaching of advanced science and mathematics to accelerated students. This type of student makes up the bulk of students in the Advanced Placement Chemistry and Physics classes. However, there is a small number of students who…

It is often difficult to engage students, especially younger students, in authentic scientific inquiry. By authentic, the author means that the classroom activities are both good simulations of scientific inquiry as experienced by professional scientists and something that the students can relate to on an intuitive level. However, by engaging…

This article describes how a collaborative program with a local university provides learning for everyone involved. On the coldest day in the winter of 2000, a group of dedicated, excited high school students congregated at a research arboretum to meet Kevin Czajkowski, a geography professor from The University of Toledo. The professor had invited…

Question-asking is a basic skill, required for the development of scientific thinking. However, the way in which science lessons are conducted does not usually stimulate question-asking by students. To make students more familiar with the scientific inquiry process, we developed a curriculum in developmental biology based on research papers…

The Human Genome Project (HGP) is a recent scientific milestone that has received notable attention. This article shows how a biology course is using the HGP to enhance students' experiences by providing awareness of cutting edge research, with information on new emerging career options, and with opportunities to consider ethical questions raised…

Most people are frustrated with the current scientific method presented in textbooks. The scientific method--a simplistic model of the scientific inquiry process--fails in most cases to provide a successful guide to how science is done. This is not shocking, really. Many simple models used in science are quite useful within their limitations. When…

"Name That Gene" is a simple classroom activity that incorporates bioinformatics (available biological information) into the classroom using "Basic Logical Alignment Search Tool (BLAST)." An excellent classroom activity involving bioinformatics and "BLAST" has been previously explored using sequences from bacteria, but it is tailored for college…

The Cooperative Committee on the Teaching of Science and Mathematics of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that participated in planning for and publishing this bulletin is composed of representatives of seventeen national scientific and mathematical societies including representatives from the associated teaching…

Inquiry has been used to promote activity-oriented learning that reflects scientific investigation, specifically the observation, experimentation, and reasoning used by scientists. Understanding the roles of content and process in school science helps educators better understand and practice inquiry-based instruction. The relationship between…

As the common thread in biology, the topic of evolution and its related historical development can help students make sense of diverse biological concepts. The discussion of evolution provides educators with something else--a significant opportunity to teach important lessons involving the nature of science (NOS). This article addresses strategies…