This article is a special blend of research, theory, and practice, with clear insight into the origins of Cosmic Education and cosmic task, while recalling memories of student explorations in botany, in particular, episodes from Mr. Leonard's teaching. Mr. Leonard speaks of a storytelling curriculum that eloquently puts perspective into dimensions…

This study developed a Mobile Plant Learning System (MPLS) that provides instructors with the ways and means to facilitate student learning in an elementary-school-level botany course. The MPLS represented in this study was implemented to address problems that arise with the use of a didactic approach to teaching and learning botany, as is…

Describes three methods (active, semi-active, and passive) carnivorous plants use to capture prey. Suggests taking students to bogs or botanical gardens to observe such plants. (JN)

Describes a method to collect seeds that are dispersed from weeds while avoiding some outdoor hazards such as rough terrain or animals. Describes a plan for creating a weed fishing pole and includes a materials list. (SAH)

Describes a procedure for the separation of coleus pigments using simple supplies and equipment from home and the supermarket. (MA)

Discusses the use of biographies to increase student interest in plant science. Presents the biography of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman who empowered women and children to plant and care for millions of trees in Kenya, as an example of teaching with biographies. (JRH)

Suggests activities to elicit and develop children's conceptual understanding of plants. (Author)

This design study tracks the development of student thinking about natural variation as late elementary grade students learned about distribution in the context of modeling plant growth at the population level. The data-modeling approach assisted children in coordinating their understanding of particular cases with an evolving notion of data as an…

This book is an inquiry- and discovery-based teacher's guide. The interesting and fun activities in this teacher's guide meet the challenge of relating tiny, microscopic organisms to the lives of children. The inquiry-based activities range from designing and making a phytoplankter and collecting phytoplankton to designing an experiment for…

Presents hands-on spring science activities to help elementary students think and act like scientists. Students use the scientific process to make connections between life, physical, and earth science. Activities look at insects, flowers, trees, the sun, and the earth's rotation around the sun. (SM)

Describes a genetics activity illustrating genetic variation, mutation, and influence of environmental factors on genotypic expression. Irridiated bean seeds are planted and observed (x-rayed by dentist's x-ray machine at different exposures and for different times). Questions to extend the activity are discussed. (Author/JN)

Several hands-on whole science activities help elementary students learn about animals' diets and how they affect other animals. One activity involves identifying animals as carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores. Another has students construct food chains. Two across-the-curriculum ideas involve naming carnivores and preparing imaginary menus for…

This book introduces children to the exciting outdoors and their important relationship to the environment. Through quality hands-on activities, students become aware of their vital connection to the earth and are instilled with a sense of their place in the world. Chapters cover themes that range from life cycles and animal signs to climate and…

Average-ability students often do not take full advantage of learning in mixed-ability groups because they hardly engage in the group interaction. This study examined whether structuring collaboration by group roles and ground rules for helping behavior might help overcome this participatory inequality. In a plant biology course, heterogeneously…

Discusses the scientific and common names of numerous plants and the satisfaction children derive from mastering them. Includes drawings which illustrate the connections between plant structures and their names. (MA)