Fisheries scientists make sure that fish populations ("fisheries") are managed properly, neither over- or under-utilized, to maintain long-term economic and ecological stability. Scientists collect data and conduct surveys to determine fish populations, and then make recommendations about how many fish may be caught by commercial and…

The fruit fly ("Drosophila melanogaster") is an ideal subject for studying inheritance patterns, Mendel's laws, meiosis, Punnett squares, and other aspects of genetics. Much of what we know about genetics dates to evolutionary biologist Thomas Hunt Morgan's work with mutated fruit flies in the early 1900s. Many genetic laboratories…

Understanding how scientific conclusions are drawn from data is central to learning about the nature of science. Many students struggle with aspects of reasoning from data, including identifying relationships among variables, interpreting graphs, coordinating theory and evidence, and not allowing personal beliefs to outweigh the data when forming…

Many varieties of data acquisition systems are now available for science classrooms. Most systems consist of a range of sensors--typically called probeware--connected to an interface unit usually described as a datalogger due to its capacity to record data from these sensors. Although some systems operate independently, most units connect to a…

Probeware is increasingly being implemented in science classrooms because it is less expensive than it used to be and improvements in hardware and software have made it more accessible to students and teachers. Many probes or sensors can now simply be connected to a computer, calculator, or other handheld device, and will immediately begin to…