In this lesson, students draw their perceptions of a typical scientist, evaluate stereotypes in their drawings quantitatively, and then discuss the origins of these stereotypes. The lesson objectives include considering that people like themselves can become scientists. Full description.

In this lesson, short deceptive problem stories are presented to the class and students are challenged to solve each problem by asking only yes/no questions. The key is for students to recognize: what the False Assumption is that makes the solution tricky; that many common problems are difficult to solve because we tend to assume a particular paradigm; and that science is a way to work around or through ... Full description.

This lesson simulates a crime scene for teams of students to solve, using clues received piecemeal, and adjusting their hypotheses as more clues are found and discussed. The elements of science are recognized through discussion of the crime solution metaphor. Full description.

In this lesson, each student team has an envelope containing a series of bank checks. A few are removed at a time, and the team attempts to construct a plausible scenario which involves those checks. With each subsequent removal of checks, appropriate revision of the scenario is done. Final scenarios are compared by the class. Class discussion is designed to show how human values and biases influence ... Full description.

This lesson is designed to help students recognize and deal with bias which may be found in scientific studies. Students will discover that because human values deeply influence terminology, the questions asked, and the criteria for choosing among theories, science incorporates procedures intended to eliminate (or at least reduce) the influence of natural biases we all have. One of these is the requirement ... Full description.

The activities in this lesson provide students with an understanding of the diversity of the scientific enterprise, and the people engaged in the work. Teachers should emphasize the diversity to be found in the scientific community: different kinds of people (in terms of race, sex, age, nationality) pursuing different sciences and working in different places (from isolated field sites to labs to offices). ... Full description.

In this activity, students will learn about data collection and the difference between discrete (snapshots) and continuous and real-time data. They will view a series of snapshots and write their explanation of the event. They then view a continuous video of the event and write what actually happened, and analyze their results. Full description.

In this internet activity, students use search engines to build a list of facts about Earth science that fascinate them. After building the list, students will choose and rank their top ten amazing facts and answer some questions about them. Full description.

This 48 minute radio broadcast discusses the history of science from around the globe, and looks at the ancient roots of modern scientific thought. The math and science of the ancient Greeks as well as some ancient scientific thinkers, including Aristotle and Ptolemy, are well known. But what about people and ideas from the rest of the world? In Asia, Egypt and the Middle East, scientific thinkers ... Full description.

This radio broadcast examines the ideas of science historian and philosopher Thomas Kuhn; current revolutionary theories; and how revolutionary advances in science that change the way people view the world come about. The show explains how Kuhn believed there were periods in science when there is no consensus; what problem solving is like during normal science periods when one paradigm dominates; ... Full description.