Discusses the properties of neodymium magnets and magnets in general and how magnets can be used to teach students important scientific principles, such as attraction, repulsion, and polarity; the role of magnetic forces in electronic communications and computers; the magnetic properties of the earth and compasses; and the relationship between…

Describes the use of a "cognitive cylinder"--a cardboard tube with threads or string running through it--to help elementary school students learn to make scientific inferences. The activity requires students to employ such thinking skills and behaviors as observing, collecting, and interpreting data; predicting; measuring; hypothesizing;…

Describes various elementary school activities using a loaf of raisin bread to promote inquiry skills. Activities include estimating the number of raisins in the loaf by constructing histograms of the number of raisins in a slice. (MLH)

Describes a group project to study uses of water in a household situation. Project can be undertaken by students of different levels in schools. (PS)

Describes a simulation drilling core activity involving the use of a physical model from which students gather data and solve a three-point problem to determine the strike and dip of a buried stratum. Includes descriptions of model making, data plots, and additional problems involving strike and dip. (DS)

Presents a quantitative analysis of the "figure 8" found on the globes of most earth science textbooks, using an exercise of year's eccentric shadow plotting techniques. Indicates that the exercise can serve to change a student's abstract "figure 8" to his real learning experience. (CC)