Sterilization the Sane “Pesticide”

Unpacking, an effective lesson-planning technique, can help students use scientific inquiry to understand the power behind hurricanes. Teachers identify a concept and then guide students to "unpack" it and look for new discoveries. The activity provides a means for students to develop the abilities to do scientific inquiry, demonstrate how it is applied, and develop understanding about the method. Additionally, students demonstrate abilities of technological design and understanding about science and technology. This activity promotes students' knowledge of the Earth's constant change, pattern recognition to enable prediction, statistical analysis and graphical display to reveal patterns in data, and the science behind hurricane rotation.     

News Notes

With archaeologists continually finding new pieces of the past, students will undoubtedly see and hear of new discoveries in the media. By using archaeology as a context for investigating past cultures and using science methods, teachers can capitalize on students' interests while still addressing concepts recommended (or required) for their curriculum. The following activities use everyday items as artifacts and will take you and your students through an authentic excavation experience.     

Environmental Exchange Box

In this activity, teachers in one state create and share an “exchange box” of environmental and cultural items with students of another state. The Environmental Exchange Box activity enables teachers to improve students' skills in scientific inquiry and develop attitudes and values conducive to science learning such as wonder, curiosity, and respect for different social perceptions. Teachers will be able to work beyond the limits of the classroom and introduce outside resources to help increase students' global awareness and promote respect for the culture and environment of diverse populations. Specifically, this activity can help teachers fulfill national Teaching Standards B, D, and E.     

“趣味教学法”在微生物学课堂中的应用及探讨

微生物学属于生命科学的重要分支,是生物、食品科学、临床医学等大学专业一门重要的基础课。该课程综合性强、知识涉及面广,所以如何有效调动学生的学习兴趣将直接影响课堂效果。为达到良好的教学效果,教师可在微生物学教学过程中综合运用多种方式提高学生学习兴趣与学习质量。因此,我们采用“趣味教学法”进行教学设计,并针对连续3个不同年级的相同专业班级做出教学改革,通过学生期末闭卷成绩、过程考核（签到率、课堂参与度、注意力集中程度等）成绩与学生反馈评语对教学成果进行验证。结果表明,采用“趣味教学法”进行教学改革的班级学生期末闭卷成绩中不及格率低于未改革的班级,“良好”与“优秀”学生比例均高于未改革的班级,过程考核成绩远高于未改革的班级,说明“趣味教学法”教学改革有效调动了学生的学习兴趣。我们认为,在大学微生物学课堂上,教师可在教学设计中适当引入趣味教学内容并适时展开,有助于改善教学气氛,调动学生学习积极性与主动性,提高教学质量。     

How to Create and Use Analogies Effectively in the Teaching of Science Concepts

Effective teaching is the art of getting information to the students' memory in an organized manner to facilitate later retrieval. Thanks to advances in cognitive science, one can talk of the science of teaching. A metaphor that captures the work of effective teachers is "teachers as knowledge engineers," which connotes that effective teachers understand the nature of knowledge and, by extrapolation, the nature of teaching and learning. When teachers take charge of knowledge, view it as a process, and understand how to work with it, they take charge of the knowledge-construction process and better help their students. This article discusses how science teachers use analogies as a means of organizing knowledge in their students' memory.     

Use of Galvanic Skin Responses,Salivary Biomarkers,and Self-reports to Assess Undergraduate Student Performance During a Laboratory Exam Activity

Typically, self-reports are used in educational research to assess student response and performance to a classroom activity. Yet, addition of biological and physiological measures such as salivary biomarkers and galvanic skin responses are rarely included, limiting the wealth of information that can be obtained to better understand student performance. A laboratory protocol to study undergraduate students'' responses to classroom events (e.g., exams) is presented. Participants were asked to complete a representative exam for their degree. Before and after the laboratory exam session, students completed an academic achievement emotions self-report and an interview that paralleled these questions when participants wore a galvanic skin sensor and salivary biomarkers were collected. Data collected from the three methods resulted in greater depth of information about students'' performance when compared to the self-report. The work can expand educational research capabilities through more comprehensive methods for obtaining nearer to real-time student responses to an examination activity.     

