Increasingly, undergraduate institutions are incorporating original research into the curriculum as a matter of best practice. However, while the practice of science has grown more collaborative, undergraduate research has remained largely confined to single-institution studies. Incorporating long-term, distributed research projects into the…

Socioscientific issues have proved to be excellent tools for fostering the development of higher-order thinking skills that lead to superior socioscientific reasoning and decision making. This educational construct, with a focus on a local coastal environmental situation, was incorporated into a science class of high school biology students in…

Presents methods for creating appropriate ways of collecting live specimens to use for firsthand observation in the classroom. Suggests ecological questions for students to address using these devices. This project is ideal for schools that have access to piers or bridges on a coastal body of water. (NB)

Discusses the use of small enclosures for experiments in a local lake. Describes the effects of lake inhabitants grazing on small zooplankton such as Daphnia, copepods, and rotifers. (ASK)

Describes a program utilizing grant money for a marine education project in a Floridian coastal elementary school. (PR)

Presented is an activity designed to teach the use of the scientific method to non-science majors. Collecting, classification, and follow-up activities for a beach trip are discussed. Two simple dichotomous keys are included. (CW)

Describes a field trip activity to measure changes in elevation across the dunes of a barrier beach, measure wind velocity along the transect line, and observe the distribution of ground cover in the study area. Discusses equipment, materials, procedures and follow-up activities for each study. (CW)