The reform movement in science education as characterized by the development of new science curricula in the 1960s is analyzed in this information bulletin. An overview of the historical context and the financial extent of the movement is presented. Perspectives on the curricula are offered in a question format. The questions include: (1) what did…

Provides a running commentary on a chemistry instructor's first day in a first course in chemistry. Focuses on the use of fire and chemists' attempts to explain this phenomenon. Provides the ongoing descriptions of the experiments, a summary of the observations, and the key comments made by the instructor. (TW)

Discusses findings from report "Maintaining America's Scientific Productivity: The Necessity of the Liberal Arts Colleges" produced at Oberlin College. Characterizes science majors, faculty, and state of facilities at such schools, and speculates on needed financial support to maintain and enhance their current position. (JM)

Discusses the missing water on Mars. Describes five experiments simulating conditions on Mars: (1) behavior of dry ice; (2) low-pressure vacuum; (3) freezing point depression; (4) water in hydrated minerals and clay; and (5) properties of carbon dioxide. (YP)

Provides background information for teachers on the chemistry of flourine. Points out that it links aerosols with refrigerants, anaesthetics with fire-fighting agents, batteries with blood substitutes, and atomic energy with the steel, petroleum, and aluminum industries. (JN)

Develops a teaching scheme for 11-13 year-olds based on different types of investigational practical work. Includes discussion of difficulties in investigations, four types of investigations, and deployment in the curriculum. (YP)

Examines current philosophies and approaches to science instruction. Offers parameters for consideration in making science courses more relevant to industry, technology, and society. Contrasts two approaches to science education. (ML)

Addresses the principles and problems associated with the use of significant figures. Explains uncertainty, the meaning of significant figures, the Simple Rule, the Three Rule, and the 1-5 Rule. Also provides examples of the Rules. (ML)

Examines the causes that delayed the growth of modern science in China, tracing the historical development of Sino-Western physics. Also evaluates the influence of ideologies and politico-social institutions on the origin and direction of science and physics in China. (ML)

Developed as part of a document series in UNESCO's Science and Technology Education program, this volume reviews the major trends and cites the improvements in the natural science and mathematics education in the Soviet Union. Separate units are provided for the discipline areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. These sections…

Provides background information for teachers on the nature and production of antibodies. Points out that the production of monoclonal antibodies blends the malignant with the beneficial to create a medical tool of exciting potential. (JN)

Provides a method for correcting the photoemission from a collector when using the photoelectric effect experiment to determine Planck's constant. The problem results from a negative current through the cell and makes the measurement of the cutoff potential difficult. (DH)

This section of the journal includes several short notes on science activities and materials for secondary schools. Activities and materials are included that relate to biology, microbiology, microcomputers, chemistry, and physics. (RH)

Presents information on the moment of inertia of a tennis racket about its principal axes. This information (not available from conventional sources) is useful since it influences how the racket plays and how the racket feels when it is swung. In addition, measurements of motion can be easily made by undergraduate students. (JN)

Presents a nonmathematical approach to help students understand that there are two types of coherence and to associate coherence as a property of the illumination at an object itself. The approach also lends itself to an introduction to the Fourier approach for analyzing imaging systems. (JN)