Plant leaves are green because they contain the green photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls a and b. Popular science literature, and sometimes even textbooks, state that the greenness is caused by reflection of green light by chlorophyll. In the present study, we compared the reflectance spectra of green leaves to yellow or white leaves of the…

"Invasive" species are generally viewed with contempt. Yet many Indigenous peoples have more nuanced approaches to newcomer species informed by kinship relations, and some ecologists suggest that ecosystems have always been dynamic and these species occasionally play beneficial roles in their new homes. A critical and decolonial…

General education of visually impaired individuals is a significant challenge for educators, policymakers, and researchers. This study investigates the specificity with which people with blindness or ultra-low vision (acronym PU is used for the purpose of this paper) perceive the characteristics of reproductive plant parts (spore-bearing parts of…

This qualitative, exploratory, comparative case study examined plant-based innovations in Title I PK12 public-school nutrition programs (PSNPs) in the context of the School Health Index (SHI) and Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) objectives. The study explored the perceptions of PK12 superintendents, school board members, nutrition…

This research aims to utilize local biodiversity specifically Sampunong Bolo Wild Life Sanctuary in Municipality of Sara, Iloilo, Philippines as teaching materials in K12 Basic Education Program Science Curriculum. The methods used were interview, photo and video elicitation, and document analysis. The highly diverse forest ecosystem in Sampunong…

Teaching and learning must be transformed in order to prepare learners to respond to escalating social, economic and environmental challenges. The primary purpose of this paper is to contribute to the process of wilding pedagogy. The lessons learned in this paper emerge mainly from a desktop study and educational excursions to a natural resources…

Understanding the needs of plants, the function of their structures, and plant reproduction, is part of the National Science Education Content Standard C: Life science (NRC 1996). "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012) states that by the end of grade 2, students should understand that plants have external parts, used to help…

Civilization simply would not exist without plants, yet their importance is often overlooked. As the nation's ability to respond to the botanical challenges associated with food production, climate change, invasive species, and biodiversity loss continues to decrease (Kramer, Zorn- Arnold, and Havens 2010), educators must discourage this…

The sugar maple, "Acer saccharum," is projected to decline and die in 88 to 100 percent of its current range in the United States. An iconic symbol of the northeastern temperate forest and a dominant species in this forest, the sugar maple is identified as the most sensitive tree in its ecosystem to rising temperatures and a warming…

This article describes an interrupted case study that intersperses information about diffusion and osmosis with content review and knowledge application questions, as well as a simple experiment that can be conducted without the use of a laboratory. The case study was developed for use in an introductory undergraduate biology course. The case…

The "Intelligences That Plants Can Pass On" is an activity that involves several of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and was designed for demonstrating the practical use of Multiple Intelligences in delivering education programs to all ages of learners. Instructions are provided for how to implement this activity, and the activity is linked to…

It is no surprise that many environmental education programs include outdoor experiences as a foundational part of their curriculum; after all, who better to teach ecological lessons than nature itself? In contrast, there are inherent challenges to teaching environmental education while restricted inside a classroom. The average student currently…

Gel electrophoresis DNA fingerprints offer a graphical and visually appealing illumination of the similarities and differences between DNA sequences of different species and individuals. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction digest protocol was designed to give high-school students the opportunity to generate simple fingerprints of…

Transforming science curricula into multicultural science curricula requires the infusion of materials and perspectives often omitted from classroom textbooks. One strategy that may help the development of such lessons is to design lessons that incorporate the cultural history behind the concept being taught. Presented in this article is a…

Plants are integral parts of ecosystems which determine life on Earth. People's attitudes toward them are however, largely overlooked. Here we present initial psychometric assessment of self-constructed Plant Attitude Scale (PAS) that was administered to a sample of 310 Slovakian students living in rural areas aged 10-15 years. The final version…