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Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) introduce research leading to skills acquisition and increased persistence in the major. CUREs generate enthusiasm and interest in doing science and serve as an intervention to increase equity and participation of historically marginalized students. In the second-semester laboratory of our introductory sequence for biology and marine science majors at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), instructors updated and implemented a field-based CURE. The goals of the CURE were to promote increased scientific identity, systems thinking, and equity at a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). Through the CURE, students engaged in scientific writing through a research paper with a focus on information literacy, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning as important elements of thinking like a scientist. Course exams also revealed that students showed gains in their ability to evaluate a new biological system using systems thinking. More broadly, because such field-based experiences demonstrate equity gains among Latinx students and a much greater sense of scientific identity, they may have impacts beyond introductory biology including in students' personal and professional lives.

In this paper, we propose and study several inverse problems of identifying/determining unknown coefficients for a class of coupled PDE systems by measuring the average flux data on part of the underlying boundary. In these coupled systems, we mainly consider the non-negative solutions of the coupled equations, which are consistent with realistic settings in biology and ecology. There are several salient features of our inverse problem study: the drastic reduction of the measurement/observation data due to averaging effects, the nonlinear coupling of multiple equations, and the non-negative constraints on the solutions, which pose significant challenges to the inverse problems. We develop a new and effective scheme to tackle the inverse problems and achieve unique identifiability results by properly controlling the injection of different source terms to obtain multiple sets of mean flux data. The approach relies on certain monotonicity properties which are related to the intrinsic structures of the coupled PDE system. We also connect our study to biological applications of practical interest., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Science instructors are increasingly incorporating teaching techniques that help students develop core competencies such as critical-thinking and communication skills. These core competencies are pillars of career readiness that prepare undergraduate students to successfully transition to continuing education or the workplace, whatever the field. Course-based undergraduate research experiences that culminate in written research papers can be effective at developing critical-thinking and communication skills but are challenging to implement as class size (and student-to-instructor ratio) grows. We developed a hierarchical mentoring program in which graduate student mentors guided groups of four to five undergraduate students through the scientific process in an upper-level ecology course. Program effectiveness was evaluated by grading final research papers (including previous year papers, before the program was implemented) and surveys (comparing to a course that did not implement the program). Results indicated that primary benefits of hierarchical mentoring were improvements in perceived and demonstrated ability in data analysis and interpretation, leading to a median increase in paper score of ~10% on a 100-point scale. Future directions indicated by our study were a need to incorporate more approaches (e.g., low-stakes writing exercises) and resources into a revised program to improve outcomes for students whose primary language is not English.

Students in environmental sciences, ecology, or wildlife management are often reluctant to acquire training in basic laboratory techniques. To advocate the importance of this training, we reviewed literature in the fields of biological and environmental science for one frequently used technique--centrifugation--and evaluated whether centrifugation parameters are properly expressed. Centrifugation is used to extract and purify different types of biomolecules for further characterization or quantification. The repeatability of the procedure depends on the proper identification of parameters defining the gravitational force applied to a solution, for example the duration, distance from central axis, and angular velocity. Correctly expressing rotation velocity--the "speed"--is therefore crucial to ensuring repeatability and the possibility of using the same protocols in different laboratories. When scrutinizing the materials and methods sections of publications in ecology, zoology, botany, or general biology journals, we noticed that velocity is expressed in different ways and essential information is often missing. We sampled 2000 articles in different fields of biological sciences that recorded centrifugation as a technique in the materials and methods section. We found centrifugation velocity to be properly expressed in gravitational force "g" in only 47.8% of the papers. The score dropped to 40.4% in journals specialized in ecology. We use this analysis to advocate for a minimum of training in the techniques of biochemistry that are of common use in environmental sciences. Better training would allow higher reproducibility of results in scientific publications.

