Presents an example of an authentic inquiry-based investigation of living organisms that can be easily performed in a school setting or students' neighborhood using pillbugs. Students observe, ask questions, collect data, classify and compare, measure, and analyze data to draw conclusions about pillbug behavior. (SAH)

A quality assurance program was designed to teach youth about safe and wholesome food production, animal management techniques, and ethical decision making related to food animal production. Participants gained skills in animal management techniques and their opinions about consumer expectations were positively influenced. The program successfully…

Discusses nature activities that teachers can use with young children to help develop the children's observation and processing skills. Teachers and students can examine weeds in the spring, observe and understand the role that insects play in nature, study the many colors and sizes of leaves in the fall, and find and analyze animal tracks in the…

Describes a project that helps students integrate biological concepts using both creativity and higher-order problem-solving skills. Involves students playing the roles of junior scientists aboard a starship in orbit around a class M planet and using a description of habitats, seasonal details, and a surface map of prominent geographic features to…

Explains biosphere troubles due to tropical deforestation. Discusses long term consequences and effects. First published in 1988. (YDS)

Students prefer to classify creatures along the criteria of habitat and locomotion (method of movement). Discusses the educational consequences for biology instruction, particularly with regard to biological taxonomy, biodiversity, and evolution. (Contains 33 references.) (Author/YDS)

Three experiments with pigeons studied the relation between time and rate measures of behavior under conditions of changing preference. Experiment 1 studied a concurrent chain schedule with random-interval initial links and fixed-interval terminal links; Experiment 2 studied a multiple chained random-interval fixed-interval schedule; and…

Winter, even if students don't see snowflakes, is a good time to examine the activities of animals, children, and nature. In this column, the author recommends pairs of fiction and nonfiction titles that can meet the needs of students from kindergarten to grade 5, as well as fulfill the requirements of the curriculum. Some winter activities are…

Poetry functions as an instructive tool across the curriculum. To use this extraordinary tool, we must engage in our own creative journey with poetry by reading it, writing poetry, and finding inspiration in a new approach. How do we read a poem? Is there a correct format to explain poetic imagery? Can young children be introduced to poetry and…

Research has suggested that rats increase their response rate for a low-valued reinforcer when a high-valued reinforcer will soon be available (i.e., positive induction) because the value of the low-valued substance has increased. The present study tested if such a procedure could be used to increase rats' responding for a non-reinforcing food.…

In Experiment 1, we trained four pigeons to concurrently discriminate displays of 16 same icons (16S) from displays of 16 different icons (16D) as well as between displays of same icons (16S) from displays that contained 15 same icons and one different icon (15S:1D). The birds rapidly learned to discriminate 16S vs. 16D displays, but they failed…

Few people realize that coyotes prowl the country's major urban areas. By tracking them on their turf, one Boston-area high school teacher and his students are helping scientists to learn more about the oft-misunderstood animals. Here, the author features David Eatough, a science teacher at Revere High School just north of Boston, and his…

Institutional change has resulted in the separation of organizations for the protection of animals and children. This project reunites two organizations to examine associations between human violence and animal cruelty. For 12 months. Family and Children's Services (FCS) investigators and Humane Society (HS) investigators in Wellington County,…

Laboratory exercises are intended to illustrate concepts and add an active learning component to courses. Since the 1980s, there has been a decline in animal laboratories offered in conjunction with medical physiology courses. The most important single reason for this is cost, but other contributing factors include the development of computer…

Some students with disabilities find that skilled companion dogs can help them achieve their goals, but schools do not always welcome the animals. Legal experts say that the law is generally on the side of people with disabilities who require assistance animals, but that the issues can become more complicated in the public schools. Guidelines ask…