The purpose of this study was to use drama as a springboard for promoting argumentation among 91 first-semester undergraduate medical students (56 females and 35 males, 16-30 years old) in Colombia during a complete teaching-learning sequence (TLS) supervised by the same teacher. The drama used was the play "Should've," written by Nobel…

Following evolutionary theory and an agriculture model, ecosystem research has stressed bottom-up dynamics, implying that top wild predators are epiphenomenal effects of more basic causes. As such, they are assumed expendable. A more modern co-evolutionary and wilderness approach--trophic cascades--instead suggests that top predators, whose…

With crosscutting concepts such as stability and change in the "Next Generation Science Standards," this article was written for those who have wondered how to teach these concepts in a way that is relevant to students. In this investigation, students ask the question, "Why is the pond dirty?" As students investigate the health…

The purpose of this study is to present students' experiences, interest in engineering, and personal narratives while participating in a robotics summer camp in a metropolitan city in Turkey. In this study, I used qualitative data collection methods such as interviews, field notes, and observations. I used the four principles of Engle and Conant…

Students learn science best with activities that mirror the way scientists work. This article describes how geologists investigate groundwater flow systems in areas of karst topography--geologic formations shaped by dissolving bedrock--and provides a way for students to replicate this research. Students also use electric current to model water…

Provides many useful suggestions and cautions for planning and executing a biology field excursion. Specific procedures are outlined for investigating land communities and coastal areas, and a number of follow-up laboratory activities are described. The appendix provides an extensive bibliography with useful comments on the literature. (JR)

Advocates field excursions in the teaching of geology and earth science. Provides useful suggestions and offers some cautions for the preparation and execution of a geology field trip. (JR)

Advocates the multimedia field study as a valuable supplement to actual field work in earth science. The simulated excursion utilizes a variety of media, and can effectively acquaint students with geological features which they may not be able to visit. An example of a multimedia field study package is provided. (JR)

Reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" aloud to her sixth-grade students inspired this author to create a mathematics activity based on budgeting for school supplies for Hogwarts School. In that lesson, each student was assigned a name from the Hogwarts School roster and allotted a different dollar amount for his/her budget. Students…

Describes a blindfold botanist project for high school biology students to augment visual recognition of plants and to serve as a challenge to motivate students. (BR)

Describes a freshwater pond study in detail which was done as the biology segment of an interdisciplinary study conference at the Old Railway Pond at National Park. (BR)

Describes a field project and associated activities used by the author with high school students in analyzing the Osage-type underfit stream. (PR)

Describes the procedures used by a high school biology class in an ecological study related to the degeneration of grasslands. The canopy-coverage method of vegetational analysis was used to compare a low-grade, over-grazed pasture with a nearby high-quality prairie. An interpretation of the results is also presented. (JR)

A field-based exercise which illustrates one aspect of how leaves in multilayered trees take advantage of light microenvironments is presented. Procedures, tree selection and data analysis are discussed. (CW)

This material is one publication of a series of documents available from the Institute for Environmental Education (Cleveland) and consists of a curriculum activities guide to birds, bugs, dogs, and weather and environmental studies. The first edition of this material was prepared by the Documentation Task Force of Project KARE, Philadelphia, and…