Guiding students to generate testable scientific questions is essential in the inquiry classroom, but it is not easy. The purpose of the BDC ("Big Idea, Divergent Thinking, and Convergent Thinking") instructional model is to to scaffold students' inquiry learning. We illustrate the use of this model with an example lesson, designed…

In this article, students examined how and why plants work through in-depth investigations. They performed scientific inquiry through questioning, developed models, constructed explanations, and communicated information of the structure and function and system models of plants, and then engineered a representation of their understanding. The…

Herbaria are collections of preserved plants specimens, some of which date back to the 16th century. They are essential to botanical research, especially in systematics. They can also be important historical documents. The collections of Lewis and Clark, Carolus Linnaeus, and Charles Darwin, to name a few, are primary sources for the study of…

Children may not be aware of the origin of much of their food, especially if they eat mostly processed foods. Schools that operate a garden are able to teach children how common foods are parts of plants. This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. In this month's issue students focus on…

The transport of water in plants is among the most difficult and challenging concepts to explain to students. It is even more difficult for students enrolled in an introductory general biology course. An easy approach is needed to demonstrate this complex concept. I describe visual and pedagogical examples that can be performed quickly and easily…

Arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF) play a large role in the current understanding of the soil ecosystem. They increase nutrient and water uptake, improve soil structure, and form complex hyphal networks that transfer nutrients between plants within an ecosystem. Factors such as species present, the physiological balance between the plants in the…

An Interactive Dichotomous Key (IDK) for 390 "taxa" of vascular plants from the Ria de Aveiro, available on a website, was developed to help teach botany to school and universitary students. This multimedia tool includes several links to Descriptive and Illustrated Glossaries. Questionnaires answered by high-school and undergraduate students about…

The purpose of this study is to develop a new approach and assess the application for the science and technology student-teachers to gain varied laboratory methods in science and technology teaching. It is also aimed to describe the computer-assisted POE application in the subject of "Photosynthesis-Light" developed in the context of…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of the context-aware ubiquitous learning (u-learning) approach versus traditional instruction on students' ability to answer questions that required different cognitive skills, using the framework of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives, including knowledge, comprehension, application,…

In consideration of the potential of drawing and writing as assessment and learning tools, we explored how early primary students used these modes to communicate their science understandings. The context for this study was a curricular unit that incorporated multiple modes of representation in both the presentation of information and production of…

This study is an attempt to examine the use of linguistic resources by primary science students so as to understand the conceptual and language demands encountered by them when constructing written explanations. The students' written explanations and the instructional language (whole-class discussion and textbook) employed over the topic, the life…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will define science education for the foreseeable future, yet many educators struggle to see the bridge between current practice and future practices. The inquiry-based methods used by Extension professionals (Kress, 2006) can serve as a guide for classroom educators. Described herein is a method of…

Knowledge of species, interest in nature, and nature experiences are the factors that best promote interest in and understanding of environmental issues, biodiversity and sustainable life. The aim of this study is to investigate how well student teachers identify common local species, their interest in and ideas about species identification, and…

What if you could challenge your second graders to design an outdoor STEM classroom with a butterfly garden, birdbath, and sundial? With this volume in the "STEM Road Map Curriculum Series," you can! "Investigating Environmental Changes" outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while…

This co-authored paper offers Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal perspectives on the emergence of urban/nature/child pedagogies in a project to reclaim remnant woodlands. Set in the context of indigenous issues explored in a special edition of the journal on land based education, the paper engages critically with a claim by a group of ecologists, that…