Discusses using amphibians and reptiles as an excellent resource for students to observe and gain an understanding of the process of science. These animals are easy to maintain in the classroom and play important roles in ecosystems as the prey for many birds and mammals and as the predators of various organisms. (SAH)

Describes a field trip to collect planarians as successful in generating interest in the sciences. This activity is suitable for all grade levels as a field trip or biology lab. Planarians can be easily collected from streams across the United States. Once in the classroom, planaria are easily fed and cared for. (SAH)

Describes using domesticated, wild, or feral animals to teach students about nature and animal behavior. Connections can be made with psychology, economics, genetics, history, art, and other disciplines. The study of animal behavior provides opportunities for harmless student experimentation. (SAH)

Describes behaviors of the domestic cat in terms of developing students abilities to observe. Discussed are play, territoriality and pecking order, catnip, feral studies, and chasing. (CW)

Summarizes how a group of teachers prepared a series of elementary-level inquiry experiences that focused on the study of land snails. Recommends and describes the K-W-L and Four Question inquiry strategies for younger and older students respectively. (WRM)

Discusses experiments involving classical conditioning of planarians. Suitable for advanced high school students or college-level independent study, flatworms are trained to curl up under a bright light. Then the planarians to are subjected to controlled reproduction experiments to determine whether the learned behavior is inherited by their…