We present an alternative to the traditional classroom lecture on the topics of metabolic scaling, allometric relationships between metabolic rate (MR) and body size, and reasons for rejecting Rubner's surface "law," concepts that students have described as challenging, counterintuitive, and/or mathematical. In groups, students work with…

Many K-16 educators agree that active learning is a key component for student success in life sciences. At the same time, some instructors are frustrated by inconsistent student participation in these activities and may revert to traditional teaching strategies. Horse caregivers face a similar frustration when they lead a horse to water and it…

In this study, we aim to analyze the effects of discovery-based learning through film viewing on students' knowledge about a specific animal species and its habitat. The following hypothesis is tested: students' knowledge about animals and their environment is greater as a result of discovering information through watching videos. The study…

Metaheuristics are optimization algorithms that efficiently solve a variety of complex combinatorial problems. In psychological research, metaheuristics have been applied in short-scale construction and model specification search. In the present study, we propose a bee swarm optimization (BSO) algorithm to explore the structure underlying a…

Choreographed encounters with death in Copenhagen Zoo, such as school and public dissections, emphasize the importance of touch and are underpinned by the moral imperative to understand the nature of life and death. Such encounters are framed by zoo educators as contributing to a deeper environmental awareness. Taking the role of dead animals in…

Learning is a functional state of the brain that should be understood as a continuous process, rather than being restricted to the very moment of its acquisition, storage, or retrieval. The cerebellum operates by comparing predicted states with actual states, learning from errors, and updating its internal representation to minimize errors. In…

This article poses the question 'How do we look at animals?', suggesting a link to inherent problems of documentary film-making. However, the question further suggests that there may be ways of relating to animals other than 'looking at'; other than 'observing'. Drawing from the research project De-Doc-Donkeywork: Decolonising Documentary Art…

Research in zoos is an important scientific endeavor that requires several complex considerations in order to occur. Among those many considerations are the ethics involved in conducting zoo research. However, it is not always clear how zoo researchers should go about resolving any research ethics matters, even determining when "some"…

In this article, an analysis of six fisheries biology assignments involving mathematical models is conducted, focusing on the type of participation that they offer. The purpose of the analysis is to identify the characteristics of the mathematical discourse of the assignments and to expose their relationship with the biological context with the…

A facility dog in a school is a comparatively recent category of working dog. These dogs typically are trained at the assistance, or service dog, level and are thoroughly prepared for their role. The school facility dog accompanies an owner/handler, who is a professional employee of the school, to work on a regular basis. Research on human-canine…

Using an ecofeminist theoretical frame along with critical content analysis of visual images, this article examines the environmental discourse of the picturebook, "Heartbeat," written and illustrated by Evan Turk (2018). In this picturebook, Turk uses the heartbeat, the history, and the song of a whale to draw the reader into a sense of…

The topic of keeping livestock is very well suited to addressing the ecological, social, and economic aspects of the sustainable production of our food in school lessons. However, the production of animal-based foods is mainly outside the personal experience of children and young people. To derive relevant implications for teaching, this paper…

In response to growing concern about the increased disconnect between youth and their outdoor environment, this study examines how nature-based citizen science experiences with a local animal (American eels) influence urban adolescents' (high-school students) sense of place in a US city. The juvenile American eel is a unique animal due to its…

This exploratory study assessed links among children's moral concern and their ideas about the rights and protection of companion, farm, wild animals and ecosystems. Sixty-one children responded to three interview questions that were coded as either anthropocentric or biocentric in orientation. Results revealed unique links among children's moral…

Conditioned stimuli (CS) have multiple psychological functions that can potentially contribute to their effect on memory formation. It is generally believed that CS-induced memory modulation is primarily due to conditioned emotional responses, however, well-learned CSs not only generate the appropriate behavioral and physiological reactions…