Discusses an art activity for fifth-grade students that focuses on the teaching technique called scratchboard. Explains that the subject of the assignment was sunflowers. States that sunflowers make good subject matter for children since the shape is geometric. Addresses how to create the scratchboard sunflowers. (CMK)

Directions for the construction of a model bog habitat are provided including examples of plants and animals which may be suitable. Activities that use this model are suggested. Background information on the ecology and chemistry of the bog is included. (CW)

Discusses the diversity of rain forest life, the adaptations of rain forest plants and animals, and ways these organisms interact. Includes activities on canopy critters with a copyable sheet, rain forest revue, design a plant, and jungle sleuths. (RT)

Describes a questionnaire survey that identified characteristics of members of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, Inc. Results discussed include types of libraries; regional distribution; clientele; services offered by libraries; use of online bibliographic databases; backgrounds of professional staff; collections and subject…

Suggests creating a biological park to stress the interrelationships between plants and animals. States that the techniques of a zoo should be applied to paleontology, anatomy, anthropology. Gives advantages of this creative concept. (RT)

This article presents a variety of topics discussed in this column and at a biology teachers' workshop concerning the quality and value of lab techniques used for teaching high school biology. Topics included are Drosophila salivary glands, sea urchins, innovations, dyes and networking. (CW)

Describes a computer model characterizing the balance of soil-plant Nitrogen that allows students to see the likely consequences of different biological and weather-related parameters. Proposes three uses for the model: (1) orienting beginning students to understand the soil Nitrogen cycle; (2) providing information for advanced students; and (3)…

Investigates the use of temperature and light to change the usual intervals for plant germinating, sprouting, and flowering. Provides simple experimental procedures and discussions regarding photoperiodism, forced branching before spring, and various types of seed dormancy, including physical dormancy, physiological dormancy, and double dormancy.…

Presents a cooperative activity between home and school in which parents and students examine the growth of a variety of bulbs. Bulbs are taken home to sprout and returned to school to monitor their growth. Students gather data, hone observation and graphing skills, and communicate with their parents on the project. (MDH)

Three hands-on science activities teach students about plant processes that they normally cannot detect. A K-3 activity has students explore how the presence of water affects plant motion. Two grade 4-6 activities let students see the path water takes through leaves and has students investigate how and why water travels through plants. (SM)

Investigates the attitudes and values that children and adolescents hold with respect to nature and the patterns of reasoning with which they are expressed. Outlines current positions in environmental ethics, discusses difficulties in applying contemporary theories of moral development to the problem, and summarizes preliminary results of the…

Describes a laboratory exercise that takes advantage of the abundant number of species of goldenrod galls that exist in the environment to explore a question concerning the behavior of the female gall-forming insects as they lay eggs on the goldenrod plant. (ZWH)

Presents a classification scheme and the results of applying this scheme to the coding of academic texts in a corpus. The texts are doctoral theses from agricultural botany and agricultural economics departments. Results lead to a comparison of the citation practices of writers in different disciplines and the different rhetorical practices of…

Describes Internet sites that are useful for educators planning a school garden. These sites offer information from copy-ready lessons to advice on every topic at all grade levels. Topics range from how-to's for basic gardening, to theme gardening, to discussions of agricultural crops and endangered plants. Many include links to other sites,…

In this article, the author presents a two-week evolution unit for his biology class. He uses Maria Sybilla Merian (1647-1717) as an example of an Enlightenment mind at work--in this case a woman recognized as one of the great artists and natural scientists of her time. Her representations of butterflies, caterpillars and their pupae, and the…