The idea that plants do photosynthesis but do not do cellular respiration is a common misconception among middle and high school students that often stems from an over-simplification of these processes in diagrams and formal science instruction. The activity presented here uses a conceptual change approach (Nussbaum & Novick, 1982) and an…

Virtual laboratory activities are flexible approaches to engage undergraduate students in scientific practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. By utilizing online simulations, students can conduct virtual experiments on important biochemical reactions that occur during photosynthesis. The learning module described here provides students with this…

Virtual Forest is a web-based, open-access learning environment about forests designed for primary-school pupils between the ages of 10 and 13 years. It is pedagogically designed to develop an understanding of ecology, to enhance conceptual development and to give a holistic view of forest ecosystems. Various learning tools, such as concept maps,…

To assist student understanding of heat transfer through woody stems, we developed an instructional package that included an Excel-based, one-dimensional simulation model and a companion instructional worksheet. Guiding undergraduate botany students to applying principles of thermodynamics to plants in nature is fraught with two main obstacles:…

We developed educational software to show graduate students how to plan molecular marker experiments. These computer simulations give the students feedback on the precision of their experiments. The objective of the software was to show students using a hands-on approach how: (1) environmental variation influences the range of the estimates of the…

Photosynthesis is a central topic in biology education. It remains one of the most challenging, largely because of a) its conceptual difficulty, leading to lack of interest and misconceptions among students; b) the difficulties students have in visualising the process, or relating it to things they can see, especially when the topic is presented…

The educational design of a project option in an Open University course on evolution is described. Also described is the simulation which models the genetic and evolutionary consequences of two populations of a species of flowering plant coming together after a period of genetic isolation. (Author/JN)

The analysis and simulation of spiral growth in plants integrates algebra and trigonometry in a botanical setting. When the ideas presented here are used in a mathematics classroom/computer lab, students can better understand how basic assumptions about plant growth lead to the golden ratio and how the use of circular functions leads to accurate…