Students in environmental sciences, ecology, or wildlife management are often reluctant to acquire training in basic laboratory techniques. To advocate the importance of this training, we reviewed literature in the fields of biological and environmental science for one frequently used technique--centrifugation--and evaluated whether centrifugation…

This article explores Alexander von Humboldt's influence on the education of young women in early nineteenth-century America. In the past decade, the English-speaking world has seen a resurgence of interest in Alexander von Humboldt. To date however, scholars have devoted relatively little attention to Humboldt's influence on American education,…

In this article we present a synthesis of the research affecting pupils' conceptions of photosynthesis and plant nutrition. The main false conceptions of the pupils identified in this literature review are: that green plants find their food in the soil; that water and mineral salts are sufficient to the growth of a plant; the role of chlorophyll,…

Reviewed are some of the techniques being used in plant biotechnology laboratories. Described are tissue culture and genetic manipulation. Advantages and disadvantages of this approach and ethics and public concern issues are discussed. (CW)

Presented is a summary of scientific knowledge about the rainforest environment, a tropical ecosystem in danger of extermination. Topics include the current state of tropical rainforests, the causes of rainforest destruction, and alternatives of rainforest destruction. (BT)