Six minutes to promote change: People,not facts,alter students' perceptions on climate change

Anthropogenic climate change threatens the structure and function of ecosystems throughout the globe, but many people are still skeptical of its existence. Traditional “knowledge deficit model” thinking has suggested that providing the public with more facts about climate change will assuage skepticism. However, presenting evidence contrary to prior beliefs can have the opposite effect and result in a strengthening of previously held beliefs, a phenomenon known as biased assimilation or a backfire effect. Given this, strategies for effectively communicating about socioscientific issues that are politically controversial need to be thoroughly investigated. We randomly assigned 184 undergraduates from an environmental science class to one of three experimental conditions in which we exposed them to short videos that employed different messaging strategies: (a) an engaging science lecture, (b) consensus messaging, and (c) elite cues. We measured changes in student perceptions of climate change across five constructs (content knowledge, acceptance of scientific consensus, perceived risk, support for action, and climate identity) before and after viewing videos. Consensus messaging outperformed the other two conditions in increasing student acceptance of the scientific consensus, perceived risk of climate change, and climate identity, suggesting this may be an effective strategy for communicating the gravity of anthropogenic climate change. Elite cues outperformed the engaging science lecture condition in increasing student support for action on climate, with politically conservative students driving this relationship, suggesting that the messenger is more important than the message if changing opinions about the necessity of action on climate change is the desired outcome. Relative to the other conditions, the engaging science lecture did not support change in students'' perceptions on climate, but appealing to student respect for authority produced positive results. Notably, we observed no decline in students'' acceptance of climate science, indicating that none of the conditions induced a backfire effect.     

Local advisers for the teaching of microbiology in schools

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of formal teaching of ethical issues related to science on middle school students' attitudes towards science and science achievement. A total of 132 Grade 8 (age 13 – 14years) students in Seoul participated, who were divided into the control and the experimental group. Student attitude toward science was assessed using a questionnaire before and after the intervention which composed of five sub-categories: students' interest level in science, students' perception of the practicality of science knowledge, student's opinion on how science is defined, students' perception of the relationships within science, scientists and society, and students' perception of the value of science. The study further examined whether teaching ethical issues in science had any effect on students' achievement level by means of a pre- and post-test evaluation.

The results of this study showed that teaching ethical issues in science had a positive influence on the students' attitudes toward science, specifically, the interest level in science (p = 0.028) and perception of practicality of science knowledge (p = 0.044). However, there was no statistically significant difference in science achievement level between the control and experimental groups. The results imply that there is a need to explore ethical issues in science education, and that incorporating various materials on the ethical perspectives of science and technology in educational material will promote students' positive attitude towards science.     

Gravity is a pull! Exploring forces and motion with English learners

English learners (ELs) benefit from inquiry-based science instruction that includes explicit attention to language learning goals. The purpose of this article is to share a third-grade unit on forces and motion which integrates science inquiry and writing in science notebooks with the goal of developing ELs' engagement in science, conceptual understanding, and academic language and literacy skills. We demonstrate how to engage diverse students' background knowledge and use classroom activities and discussion to create bridges between everyday and academic language. We utilize excerpts from Peter, Lucia, and Andrea's science notebooks to explore and highlight how teachers can use this resource as a means of communicating science, during instruction. Through these EL students' journals, we discuss the importance of developing language goals at the word, sentence, and discourse level while promoting and supporting ELs' use of the language of science.     

