Bees play a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystems and securing food for humankind. As such, it is crucial to shape a scientific understanding of bees for school students at a young age so as to value and protect the little creatures. This study is intended to identify teenage students' knowledge and understandings of bees in relation to…

Recent research suggests that integrating model-based learning and socioscientific issue based instruction helps students construct meaningful learning in science classrooms. Thus, this paper presents a unit plan that integrates model-based learning and socioscientific issues. The focus of the unit is the white butterfly which is a local pest. A…

Despite being a fundamental concept in biology, evolution continues to be one of the most challenging topics to teach in science education. Ideas of evolution emphasising anatomical or behavioural features of individuals, as opposed to the interplay between genetics and the environment, are reinforced through language and culture, making them…

As food supply practices must adapt to the reality of limited natural resources, alternative solutions must be found to meet the dietary needs of a growing world population. Edible insect consumption represents a sustainable substitute to that of conventional meat. Psychological barriers are largely responsible for dictating Westerners' aversion…

The loss of insect biodiversity is a major global sustainability issue that is highly relevant to science education. Science education can support and develop learners' competence to take actions to sustain insect biodiversity and empower learners to deal actively with this sustainability issue. However, we currently lack an instrument to assess…

It is noted that insects (insecta), which constitute an important group of invertebrate animals, can be used in the field of environmental education. It is also thought that the use of insects in the classroom in the field of environmental education will have a positive effect on the insect intrinsic motivations (BIM) of the students. In the…

Hands-on activities are considered to be particularly suitable for generating long-term knowledge that increases environmentally friendly behaviour. Appropriate flagship species in a respective curricular context can enable high-quality education. We have developed a teaching concept and material for hands-on activities with bumblebees. This…

The Next Generation Science Standards regard biological structures at both the micro and macro levels as a core idea of life sciences and expect students to understand animals have external structures that perform diverse functions. Using the common creature of bees as a case, this study aimed to ascertain teenage students' ideas of bees through…

Complex systems are made up of many entities, whose interactions emerge into distinct collective patterns. Computational modeling platforms can provide a powerful means to investigate emergent phenomena in complex systems. Some research has been carried out in recent years about promoting students' modeling practices, specifically using…

New introductions to invasive mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, increase the risk for vector-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika in the United States. Tracking these new introductions is more important than ever. This lesson plan focuses on the collection of mosquito larvae and pupae before the onset of summer with a…

This article examines how students' botanical knowledge and interest in plants can be increased in order to counteract "plant blindness", which is a phenomenon describing the lack of people's awareness of plants. Since recent studies point to a continuous decline of students' interest in biology, especially in botany, during secondary…

The Planetary Health (PH) approach addresses health risks resulting from anthropogenic climate change. It offers an integrative understanding of nature, whereby humans and their health are regarded as part of nature, and individual concerns are situated in relation to the interactions between society and the environment. However, this approach has…

This study explores the commitment of a school faculty to use the pedagogical practices needed to employ a project-based unit of Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM). The unit of study concentrated on environmental sustainability of butterflies through project-based learning (PBL). Teacher interviews were…

Integrated STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) has been shown to effectively foster global competencies as well as school and societal engagement for 21st century learners of diverse backgrounds. However, facilitating quality STEAM teaching and learning can be challenging for teachers, particularly in the area…

Insect phobia may last for a lifetime and needs to be overcome. This study aimed to design an application, Insect Garden, for students to learn about and experience how to raise four types of insect: Giant Asian Mantis, Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle, Formosan Stag Beetle, and Seven-Spotted Ladybug. It also investigated how the players'…