U.S. health experts declared obesity an epidemic over a decade ago. Schools have tried to implement prevention programs for students, but as budgets shrink, educating students about obesity is increasingly falling to classroom instructors, including science teachers. The good news is that obesity-related classroom activities can be engaging, and…

This article describes how one science teacher based an activity on designing smartphone apps to clearly and concisely communicate the interdependent relationships of a biological ecosystem. The teacher designed the activity to address several aspects of the latest science standards. Students needed to understand their ecosystem and synthesize new…

The authors have worked to meet the demands of the 21st century by using the Urban EcoLab, an urban ecology curriculum based on the National Science Education Standards. This curriculum emphasizes the local and community-based nature of science and is freely available for teachers to view, download, and use. As part of the curriculum the authors…

To help teachers engage students in discussions about sustainability, the authors designed Fields of Fuel, a multiplayer, web-based simulation game that allows players to explore the environmental and economic trade-offs of a realistic sustainable system. Computer-based simulations of real-world phenomena engage students and have been shown to…

To help students learn and apply science content, teachers can embed content literacy instruction within science instruction. This involves teaching the content and the literacy skills students need to learn that content, such as vocabulary and comprehension. In this article, the author provides tips on how to incorporate content literacy…

This column provides best safety practices for the science classroom and laboratory. In this month's issue, pregnancy policy in the laboratory is discussed. One can't ignore the fact that student and faculty pregnancies--and the resulting potential hazards in the science laboratory--exist at the high school level. Science teachers need to be…

Continental margins are an important part of the ocean floor. They separate the land above sea level from the deep ocean basins below and occupy about 11% of Earth's surface. They are also economically important, as they harbor both mineral resources and some of the most valuable fisheries in the world. In this article students investigate North…

Science teachers today need engaging projects to help students build 21st-century skills (NSTA 2011). Contemporary young adult literature (YA lit) can form the basis of one such project. YA lit--a genre of fiction geared toward 2 to 20-year-olds--opens a powerful avenue to connect with students and cover science topics in greater depth. YA lit is…

It's that time of year again, when avoiding the flu is on everyone's mind. As we brace ourselves for possible flu outbreaks, the need to understand biological issues related to this virus becomes clear. Through modeling, the lesson presented in this article helps students understand how the influenza virus (or flu) evolves and how flu vaccines are…

When life hands you lemons, make a battery! In this article, the authors describe an activity they refer to as "Juan's Dilemma," an extension of the familiar lemon-battery activity (Goodisman 2001). Juan's Dilemma integrates oxidation and reduction chemistry with circuit theory in a fun, real-world exercise. The authors designed this activity for…

Oral presentations are pedagogically useful when there are many examples or subcategories for the topic at hand. For example, in the author's biology classes, students make presentations on different species of bacteria--highlighting morphology, benefits or detriments, transmissions, niches, and other relevant information. They also present on a…

As the federal government encourages all students to attempt advanced math and science courses, more students with disabilities are enrolling in Advanced Placement (AP) science classes. AP science teachers can better serve these students by understanding the various types of disabilities (whether physical, learning, emotional, or behavioral),…

There are many types of inquiry activities out there: Demonstrations, guided or scaffolded inquiry labs, open- or free-inquiry labs, and problem-based or project-based learning activities are all staples in science education. The importance of inquiry is highlighted in such documents as the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996) and the…

Students investigate local sand samples on a shoestring budget. This investigation reveals a fascinating Earth history that can address various interdisciplinary scientific topics, provide rich inquiry experiences, and move beyond the science classroom to integrate history, culture, and art. (Contains 3 figures and 14 online resources.)

We all have misconceptions about the world in which we live--how it works, how we interact with it, how it changes, and the reasons behind those changes. These misunderstandings are personal notions we create to make meaning of our surroundings. Often, these misunderstandings go unchallenged for a lifetime. This article addresses how these…