Purpose: The present paper aims to examine the concept of "plant blindness" in the context of current sustainability debates. "Plant blindness" was the term introduced in 1999 by the botanists and educators James H Wandersee and Elisabeth E Schussler to describe what they saw as a pervasive insensitivity to the green environment and a general neglect of plants on the part of biology education. Design/methodology/approach: The fundamental importance of plants for life on Earth and the socio-educational challenges of redacted awareness of this importance are considered. Also, the diverse physiological, psychological, philosophical, cultural and geopolitical origins and consequences of indifference to plants in relation to aspects of sustainability agendas are examined with special reference to education. Findings: An examination of the outcomes of a range of research and practical initiatives reveals how multidisciplinary approaches to education and public engagement have the potential to address the challenge of "plant blindness". The need for these opportunities to be reflected in curriculums is not widely appreciated, and the socio-economic forces of resistance to confronting plant neglect continue to be formidable. Originality/value: Plant blindness is a relatively new field of research, and the full breadth of its implications are only gradually becoming apparent. If the present paper contributes to positioning plants as an essential element in sustainability education and practice, it will have met its objective.

In the context of England, secondary biology education is dominated by sub-organismal systems, such as physiology, often to the detriment of evolution & ecology and impeding an integrated understanding of biology. This paper proposes a framework that teachers could use to help them consider how the learning of physiological and developmental systems can be combined with ecological and evolutionary thinking. Thus, keeping a balance between anthropomorphic contexts, and those of nature. The framework has two axes: physio-developmental -- ecology, and contemporary -- evolutionary, from which four quadrants emerge for consideration during topic design. It is proposed that topic design in general should be centred on the whole organism in its environment, which would ensure that physiological phenomena are contextualised in the organism's ecology. Furthermore, it is proposed that by pedagogical use of comparative biology, an evolutionary perspective can be integrated with organismal systems and ecology, whilst also offering more opportunities for students to discern the pattern being studied and be exposed to more non-human organisms. The framework is designed for practising teachers and would not require a radical change in pedagogy or teaching resources, but a new way of seeing the content and organisation of the course.

Background: The ongoing transformation of the interplay between human beings and nature calls for new ways of learning. Although established educational practices merging sciences and arts have been studied before, the focus has been mainly on science or technology-discipline-orientated aspects. More research is needed on the characteristics of learning that address nature and the biological through art-based practices. Methods: Utilizing a case study approach, a week-long multidisciplinary project developed around bioart-making, and implemented in a Finnish upper secondary school, was scrutinized. The main data consisted of transcribed participant interviews and textual and visual material from a project blog. The data were analyzed using qualitative theory-driven content analysis to describe and understand the cross-boundary processes and human-nature interactions taking place within the project. Findings: Bioart-making constituted as a boundary object bringing together different understandings of nature. Identification, coordination, reflection, and transformation processes on different levels emerged as a part of and as an outcome of bioart-making. In and through these, learners interacted with nature through intertwined events of material-experiential utilization, cognitive knowledge-building, emotional connecting, and philosophical reflection. Contribution: This paper advances the theoretical discussion on integrative art-based practices' potential, especially in relation to learning that addresses nature and the biological.

The aim of this study was to investigate the visual images of pre-service teachers who take biology courses in undergraduate education about biology by analyzing their drawings. The research was conducted with 97 pre-service teachers, studying at the education faculty of a university in Turkey and taking biology course during undergraduate training. Science teaching and classroom teaching departments were included in the research. In the study, the data collection tool has been applied based on voluntariness of preservice teachers. In the first part of the data collection, information about preservice teachers' department, grade level and gender were collected. In the second part, pre-service teachers were given a blank A4 paper and asked to draw a picture explaining the concept of biology. Pre-service teachers completed their drawings in approximately 20 minutes. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the drawings. Categories and codes were first determined in the analysis of the data. Drawings were coded separately by two researchers. Then, in order to ensure inter-coder reliability, the codes were evaluated together, and a decision was reached. The analysis of preservice teachers' drawings about biology shows that ecology and ecosystem concepts came to the mind of the majority when biology is mentioned. The general result of the research can be stated as the visual images of pre-service teachers about biology are mostly shaped within the framework of ecology.

