This small study reveals the value of story writing as a pedagogical technique in environmental education. The qualitative research conducted in 2020 examines 14 Indian children's place-ecological meaning as expressed in the story books they authored. Thematic analysis of the story books, interviews, journals, creative writing assignments &…

This dissertation explored the roles schools can play in the successful outcomes of large carnivore or keystone reintroduction projects. Schools are more than centers for knowledge acquisition--they connect their community and disseminate information quickly to a wide audience. This study took place in California's Eastern Sierra Nevada, a…

The setting: the science classroom. The characters: you and your students. The scene: Your students acting out scientific discoveries, modeling a frog's life cycle, mimicking the transition from liquid to solid. This is "dramatic science", a teaching approach that uses acting techniques to explore and develop young children's ideas about…

When the award-winning journalist Eric Schlosser's groundbreaking book "Fast Food Nation" was published for adults, many called for his insights and research to be shared with young readers. And, when "Fast Food Nation" gained popularity as a fictional, yet factual motion picture, the buzz continued. Children, after all, are the fast-food…

The author, an elementary school teacher, describes a way of incorporating an inquiry approach to teaching by refining a crayfish unit originally found in an ESS (Elementary Science Study) module. She used a "coupled-inquiry" approach, a combination of guided-inquiry and open-inquiry, with an application used for assessment purposes. In five or…

This final guide in the series is designed to assist in one's role of helper for youth interested in the dog project. These learn-by-doing activities can be adapted for families, classrooms, dog project meetings, after school programs, camps or other settings. In this Helper's Guide, one will find helpful information about characteristics of…