The general assembly meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2015 adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at achieving a better and more sustainable world by 2030. Incorporating sustainable values through a series of pedagogical strategies into university curricula to help…

This paper presents an experimental lab designed for undergraduate students which focuses on soil science and chemistry. Students perform a series of tests to classify soil's phosphate retaining characteristics, texture, pH, organic matter content, and permeability with the addition of a novel soil amendment, Al Mg biochar. This lab has minimal…

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) is one of the most commonly used analytical techniques for the measurement of metals in environmental matrices. However, one of the drawbacks of ICP-OES is interference, viz., spectral and nonspectral (due to transport effects) interference. In this simple laboratory experiment,…

Constructing scientific arguments is an important skill, and is specifically addressed by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practice of Engaging in Arguments From Evidence. To ensure that students understand the significance of a scientific argument, they need experiences that will help them understand, use, and…

Young students need opportunities to develop their conceptual understanding of properties of matter. By providing students with inquiry activities, we lay the groundwork necessary for students to grasp the challenging concepts associated with learning about the periodic table in middle school. In this 5E activity (Bybee 2009), fifth-grade students…

Citizen science projects have been found to increase scientific knowledge and awareness among the participants who engage in these collaborative efforts. Providing elementary students the opportunity to collect, share, and analyze data is an effective way to help them develop a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and gain competency in…

Students who have completed the Soil Nutrient Relationships course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln often contact instructors once they have begun full-time work, seeking reminders of specific concepts. These students either did not take or keep detailed notes during the course. To assist students, instructors have developed a portfolio…

To support elementary school students in finding a solution to an engineering problem, the authors developed a series of five lessons using the 5E Instructional Model (Bybee 2014). The lessons align with the "Next Generation Science Standards" and the "Common Core State Standards" and integrate the teaching and learning of…

The global scale of climate change may seem beyond many high school students' comprehension. To complicate matters, climate change has emerged as a political issue that pits candidates, neighbors, and sometimes teachers and students against each other (Kahan 2015). The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) call on…

The Mystery Soil Lab, a playful, inquiry-based laboratory project, is designed to develop students' skills of inquiry, soil analysis, and synthesis of foundational concepts in soil science and soil ecology. Student groups are given the charge to explore and identify a "Mystery Soil" collected from a unique landscape within a 10-mile…

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. The formative assessment probe in this month's issue can be used as an initial elicitation before students are introduced to the formal concepts of weathering and erosion.

In this article, we describe a fourth-grade inquiry unit on soil. The unit was designed and taught by preservice elementary teachers as part of a university science methods course. Using a student-driven inquiry approach to designing curriculum, the unit engaged fourth graders in learning about the physical properties soil, erosion, worms, and…

The purposes of this activity are to help middle school students understand the carbon cycle and realize how human activities affect the carbon cycle. This activity consists of two parts. The first part of the activity focuses on the carbon cycle, especially before the Industrial Revolution, while the second part of the activity focuses on how…

This article reports the efficacy of a research-based learning (RBL) exercise on hydropedology of arid zones, with guided and open research projects (OPR) carried out by teams of undergraduate students in Oman. A range of activities and assessments was used to support student learning during the three-month course. Assessment included monitoring…

Fred Estes is a science teacher and lower school science coordinator at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, California. Carolee Fucigna is a prekindergarten teacher at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, California. Their year in the classroom regularly begins with starting a compost pile that serves as a focus for classroom research and science…