Posthumanist orientations have underlined the need to foster non-hierarchical relations with other-than-human beings to adequately attend to planetary crises and help life to survive and flourish. Since a posthumanist critique towards natural sciences has mostly leaned on questioning the premise of human subjects making sense of objectified…

Students in environmental sciences, ecology, or wildlife management are often reluctant to acquire training in basic laboratory techniques. To advocate the importance of this training, we reviewed literature in the fields of biological and environmental science for one frequently used technique--centrifugation--and evaluated whether centrifugation…

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has a huge collection of unique and curious objects from the natural world that have been loaned to us by HM Revenue and Customs after being seized at the UK border. Among the turtle shells and snake skins, the strangest of these is perhaps the freestanding rhino-foot ash tray. This single object can open up…

We developed a survey to measure education program participants' perceptions of snakes. This survey was created from new and existing items, pilot tested, and edited to final items representing attitude and behavior dimensions. We implemented the final survey as pre- and posttest among participants of snake education programs in Athens, Georgia…

To understand both immediate and longer-term effects of a short duration, interpretive wildlife tourism program, we studied responses from participants in a sea turtle watch program. This program comprised an interpretive presentation followed by an opportunity to view a nesting loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). We conducted 37 programs in…

Nobody knows exactly what happened during "the lost years" of the turtles in the wild, thus a green turtle headstarting project was carried out at Pantai Pandan, Lundu, Sarawak, Malaysia from June 2014 until December 2015 to shed some lights on the growth of hatchlings during a small part of their "lost years". As a consequent,…

Integrating art into science as a means of involving students in learning about their environment offers the promise of engaging students both cognitively and emotionally. However, few studies have investigated the use of art as a learning and assessment tool in science. As such, we conducted a research study with 4th and 5th grade students at a…

This study explores the current knowledge and understanding about animal biology of zoo visitors and investigates whether knowledge of animal biology influences the ability of people to understand how human activity affects biodiversity. Zoos can play a role in the development of scientific literacy in the fields of animal biology and biodiversity…

Studying attitudes toward fauna such as snakes is essential in wildlife management. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact that fear of snakes has on Slovenian pre-service teachers' attitudes towards conservation and the likelihood of incorporating animals into developing the future science curriculum. The effect of direct…

When studying informal science programs, researchers often overlook the opportunities enabled and constrained in each program and the practices reinforced for participants. In this case study, I examined the normative scientific practices reinforced in one-week-long "Herpetology" (the study of reptiles and amphibians) program for…

According to Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods," "disconnection from nature...has enormous implications for human health and child development...Children need nature for the healthy development of their senses, and therefore, for learning and creativity" (2005). How can science teachers help their students learn…

Participating in the Disney Planet Challenge (DPC) program allowed this author's 22 fourth-grade students an opportunity to be involved in a real-world problem: how to protect a threatened species and become its advocate. Using many different technology tools, the students informed their community about a threatened species--the Blanding's…

A field trip to the local zoo is often a staple in many elementary school curricula. Many zoos offer free entry to local teachers and their students. Teachers take students on field trips to enrich the curriculum, make connections to what students are learning in school, and provide students with meaningful learning experiences (Kisiel 2007).…

The Theory of Planned Behavior was used as a framework for investigating recreationists' attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control beliefs pertaining to behaviors that reduce the spread of invasive species. A series of focus groups comprised of gardeners, fishers, hunters, and boaters was convened in Oregon, USA. Findings indicate six…

A fear of snakes developed into an opportunity to teach students about the process of science: formulating questions, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating findings to the public. By using snakes to help students "think like a scientist," the authors engaged students in a five-day unit on inquiry while providing information about snakes…