The Heat Is On! Using Particle Models to Change Students' Conceptions of Heat and Temperature

Elementary, middle-level, and high school science teachers commonly find their students have misconceptions about heat and temperature. Unfortunately, student misconceptions are difficult to modify or change and can prevent students from learning the accurate scientific explanation. In order to improve our students' understanding of heat and temperature, we created a three-part instructional activity designed to engage them in the development of kinetic particle models. First, the students use household materials—food coloring and water—to investigate and create particle models depicting motion at the molecular level. Second, the students complete a similar activity designed to help them visualize the connections between heat and particle motion. Third, the students build a thermometer, observe it in action, and create particle models explaining how the thermometer works. By the end of the series of activities, the students are able develop their own definitions for heat and temperature. Through this hands-on and minds-on series of activities, students learn to define and differentiate the concepts of heat and temperature.     

Ecology and the War on Hunger

This interdisciplinary activity promotes science, technology, and language arts and is well suited for upper elementary grade students. In the activity, students' research about a teacher-assigned weather phenomenon facilitates their study of the weather. When they have completed their research, students word process a paper summarizing their findings and generate graphical representations of a weather phenomenon using Microsoft Paint software. The paper and the computer-generated graphical representation measure learning and provide insight into the level of student understanding that other assessment tools, such as quizzes, tests, and questioning techniques, do not provide.     

Science Educational Outreach Programs That Benefit Students and Scientists

Both scientists and the public would benefit from improved communication of basic scientific research and from integrating scientists into education outreach, but opportunities to support these efforts are limited. We have developed two low-cost programs—"Present Your PhD Thesis to a 12-Year-Old" and "Shadow a Scientist”—that combine training in science communication with outreach to area middle schools. We assessed the outcomes of these programs and found a 2-fold benefit: scientists improve their communication skills by explaining basic science research to a general audience, and students'' enthusiasm for science and their scientific knowledge are increased. Here we present details about both programs, along with our assessment of them, and discuss the feasibility of exporting these programs to other universities.     

Helping Students Reconstruct Conceptions of Thermodynamics: Energy and Heat

Thermodynamics, specifically energy and heat, is a major concept in the foundations of physics and physical science. To determine a strategy to teach thermodynamics meaningfully, the authors conducted classroom action research using interviews to determine secondary physics students' current conceptions of thermodynamics. On the basis of the findings, the authors developed and implemented a science unit to facilitate students' reconstructions of their ideas toward more scientifically appropriate concepts. The lessons, using a learning cycle strategy, and results of the pre- and post-interviews are presented.     

Gardening for Homonyms: Integrating Science and Language Arts to Support Children's Creative Use of Multiple Meaning Words

Curriculum integration can increase the presence of science at the elementary level. The purpose of this article is to share how two second-grade teachers have integrated language arts content as a part of science-language arts instruction in a garden-based learning context. One application was a teacher-designed Gardening for Homonyms lesson, which supported new ways of thinking about words and wordplay while developing science vocabulary related to structure and function, diversity of life, and interdependent relationships in ecosystems. This article provides the lesson and discusses its implementation in two second-grade classrooms. Examples of student work illustrate children's creative thought around and application of multiple meaning words. Pre-, post-, and extended posttest measures of students' ability to generate and to use homonyms demonstrate that this science-language arts integrated lesson can result in both short- and long-term learning. Applications and follow-up from the lesson over two subsequent years have engaged second and third grade students in study/inquiry about plant growth and life cycles while utilizing many facets of language arts, which have ranged from labeling an experimental design and writing predictions and results to conversing about digital “GigaPan” images on growing strawberries.     

The Lego® analogy model for teaching gene sequencing and biotechnology

Research in biotechnology is rapidly advancing; everyday, new and exciting discoveries are made. With this new technology there are also many safety and ethical questions, though, as well as the need for education. Alternative teaching methods may help to increase students' understanding of difficult concepts in all aspects of schooling, including mathematics, science, genetics, and biotechnology. The Genomic Analogy Model for Educators (GAME) is a teaching tool currently under development, made up of three different pieces: (i) a CD-Rom, (ii) a website and (iii) laboratory exercises. The GAME model uses simple analogies of easily understandable concepts to explain the technical and scientific aspects of modern genomics; the first module is the Lego® Analogy Model (LAM) which focuses on DNA sequencing using the Sanger method and electrophoresis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the GAME model on high school students. In addition, the short term effect of the GAME model on high school students' attitudes about biotechnology was also measured. Results showed a positive change in students' post-test scores after participating in GAME which indicates the effectiveness of this new tool for biotechnology education.     