Purpose: This paper aims to review organizational studies literature and related fields to explore the parallel between organizations and organisms in dealing with change. Design/methodology/approach: The authors reviewed the literature to explore organizational change theories. Additionally, they referred to biological studies to explore the connection between organizations and organisms. Findings: To cope successfully with change, organizations need to be aware of the critical, vulnerable points that may endanger their survival. These vulnerabilities can arise from external or internal factors or both. Organizational leaders, being aware of these criticalities, can act swiftly to deal with threats while keeping an eye on available opportunities. Research limitations/implications: Future research could be conducted on understanding the elements of biological transformations through an in-depth study focused on species that have undergone frequent mutations and adaptations. It is hoped that HRD researchers, especially organization development (OD) theorists and practitioners, can build upon the ideas presented in this article. Practical implications: The review and analysis can open doors for HRD practitioners to seek a better understanding of biological transformations, while enabling them to borrow ideas to be used in leading organizational change and design successful organizational change. Originality/value: In this paper, the authors selected organizational theories to outline parallels between organizations and organisms to emphasize what organizations can learn from the success of organisms changing over billions of years. Thus, this paper uniquely contributes to HRD literature by encouraging OD researchers to conduct more interdisciplinary research. Most importantly, this paper contributes to understanding the underlying theories in HRD/OD.

Interdisciplinary models of teaching have been present in education systems for at least 30 years. The idea of the interdisciplinarity is to show students the contextualisation of subject knowledge, its relation to real-life problems and to build skills across traditional disciplinary boundaries. This is essential to future competitiveness since innovations frequently occur at the interface of disciplines when people are able to collaborate. Schools try to respond to the need to prepare students for an interdisciplinary and collaborative job market by modifying the curricula and training teachers. But one of the most primary and difficult problems is preparing a truly interdisciplinary lesson or a project. It seems that all complex issues could be good examples for this purpose. One of these complex issues is the study of climate change, which requires the collaboration of different specialists and a comprehensive understanding of the problem in different scientific fields: physical, geographical, biological, social, engineering, etc. The paper presents an interdisciplinary project which links knowledge within a few different science areas around the real-life problem important for students. The work shows the developed and tested interdisciplinary educational project 'Panta Rhei' which integrates physics and other STEM subjects to present the biological and social consequences of changes in vegetation periods for different climate zones. It shows how Earth observation research can be utilised in schools for teaching physics and other science subjects. The project was validated on a group of Polish teachers. In the paper we present the whole project together with teachers' opinions.

This paper presents an active learning approach that focuses on practical investigation of the ecosystem of tidal flats using 3D modeling and printing for biology students in order to enhance understanding of natural selection. The learning approach for the study followed a 5-step procedure: i) learning about 3D modeling and printing, ii) exploration of the ecosystem of tidal flats, iii) 3D designing of a bird beak, iv) 3D printing of a constructed beak, and v) a natural selection simulation activity. The learning method presented in this study centered on active student exploration of the tidal flats ecosystem using 3D modeling and printing. The learning approach presented in this paper could be implicated at schools to aid in students' understanding of natural selection as it allows students to firsthand examine simulation changes to a bird beak and benthic communities. This study suggested the active learning method for natural selection as it incorporates student-designed exploration and direct investigative appraisal of the selection process.

