An interdisciplinary team of science and education faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago and several Chicago-area community colleges developed and implemented a series of four integrated, inquiry-based science courses for preservice elementary school teachers. All four courses are based on guiding principles taken from the rich…

Crayfish, also known as "crawfish" or "crawdads," are easy to keep in the classroom, and with patience and luck, students will observe the complete life cycle of the crayfish. They will also learn about aquatic animals and habitats and get to conduct inquiry experiments about animal behavior. This article describes how a third-grade teacher used…

Describes the basic principles of setting up an aquarium and gives hints on its use as an instructional aid in elementary classrooms, both in generating biological questions and investigations and in its use in other parts of the science curriculum. (AL)

Discusses activities that can be carried out on a field trip study of mushrooms; follow-up activities in the classroom are suggested. Mushrooms are selected as an introduction to mycology mainly because of their large size and prominent reproductive structures. (BR)

Describes plant tissues that naturally contain substances poisonous to human beings if taken in large amounts. Some of these toxic materials are found in vegetables and fruits, as well as plants we normally don't eat such as yew. Also notes that plants recently sprayed with pesticides are harmful. (BR)

Describes the concept of the biotic community to aid children in understanding food, space, and other relationships among living organisms, particularly those communities where man is the dominant organism. Outdoor laboratory experiences are suggested to help children see their town or city as a man-dominated biotic community. (BR)

This three-part document identified 114 currently credible biology concepts judged important for inclusion in the K-12 curriculum. The literature related to the production of lists of scientific concepts was reviewed, emphasizing the techniques available for such studies. The technique for this study was to ask individual biological scientists at…

Discusses the advantages of using reptiles in biology and elementary school classes, describes demonstration techniques used by the author, and suggests some student activities using reptiles, especially snakes and lizards. (AL)