Bioluminescence transformation experiments show students the excitement and power of recombinant DNA technology. This laboratory experiment utilizes two plasmids of "Vibrio fischeri" in a transformation experiment. (LZ)

Authors assert that biology teaching should be treated more as a science based on questions, possible explanations, and tests for determining the validity of explanations that are formulated. Provides a list of criteria for exemplary teaching and contrasts them with traditional science teaching. Presents information on Science/Technology/Society…

Examines Texas adoption process, described by author as having an inordinate impact on textbook market. Creationist opposition to evolution content in biological textbooks is well organized. Author presents 10 arguments made at hearing by creationists that he describes as a monument to scientific illiteracy. Asserts that creationists' confusion of…

The authors present an exercise designed to help students overcome the misconception that most microbes make people sick. The activity helps students of all ages understand the important benefits of microbes such as in making bread, soy sauce, cheese, and wine. The role of microorganisms in processing cocoa and coffee and growing plants is also…

Author provides guidelines for a course she designed for her high school life science class composed of students classified as Limited English Proficient. Author describes the following teaching techniques and strategies she found effective: use concrete, visual examples; don't take words for granted; practice scientific sentence construction with…

Describes a lab designed to analyze the organic compounds found in an ordinary fast-food lunch. (ZWH)

Describes a learning model that can be used to help students understand the process of genetic translation. (ZWH)

Identifies some common misconceptions regarding diffusion that exist among many biology teachers as well as students. Offers suggestions and demonstrations to use in the classroom to help students gain a more accurate understanding of diffusion. (ZWH)

Provides instructional strategies that middle and high school science teachers might find helpful in decreasing student and parent hostility toward evolution education. (ZWH)

The high points of the story of RNA are presented. The functions of RNA within the cell, how these functions are carried out, and how they evolved are described. The topics of splicing, self-splicing, RNA editing, transcription and translation, and antisense RNA are discussed. (KR)

The differences between measuring light intensity for the human eye and for plant photosynthesis are discussed. Conversion factors needed to convert various units of light are provided. Photosynthetic efficiency and the electricity costs for plants to undergo photosynthesis using interior lighting are described. (KR)

Uses diagrams to aid in describing a simple, rapid technique for staining the nuclei of pollen grains that have been germinated in vitro. (ZWH)

Discusses the effects of expectancy on learning in a life science instructional laboratory exercise. Contends that prior knowledge directs the act of observing. Investigates the role of prior conceptions on secondary school students' ability to observe scientific phenomena. (Contains 30 references.) (YDS)

Describes an experiment in which the incubation time to observe denitrification and other processes of the nitrogen cycle is reduced from 7-14 days to 24-48 hours. Presents calculations of processes in the nitrogen cycle in the form of a dichotomous key. (SAH)

Describes an alternative to teaching ecology by using bacteria to test competitor survival. Students observe a time-dependent selective killing of other unrelated bacteria by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. (SAH)