Investigates which factors are important in revising chemistry laboratory experiments to enhance student interest and enjoyment of experimental science. Findings indicate the importance of several factors including varied content, real-world connections, items from outside the student's usual range of experience, well-paced experiments, error-free…

Focuses on three habits associated with personal values and attitudes, and one habit associated with social skills of doing science. Illustrates four habits of mind, first through a story of modern scientific investigation, then as the basis of school laboratory science experience. Discusses implications related to integration of these four habits…

As heat sources go, the old standby for elementary and middle school science laboratories has been the centuries old alcohol lamp. Unfortunately, this inexpensive heat producer has been a continuous source of accidents--many of which are relatively serious. Hot plates are emerging as the most popular source of heat for science experiments. The…

Experiments are conducted for spectroscopic analysis of the allyl esters of some aromatic carboxylic acids. It is understood that these experiments allow the students to monitor the effect of hydrogen bonding on the IR stretching frequencies for the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups and also provide them with an excellent opportunity to examine the…

The unique experience of designing and conducting a reaction are afforded to the students in a similar way to what one would do in a research lab. It encouraged them to think about each procedural step and its purpose, by the discovery-based procedure.

A forensic project is described that is suitable for an undergraduate instrumental methods lab. Accelerants commonly used by arsonists are analyzed by static headspace enrichment followed by gas chromatography. The conditions used for headspace enrichment (e.g., time and temperature) are known to influence the distribution of hydrocarbons…

The hazards of silver used in the laboratories are described for the benefit of the students and the teachers. The exposure limits and symptoms due to acute exposures are also mentioned.

The hazards caused by calcium used in the laboratories are described. The exposure limits and symptoms of acute exposures are mentioned.

A real-life experience that provides an ideal opportunity to combine problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and collaborative learning is described in the content of a realistic instrumental analysis laboratory. This practical experiment can be used in an instrumental analysis or analytical course.

An attempt was made to state the problems and find solutions as to how practical laboratory experience can contribute to meaningful learning. It is observed that laboratory experience is one of the most important requirements for connecting students' appreciation of chemistry with the world in which they reside.

An important challenge for both students and teachers of physiology is to integrate the differentareas in which physiological knowledge is didactically divided. In developing countries, such an issue is even more demanding, because budget restrictions often affect the physiology program with laboratory classes being the first on the list when it…

A local middle school requested that the Water Center of Advanced Materials for Purification of Water With Systems (WaterCAMPWS), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, provide an introduction to pH for their seventh-grade water-based service learning class. After sorting through a multitude of information about pH, a…

This study investigates opportunities for conducting electrical engineering experiments via the Internet rather than in an actual laboratory. Eighty-four French students of electrical engineering (semester 1, 2004) at Bordeaux University 1 participated in practical courses. Half of the students performed experiments in a laboratory while the other…

This Chemistry-Materials Laboratory Project Book, assembled through a survey of science instructors in vocational-technical schools in Connecticut, is intended to meet a variety of needs. It can serve as an idea book, with the instructor taking from it as needed and adding or substituting material related to class interests; as a guide book for…

This Physics Laboratory Project Book, assembled through a survey of science instructors in vocational-technical schools in Connecticut, is an extension of the Chemistry-Materials Laboratory Project Book (see note) and is intended to meet a variety of needs. It can serve as an idea book, with the instructor taking from it as needed and adding or…