Discusses the size-weight illusion that occurs when a person lifts two equal-weight objects differing in size and perceives the larger object as lighter than the small object. Describes several inexpensive techniques for demonstrating the size-weight illusion and reviews some relevant issues concerning this phenomena. (MJP)

Describes a project designed to increase science literacy in the general public by bringing hands-on experiments with real-world applications to public school students. Provides the history and an outline of the program. (DDR)

Describes the design of several CD-ROMs with different strategies and foci for teaching general chemistry with large databases of visual information. Presents a sample search with a CD-ROM. Discusses teacher resources including animations, visual databases for presentations, demonstration manuals, laboratory manuals, and encyclopedias as well as…

This study investigated attention to and recognition of components in compound stimuli among infants and preschoolers. Oddity tasks with preschoolers and familiarization/novelty-preference tasks with infants demonstrated successful discrimination among stimuli components on basis of edge property information. Matching tasks with preschoolers and…

Describes research that documents the falsification of laboratory results by chemistry and physics students. Discusses some factors that encourage students to fabricate results and why some students do not feel the need to falsify data. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

Improvements in the mechanism of the whirlybird used in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) unit "Subsystems and Variables" are presented. Variables which can be investigated using this device are discussed. An illustration of the improved device is provided. (CW)

The interfacing of a physical pendulum to an Apple IIe computer and the physic instruction associated with it are discussed. Laboratory procedures, software commands, and computations used in this lesson are described. (CW)

Describes an undergraduate research program for minority students. The program and eight objectives of the first course of the program, "Introduction to Research," are presented. Some strengths and weaknesses of the course are considered. (YP)

Presents four Physics General Certificate of Secondary Education assessment practicals which can be photocopied for use in instruction. Includes notes for guidance of teachers in determining student skills in management and organization, designing and carrying out experiments to solve problems, draw conclusions, and select suitable apparatus for…

Describes two oscillating reactions: the Briggs-Raucher reaction using H202, KIO3, malonic acid, and MnSO4 which changes from yellow to blue, and the Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction uses NaBrO3, NaBr, malonic acid, and ferroin solution and changes from red to blue. Includes a third color demonstration on the six oxidation states of manganese. (MVL)

To avoid a tedious task for recording temperature, a computer was used for calculating the heat of crystallization for the compound sodium thiosulfate. Described are the computer-interfacing procedures. Provides pictures of laboratory equipment and typical graphs from experiments. (YP)

Discussed are some uses of computers in chemistry classrooms. Described are: (1) interactive chromatographic analysis software; (2) computer interface for a digital frequency-period-counter-ratio meter and analog interface based on a voltage-to-frequency converter; and (3) use of spectrometer/microcomputer arrangement for teaching atomic theory.…

Two studies tested the influence of various types of verbal evaluative feedback on men's and women's self-evaluations of their performance in achievement situations. Results indicate that women's self-evaluations were influenced by both positive and negative evaluative statements, and men were more influenced by positive than negative feedback.…

Discusses the hazards of nitric acid and other nitrates, especially ammonium nitrate in the high school laboratory. Provides many historical accounts on the dangers of nitrates. (MVL)

Discusses a symposium which focused on the influence of inorganic chemistry on organic synthesis, the impact of organic chemistry on biochemistry and vice versa, chemical reaction dynamics, and advances in inorganic chemistry. Explains the purpose of the symposium was to illustrate the intellectual dynamism of modern chemistry. (MVL)