Authentic scientific data, when richly contextualized, can provide the basis for compelling learning experiences. Many undergraduate students either do not have access to primary data, or if they do, the data are so abstract that student engagement is limited. Here, we describe contextual information and data-rich, student-centered activities we developed to give life to data sets from an intensely studied place, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). The project Web site, Digital RMBL, highlights charismatic organisms, scientists, and long-term data sets as a tool for engaging students who are unable to physically visit a field station. The "Biology of Climate Change" module, the focus of this paper, has been tested in college-level classrooms by 10 collaborating faculty and 243 undergraduate students at a variety of colleges and universities across the nation. Authentic long-term data sets, primary literature, data visualizations, and a flexible format suitable for laboratory sections have led to very high usability ratings by collaborating faculty. In student surveys, a surprising number of undergraduate science majors (20%-30%) report that they have never worked with authentic scientific data--even at major research universities. The percentage of students who have not worked with data is much higher at collaborating 2 y institutions (60%-80%). The majority of students report that they appreciate the opportunity to explore long-term climate science data sets despite the frustrations they experience with the ''messiness'' of authentic scientific data. The impact of this climate change activity is achieved through "engagement" with people, place, and research subjects, followed by student-centered data "exploration" that builds personal interest and scientific discovery skills. This paper outlines one model in which scientists can meet funding agency requirements to share data publicly while providing excellent opportunities for improving climate and data literacy at the college level.

Cyclic dominance models, such as the classic rock-paper-scissors (RPS) game, have found real-world applications in biology, ecology, and sociology. A key quantity of interest in such models is the coexistence time, i.e., the time until at least one population type goes extinct. Much recent research has considered conditions that lengthen coexistence times in an RPS model. A general finding is that coexistence is promoted by localized spatial interactions (low mobility), while extinction is fostered by global interactions (high mobility). That is, there exists a mobility threshold which separates a regime of long coexistence from a regime of rapid collapse of coexistence. The key finding of our paper is that if zealots (i.e., nodes able to defeat others while themselves being immune to defeat) of even a single type exist, then system coexistence time can be significantly prolonged, even in the presence of global interactions. This work thus highlights a crucial determinant of system survival time in cyclic dominance models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since WW2, degradation of our global natural systems has been on the increase. Much of this degradation has been communicated to the general public via mainstream media and yet human behaviours do not seem to have changed significantly as a result. It is argued in this paper that the manner in which our brains and minds work, in particular in regard to the "neuroplasticity" of the brain's pathways, may contribute to this lack of changed behaviour. Current research on neuroplasticity and more generally neuroconstructivism is examined. It is then postulated that we can take advantage of what might appear to be a limitation of neurobiology by a/ helping the developing mind create meta-values such as "having a positive regard towards natural systems" that would then be defended by the adult brain and b/ applying the concept of embodiment during instruction. This paper will provide a growth sequence for lifelong ecological consciousness that incorporates the manifestations of neurobiology as well as current research involving nature-embedded, embodied experience. This growth sequence will provide educators at all levels (i.e. lifelong) with an enriched framework that will assist the learner at various stages of life in becoming a more ecologically discerning global citizen. The implication for educators is that we need to understand how each stage of life (i.e. early childhood to adult) is interdependent on preceding stages and interconnected with all stages as opposed to focussing only on individual stages of cognitive development. (Contains 1 figure.)

Since being introduced by Connor and Simberloff in response to Diamond's assembly rules, null model analysis has been a controversial tool in community ecology. Despite being commonly used in the primary literature, null model analysis has not featured prominently in general textbooks. Complexity of approaches along with difficulty in interpreting results may reduce classroom application of this technique. Yet, readily available software makes this set of tools accessible to everyone from practitioners to educators. This exercise describes a hands-on approach that can be cheaply implemented with students as a stand-alone exercise or as a prelude to use of full-blown simulations in follow up lab sessions. Along with a detailed hands-on approach, we have provided a brief introduction to a computer-based approach. This paper includes a link to 294 data sets extracted from Patterson's Nestedness software and reformatted for use in EcoSim. These exercises demonstrate how to compare the observed number of checkerboard patterns in real community data to a frequency distribution of checkerboard patterns in randomized communities. The hands-on simulation uses fake data as a starting point and dozens of randomizations to produce a histogram. Computer-based simulations generate thousands of simulations to rapidly analyze real data sets. The results provide a springboard for discussion of the underpinnings of inferential science as applied to ecological communities.

