Philosophy is concerned with fundamental questions about knowledge, truth, reality, experience, justice and what is right and wrong. In this article, the authors discuss how philosophy and science can be taught together in the primary classroom.

We provide a protocol for rapid DNA extraction from spiders suitable for undergraduate practical sessions. Students who were previously naïve to the theory and laboratory technique of DNA barcoding were successfully able to extract and recover 29 DNA sequences from 16 species of small spiders in the family Linyphiidae. We anticipate that with…

Learning opportunities can be found all around, and innovative education approaches are expanding the concept of a school environment. Nestled in the urban core of San Antonio, Texas, is a nature-based preschool that is taking a wild approach to learning about conservation. Will Smith Zoo School, part of San Antonio Zoo and named in honor of a boy…

I believe. I don't believe. Memories as history. History creates the future. Stories create oneself. Two years ago, I was involved in a conference session on post-human theory, organised by Rosie Welch and Nicole Taylor. This session forced me to interrogate my views and explore new connections to post-human scholarship. My position is not to look…

In 2014, evolution through natural selection was introduced to the primary science National Curriculum in England for year 6 (ages 10-11). As teachers had little prior experience of teaching this concept, it provided a rare opportunity to study the effectiveness of different approaches. A study was developed to investigate the impact of…

The current body of scholarly literature highlights the increasing importance of Mixed Reality (MR) in the field of education since it provides an alternative way through visual stimuli inside an immersive environment. In recent years, the possibility for educators to use Mixed Reality as an additional pedagogical instrument has witnessed notable…

Animal dissection is practiced to varying degrees around the world and is particularly prevalent in North America throughout all levels of education. However, a growing number of studies suggest that nonanimal teaching methods (NAMs) (e.g., virtual anatomy tools and three-dimensional models) are better for achieving learning goals compared to…

We present a drawing discovery lab that crosscuts multiple disciplines in biology and links concepts in genetics and evolutionary thinking to enhance understanding of the genotype-to-phenotype transformation. These combined concepts are also linked to ecological frameworks in nature through the model of biological plasticity. Students and teachers…

In today's dynamic global economy, integrated units of study are particularly important. Students who are fluent in several disciplines and comfortable moving among them can make meaningful connections and maintain enhanced understandings (Sias et al. 2016). This article shares an integrated STEAM unit that is grounded in the science disciplinary…

I teach an animal behavior course where students conduct independent research projects; however, using live animals for research is challenging at a small university. Often, students choose to conduct a laboratory project over a field project believing that it will be easier to observe animals and control variables, but it can be difficult and…

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is a cellular pathway by which individual cells self-destruct for the benefit of the organism. In this practical paper, we describe laboratory exercises with an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach in which undergraduate students compared apoptosis among different types of cultured cells. Ultraviolet (UV)…

The aim of the present assay is to provide a simple algorithm as well as a didactic theoretical framework that may serve as an introduction to understanding modern habitat suitability (HS) modelling techniques in Ecology and Biogeography. The proposal is built on classical descriptive statistics and classical ecological theories. Shelford's theory…

Naturalists enrich our scientific understanding of biodiversity. However, just as countries have fallen behind on commitments to provide biodiversity conservation funding, so has the focus of life science stayed arm's length. The purpose of this article is to consider why biodiversity should be the center of life sciences education and how…

This chapter explores the urgent relevance of posthumanist theory and practice for democratizing creative educational experiences in 21st-century schools, universities, and informal learning environments. Posthumanism challenges the myopic centering of the human in creative education in an age of climate change, artificial intelligence, and…

We analyse a corpus of 99 recent Spanish-language picturebooks, based on converging recommendations of prestigious reading promotion institutions in different countries. Focusing on the books that feature non-human characters, we inquire into how animals and other creatures may open possibilities to present diverse and intercultural worlds…