The discovery of frog abnormalities by students on a school field trip in 1995 sparked hundreds of scientific studies in search of the cause of abnormality. This Socio-Scientific Issue has been used as an inquiry-based learning exercise for training in the practice of science, but it is also well-suited to teaching the nature of science. Our goal…

Letting students deliberate on socio-scientific issues is a tricky affair. It is yet unclear how to assess whether, or even support that, students weave science facts into value-laden socio-scientific deliberations without committing the naturalistic fallacy of deducing "ought" from "is". As a preliminary step, this study…

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…

Highlights the importance of the Human Genome Project in educating the public about genetics. Discusses four challenges that science educators must address: teaching for conceptual understanding, the nature of science, the personal and social impact of science and technology, and the principles of technology. Contains 45 references. (JRH)

Describes how to facilitate discussions on topics related to biocrimes. Focuses on how to guide students to ask questions related to what infectious agents are and the relationship between infection and disease. (DDR)

Investigates the relationship between a science-technology-society (STS) approach, scientific literacy (SL), and achievement in biology. Uses two instruments for data collection, an achievement test on reproduction and family planning and an SL scale. Concludes that the STS approach might be affecting other variables in the science classroom that…

Explains the use of a modification of an approach known as the Line of Reasoning (LOR) model to critique science news articles. Argues that popular press articles lack scientific evidence to support the claims made and instead focus on evidence-based inference. (DDR)

Seeks to give teachers useful information on the extent of the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, mechanisms bacteria use to resist antibiotics, the causes of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant organisms, and practices that can prevent or reverse this trend. Contains 19 references. (DDR)

Presents an activity to teach natural selection that involves students in a microbiological investigation. Students discover that a change in environmental conditions tests a species' range of adaptations. (DDR)

Presents a rationale for using the history of science in science education. Uses the life and work of Louis Pasteur to illustrate how the history of science can illustrate the nature of science. Describes how Pasteur's bourgeois ideology and ambition influenced his selection of problems to investigate. (over 35 references) (PR)

Presents an interview with biologist Stephen Jay Gould in which he discusses the state of biology education and the continuing debate over the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. (DDR)

Reports on what appears to be a promising approach to the treatment and spread of cancer. Utilizes a mutant of the common cold virus that appears to kill many kinds of cancer cells but not normal cells. (DDR)

Presents information on the modern production of yogurt and describes a simple method for producing yogurt in the classroom using milk purchased from the grocery store. (WRM)

Describes the use of the Internet to explore the impact of environmental changes in communities of frogs and toads. Provides a guide to investigating this topic on the web. (DDR)

(PR)