In this article, we share the inspiring story of 9-year-old Tallulah, who is passionate about creating homes for wildlife. We include information to help you and your students carry out a biodiversity audit. As an extension activity, students can implement a plan to improve the habitat for wildlife in their area. While students will be learning…

Environmental education in school lessons makes a central contribution toward implementing the United Nations' requirement of sustainable development. In science lessons, various ecosystems can be examined to illustrate the consequences of anthropogenic influences on our environment. One important ecosystem is the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea.…

High school biology students are provided few classroom opportunities to learn natural history or to see themselves as scientists. This poses a risk to their gaining the basic knowledge needed to play a positive role in the biodiversity crisis. However, science-as-practice in the classroom introduces the opportunity to equip students with…

In this article, the author considers ecosystems in a much more holistic way and encourages children to consider how all the interactions within that ecosystem affect the balance of it. There is hardly an ecosystem on Earth that has not been somehow affected by human interaction. Humans are the ultimate ecosystem engineers, and it is important to…

In this study, an extracurricular observation module is suggested for the purpose of observing the sustainability of biodiversity based on gathering evidence regarding different seed dispersal processes in the natural environment. These observations were made during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when human activity inflicted a…

The protection of earth's biodiversity requires a sophisticated understanding of how human activities can affect the relative abundances of species in natural ecological communities. Here, we report on an introductory biology laboratory activity in which students quantified biodiversity while investigating one of the most important controls on the…

Because the escalating loss of species is one of the most serious environmental crises we face, it is vital that students of biology comprehend and can communicate the roles that biodiversity plays in the functioning of ecosystems. Here, we report on a laboratory experiment that has been highly successful in our introductory biology courses at…

This study explores the progression in the perceptions that pre-service primary teachers have about the interdependence of people and invertebrate organisms, after implementing an inquiry proposal. By means of an inductive analysis, the reports made by the pre-service teachers were assessed and grouped into four models, according to the level of…

This article describes the evaluation of a teaching programme in Japanese secondary science classes, which introduces the perspective of deep ecology, reflecting the traditional Japanese view of nature. The study found that meditative activities in nature promoted students' sense of identifying with nature, with an underpinning factor of…

"Kurikulum Merdeka" is a learning experience framework that offers flexibility and focuses on essential content, character development, and students' competencies. Teachers had the discretion to develop their modules to choose, design, and organize the learning contents for students, based on their needs. By using that module, there is…

Nitrogen- or phosphorus-based fertilizers, used in agriculture, can run off into nearby waterways during periods of heavy rain or high flow and cause harmful blooms (Paerl et al. 2016), low oxygen (Joyce 2000), and decreased biodiversity (Sebens 1994). Studies of the effects wetlands can have on water and habitat quality (Verhoeven and Meuleman…

It takes a special kind of teacher to enlist in a Bush Blitz TeachLive expedition: camping; long days hiking or wading through marshland; catching arachnids, lizards and insects; and all the while managing to remotely teach students back in the classroom. The latest instalment of Bush Blitz TeachLive sent five Northern Territorian teachers to…

We evaluated an emerging smartphone application, iNaturalist, to increase taxonomic identification and engage first-year undergraduate biology majors in outdoor laboratories of aquatic ecosystems (stream and lake ecology) and terrestrial ecosystems (tree and leaf litter ecology). Labs involved identifying organisms using both standard field guides…

Many ground-dwelling amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, insects, and other arthropods seek cover during their resting hours. Their natural hideaways include underground burrows, rotting logs, and leaf litter, which are widely distributed and difficult to discover and observe. To make observation easier, scientists, educators, and students can…

Short-term study abroad experiences are the most common type of undergraduate study abroad programs offered by universities in the United States. However, and to the best of our knowledge, little empirical research exists on students' learning outcomes following their participation in a short-term program using an integrated research praxis. To…