The Mathematical Basis of Mendelian Genetics

In a climate where increasing numbers of students are encouraged to pursue post-secondary education, the level of preparedness students have for college-level coursework is not far from the minds of all educators, especially high school teachers. Specifically within the biological sciences, introductory biology classes often serve as the gatekeeper or a pre-requisite for subsequent coursework in those fields and pre-professional programmes (eg pre-medicine or pre-veterinarian). Thus, how helpful high school science and mathematics experiences are in preparing students for their introductory biology classes is important and relevant for teachers, science educators and policy makers alike. This quantitative study looked at the association between students' high school science and mathematics experiences with introductory college biology performance. Using a nationally representative sample of US students (n?=?2667) enrolled in 33 introductory college biology courses, a multi-level statistical model was developed to analyse the association between high school educational experiences and the final course grade in introductory biology courses. Advanced high school science and mathematics coursework, an emphasis on a deep conceptual understanding of biology concepts and a prior knowledge of concepts addressed in well-structured laboratory investigations are all positively associated with students' achievement in introductory college biology.     

基于在线课程的混合式教学在微生物学课程中的探索和实践

在线课程的建设与应用已成为现阶段高校教学信息化变革的重要举措,有效应用在线课程资源、开展混合式教学的设计与实践是建设一流本科课程的重点。依托微生物学在线精品课程(浙江省绍兴市),在科学教育2016-2018级尝试了基于在线课程的混合式教学,3轮教学实践表明:基于在线课程的混合式教学能提升学生学习兴趣和参与度,促使学生深度学习,促进学生综合能力和素质的提高;微生物学课程在学院和学校层面已经形成品牌,受到学生的普遍欢迎和好评。     

Gas Law for the Classroom

The author provides information on how science teachers can write science literacy objectives that help English language learners (ELLs) develop the scientific literacy needed for academic success in the science classroom. The article offers suggestions on how teachers can determine the vocabulary, language functions, and sentence structures that their students need to engage in critical thinking in science. An approach for collaboration with students' English as a second language (ESL) teacher is discussed.     

Teaching and Assessing Science Process Skills in Physics: THE “BUBBLES” TASK

In the following article, Dr. Seuss's children's books are creatively integrated with science activities through the creation of take-home activity kits. The kits provide families an opportunity to read at home while connecting the enjoyable experience to science content and skill development through associated activities. The kits should be constructed using easy-reading books and aligned to developmentally appropriate academic science standards. Most importantly, they should be designed in a manner so that all family members are participants rather than expecting the adults to teach the expected outcomes. The activity kits can be completed as stand-alone experiences for interested students, used by students who are ready for an additional challenge, or adapted for an entire classroom of students as part of a teacher's normal curriculum.     

科技考古研究范式之思考

范式自20世纪60年代创立以来,已普遍使用于多个科学研究领域,并于七八十年代引入至考古学。目前,国内外学界对考古学的研究范式有不少讨论,但对科技考古的研究范式的认知仍属空白。本文在简要介绍科学研究范式和考古学研究范式的基础上,首次提出了科技考古研究的3种范式,即科技范式、考古范式、科技考古融合范式,详细阐述了3种研究范式的理论、方法、实践等。此外,本文还指出：科技范式是推动科技考古研究发展的“发动机”,考古范式是掌控科技考古研究方向的“方向盘”,而科技考古融合范式则是协调科技考古各研究领域的“中控台”,真正让科技与考古融为一体。最后,笔者还对在科技考古研究范式下如何构建研究人员的知识体系提出了一些看法。