The research has been carried out in the material that Biologist teacher have prepared for the students and teachers, focusing mostly on the sub-query of teacher's self-assessment, since teacher had written a self-assessment, a reflection, upon differentiation points from an ordinary teaching, with a structured way. This paper searches on the reflections on a school exemplary teaching of Biology about primary productivity & energy flow in natural ecosystems. Graduated students of Lyceum were asked to answer a questionnaire on how they felt during the lesson and how they assessed themselves toward the teaching, in relation to the content taught, the methodology followed, their performance and the degree of involvement with a students' Evaluation Sheet. In a self-assessment process, the teacher asked to reflect where this exemplary teaching is differentiated from the ordinary. A content analysis was held in the material that Biologist teacher had prepared to satisfy the demands of the exemplary teaching. This material was given to the students in the beginning of the teaching, consisted of a multipage printed document with the flow diagram, the worksheet, the parallel texts for home study and the self-evaluation sheet. The statistical analysis of the replies of the Students' Evaluation Sheet revealed the feeling of pleasure experienced by students and success of teacher. All data, when analyzed carefully, enables teacher's self-assessment for further improvement.

The rock—paper—scissors (RPS) game is a nice model to study the biodiversity in an ecosystem. However, in the previous studies only the nearest-neighbor interaction among the species was considered. In this paper, taking the long-range migration into account, the effects of the interplay between nearest-neighbor-interaction and long-range-interaction given by Levy flight with distance distribution lh (−3 ≤ h < −1) in the spatial RPS game are investigated. Taking the probability, exchange rate, and power-law exponent of Levy flight as parameters, the coexistence conditions of three species are given. The critical curves for stable coexistence of three species in the parameter space are presented. It is also found that Levy flight has interesting effects on the final spatiotemporal pattern of the system. The results reveal that the long-range-interaction given by Levy flight exhibits pronounced effects on biodiversity of the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awareness-making (AM) describes a process by which visitors bring with them past experiences and knowledge, all of which help them make sense of museum exhibits. Meaning-making (MM) is when museum visitors' memories transform their museum experience into new knowledge and meaning. This article explores how AM elicits MM in museum visitors. We conducted research at a natural history museum exhibition called "Minnesota Journeys," based on a moose natural habitat display and accompanying touchscreen. The exhibition was developed in Minnesota by the Bell Museum for all ages. We report findings from a mixed-methods study incorporating surveys (n = 243) and interviews (n = 30) with adult museum visitors. The findings of this paper: (1) describe how, after visiting both the moose habitat display and touchscreen, most visitors learned to identify specific moose biology and ecology characteristics, such as behavior and habitat; and (2) demonstrate how in a natural history museum setting visitor awareness-making can facilitate visitor meaning-making. We discuss implications for how to utilize these findings in other museum settings and exhibits.

Ocean Literacy is a growing global education movement aimed at deepening and contextualising the human relationship with the ocean. While ocean topics are largely missing from UK school curricula, Ocean Literacy principles offer an opportunity for environmental educators to infuse their programmes with broader perspectives on the ocean, creating openings for the development of learner knowledges, and increasing emotional connection with the marine environment. Field courses held at residential field study centres which focus on marine and coastal environments are uniquely positioned to explore principles of Ocean Literacy with their learners; through experiential, investigative modes of learning which encourage development of understanding, emotional engagement with the environment, and pro-environmental behaviours. This paper examines the learning outcomes of 16-18 year old school students taking part in residential programmes at three coastal field centres in the UK Field Studies Council network. Examining student responses against UK A-level, Scottish Highers, and International Baccalaureate specifications and curricula, we argue that while such programmes are largely determined by cognitive rather than behavioural or affective characteristics, they demonstrate a significant opportunity to further develop the emotional and behavioural foci of residential marine courses.

