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…

We have realized that our Biology undergraduate students learn biological concepts as established truths without awareness of the body of experimental evidence supporting the emerging models as usually presented in handbooks and texts in general. Therefore, we have implemented a laboratory practice in our course of Physiology and Biophysics, aimed…

An enduring focus in education on how scientists formulate experiments and "do science" in the laboratory has excluded a vital element of scientific practice: the creative and imaginative thinking that generates models and testable hypotheses. In this case study, final-year biomedical sciences university students were invited to create and justify…

This paper explores student experiences of learning to think critically. Twenty-six zoology undergraduates took part in the study for three years of their degree at the University of Otago, New Zealand. Vygotsky's developmental model of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) provided a framework as we examined how critical thinking was developed.…

In this article, the author shares the success of her fun and engaging eco-art project for elementary students. Not only did she want to provide students with an engaging project, she also wanted to raise awareness surrounding several key issues, including changes in natural habitats, the sustainable balance of humans and nature, and our role as…

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…

"Rethinking Multicultural Education for the Next Generation" builds on the legacy of social justice multicultural education, while recognizing the considerable challenges of reaching today's college students. By drawing on breakthrough research in two fields--neuroscience and animal studies--Nadine Dolby argues that empathy is an underlying…

The intention of this study was to determine how science instructors in the university laboratories spend time on instruction. The study, was guided by three research questions and two hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study employed a non-participant observation case study design. 48 instructors teaching lower and higher levels…

An identification of students' interests in biology can help teachers better engage their pupils and meet their needs. To this end, over 28,000 self-generated biological questions raised by students from kindergarten through graduate school were analyzed according to age and gender. The sample demonstrated a dominance of female contributions among…

This article presents an art project inspired by a drawing of a chameleon the author saw in an art-supply catalog. Chameleons prove to be a good subject to highlight shape, color and texture with eigth-graders. In this project, middle- and high-school students draw a chameleon, learn how to use shapes to add to their chameleon drawing, learn how…

The activity shared here is an animal role-playing lesson developed, field-tested, and refined for "Nature's Neighborhood", a newly designed children's education facility at the Toledo Zoo. The activity is targeted at students in kindergarten through second grade, but it can be adapted for use in grades three and four as well. Through…

We report on a citation analysis of Ph.D. dissertations in plant biology and zoology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, undertaken to test the common assumption that scientists favor current research to such an extent that journal backfiles can be de-emphasized in academic library collections. Results demonstrate otherwise. The study is…

The purpose of the present study was to examine and compare the effectiveness of virtual frog dissection using V-Frog[C] and physical frog dissection on learning, retention, and affect. Subjects were secondary students enrolled in year-long life science classes in a suburban high school (N=102). Virtual dissections were done with V-Frog[C], a…

A large number of alligators, flushed down toilets as babies, have grown up and proliferated in the bowels of New York City. Over the years, they have grown in number and size and frequently terrorize those foolish enough to visit the subways. This tale has been making its way around the Internet ever since there's been an Internet. It's wild…