What Plants and Animals Do Early Childhood and Primary Students’ Name? Where Do They See Them?

Children from England and the United States of America have a basic similar knowledge of plants and animals, which they observe during their everyday life. Nine children of ages 4, 6, 8, and 10 years, in each country, were asked to free-list plants and animals. Afterwards, they were interviewed individually about the plants and animals they listed to determine where they were seen. Additionally, children were asked to name animals they knew that were found in specific habitats or had specific characteristics. The results showed that children from the earliest years notice the animals in their everyday lives and 8 year olds were able to name the most animals. Plants were not named as often as animals and children in the USA found it difficult to name plants when questioned. This study shows that children are in touch with their everyday environment to varying extents, and that rich experiences can greatly contribute to their knowledge about plants and animals

An ecological survey of the Crawford Woods, Clark County, Indiana

Numerous surveys of forested areas throughout Indiana have yielded a wealth of ecological knowledge, especially in regard to factors controlling and regulating the invasion and ecesis of deciduous tree species making up these forest formations. Perhaps no other area in the state has undergone a more intense study by ecologists than the Illinoian Drift Plain region, located in the southern part

Fermat, Leibniz, Euler, and the gang: The true history of the concepts of limit and shadow

Fermat, Leibniz, Euler, and Cauchy all used one or another form of approximate equality, or the idea of discarding "negligible" terms, so as to obtain a correct analytic answer. Their inferential moves find suitable proxies in the context of modern theories of infinitesimals, and specifically the concept of shadow. We give an application to decreasing rearrangements of real functions.Comment: 35 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Notices of the American Mathematical Society 61 (2014), no.

Promoting environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviour through free-choice learning experiences: what is the state of the game?

Environmental education, both in and outside of the classroom, aims to facilitate adoption of sustainable practice by both school students and the general public. This paper explores the role of free-choice learning experiences in this regard. An overview of theoretical approaches underpinning free-choice learning research is provided, examples are presented of the ways in which informal educational settings can promote environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviour, and the factors contributing to the effectiveness of these endeavours are discussed. By reviewing research evidence in relation to these issues, the paper identifies the current 'state of the game' and areas where new research is needed

Gender, Context, and Physics Assessment

A persistent gender gap exists on one of the most commonly-used physics conceptual tests, the Force Concept Inventory. The test includes many stereotypically male contexts such as hockey, rockets, and cannonballs. A revised version of the test was created using stereotypically female contexts and both versions were randomly administered to 300 college students. While the total correct score did not change for men and women, significant results were discovered when test questions were examined individually. Results suggest that context can affect performance on a physics assessment for both men and women. One implication for instructors is that they should be aware of how their examples and problems can elicit different performance among women and men

Synorganisation without organ fusion in the flowers of Geranium robertianum (Geraniaceae) and its not so trivial obdiplostemony

Background and Aims Synorganisation of floral organs, an important means in angiosperm flower evolution, is mostly realized by congenital or post-genital organ fusion. Intimate synorganisation of many floral organs without fusion, as present in Geranium robertianum, is poorly known and needs to be studied. Obdiplostemony, the seemingly reversed position of two stamen whorls, widely distributed in core eudicots, has been the subject of much attention, but there is confusion in the literature. Obdiplostemony occurs in Geranium and whether and how it is involved in this synorganisation is explored here. Methods Floral development and architecture were studied with light microscopy based on microtome section series and with scanning electron microscopy. Key Results Intimate synorganisation of floral organs is effected by the formation of five separate nectar canals for the proboscis of pollinators. Each nectar canal is formed by six adjacent organs from four organ whorls. In addition, the sepals are hooked together by the formation of longitudinal ribs and grooves, and provide a firm scaffold for the canals. Obdiplostemony provides a guide rail within each canal formed by the flanks of the antepetalous stamen filaments. Conclusions Intimate synorganisation in flowers can be realized without any fusion, and obdiplostemony may play a role in this synorganisatio

Public understanding of plant biology: Voices from the bottom of the garden

Many household gardeners accumulate considerable knowledge of plant biology through a range of informal learning sources. This knowledge seldom relates to school biology and is driven by interest, keen motivation and what is termed here ‘vital relevance’. A small opportunity sample of 12 gardeners (6 M, 6 F) is interviewed in terms of their knowledge of plant biology and their motives for learning. They are largely self-educated, their knowledge is quite specific though piecemeal and their motivation has a strong affective dimension

Promoting Inquiry in Science Classrooms in European Schools : a Handbook for Tutors

In Scotland, PISCES stands for Promoting Inquiry Skills for a Curriculum for Excellence in Science. It is a CPD module for teachers of science, which has been developed in Scotland with the support of the S-TEAM project. However, this Handbook uses our international acronym in which PISCES stands for Promoting Inquiry in Science Classrooms in European Schools . It is, we believe, potentially equally as successful across Europe as it was designed around the idea of empowering teachers to think for themselves how to make their practice more-inquiry based, wherever they are. It is recognised that some school, social, policy and cultural environments may be more supportive of the idea of ‘more inquiry-based practice’ than others. PISCES empowers teachers to make small or large changes to their practice, according to those sorts of contextual factors, their own aims and how they perceive the needs of their pupils. You will note that we have been careful to use the word ‘more’ in ‘more inquiry-based.’ As befits the idea of empowerment to adapt to one’s own context, there is no single model of inquiry being ‘pushed’ here. Indeed, we count it as a measure of success of PISCES that the teachers who have participated did very different things in making their practice more inquiry-based. Strathclyde University is a leading partner in S-TEAM. Members of Strathclyde University, along with the Development Officer for Curriculum for Excellence for East Lothian, successfully developed and delivered a pilot version of PISCES as a module to a group of East Lothian teachers, in 2010/11. The module resulted in successful ‘experiments in practice’ and increased awareness of the benefits of inquiry-based teaching and learning. The same group of teachers have also taken part in a follow-up course (ARIES: Advanced Resources for Inquiry and Evaluation in Science). PISCES is a high quality CPD programme, valued by teachers and supportive of their professional self-development. It can be applied to both primary and secondary teaching, in all science subjects. Pupils benefit from learning experiences, which develop scientific inquiry skills. Feedback from participating teachers has been consistently positive

Protecting the Dragon: Dutch Attempts at Limiting Access to Komodo Lizards in the 1920s and 1930s

Page range: 97-124In 1912, Dutch scientists announced the existence of large lizards on Komodo Island in the Dutch East Indies. By the 1920s, these large lizards became the focus of intense collecting efforts on behalf of zoos and natural history museums, which desired the publicity and status inherent in displaying such a “celebrity species.” This article focuses on Dutch attempts to limit access to a little understood animal, which was located on the margins of their authority. By the 1930s, this led to new understandings about the role of wildlife reserves in the colony and thus became vital in the development of early environmental conservation in Indonesia