An ecological framework is often used to describe the context for learning in educational research and practice. However, there is often a focus on descriptive aspects that frame the ecosystem as a complicated set of interconnected elements--but not a true complex problem. Acknowledging connections between ecosystem elements is not enough to affect the systemic change that the wicked problem of education requires. In this paper, we argue for moving toward a more robust framework that takes seriously the notion of learning happening via relational processes between system elements, and looks more deeply at the ways in which those dynamic elements are interacting in complex, multiscalar ways. We promote drawing more heavily from ecologists' understanding of biological systems, particularly the application of concepts drawn from adaptive management strategies used in the field of restoration ecology. We present an argument to decentre our field's typical focus on individual youth, just as ecologists have moved biology away from an emphasis on individual organisms. We postulate that decentring youth enables new ways of thinking about learning ecosystem design and management. We then explore three specific concepts used in adaptive management in ecology: ecotones, keystone and indicator species, and disturbance and resilience.

This paper describes strategies used by novice biology teachers to exert sociolinguistic control over conversations when teaching unfamiliar subject-matter content. These discourse control strategies were identified in a year-long study of teacher subject-matter knowledge and its effects on teaching, and are illustrated in three lessons taught by one of the teachers in the study, two on unfamiliar content and one on familiar content. The findings corroborate two parallel analyses of teaching that focused on curricular planning and statistical study of teachers' utterance-by- utterance speech.

The action required to stem the environmental and social implications of climate change depends crucially on how humankind shapes technology, economy, lifestyle and policy. With transport CO2 emissions accounting for about a quarter of the total, we examine the contribution of CO2 output by scientific travel. Thankfully for the reputation of the scientific community, CO2 emissions associated with the trips required to present a paper at a scientific conference account for just 0.003% of the yearly total. However, with CO2 emissions for a single conference trip amounting to 7% of an average individual’s total CO2 emissions, scientists should lead by example by demonstrating leadership in addressing the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citation patterns were examined for Worm et al. 2006 (Science 314∶787–790), a high-impact paper that focused on relationships between marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. This paper sparked much controversy through its projection, highlighted in the press release, that all marine fisheries would be collapsed by 2048. Analysis of 664 citing papers revealed that only a small percentage (11%) referred to the 2048 projection, while 39% referred to fisheries collapse in general, and 40% to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The 2048 projection was mentioned more often in papers published soon after the original paper, in low-impact journals, and in journals outside of fields that would be expected to focus on biodiversity. Citing papers also mentioned the 2048 projection more often if they had few authors (28% of single-author papers vs. 2% of papers with 10 or more authors). These factors suggest that the more knowledgeable the authors of citing papers were about the controversy over the 2048 projection, the less likely they were to refer to it. A noteworthy finding was that if the original authors were also involved in the citing papers, they rarely (1 of 55 papers, 2%) mentioned the 2048 projection. Thus the original authors have emphasized the broader concerns about biodiversity loss, rather than the 2048 projection, as the key result of their study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted research to quantify tardigrade (water bear) density, diversity, and distribution in temperate forest canopies, and to promote opportunity for undergraduates with mobility limitations as field researchers. This ecology project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program to explore canopy biodiversity and herbivory in a temperate deciduous forest, with a special focus on tardigrade fauna. The program confirmation that a wheelchair is not a limitation to field biology since canopy research involves vertical not horizontaltransects. Mobility-limited students with equal mental and visual capabilities ascended into the canopy, collected samples, used microscopes, identified new species, and wrote professional papers.

This paper describes a series of laboratory exercises for upper level biology courses, independent research and/or honors programs. Students sampled fish from a local water body with the assistance of a local fish and wildlife agency. Tissue samples from collected fish were utilized to obtain estimates of the stable isotopes delta[superscript 13]C and delta[superscript 15]N. An open-source mass balance model was utilized to estimate fish diets from isotope values. Isotopes were also used to measure trophic position (TP) and evaluate dietary niche overlap between native and introduced species. It was found that delta[superscript 15]N concentrations increased with each trophic level starting with benthic algae (lowest) to omnivores, then primary carnivores and ultimately piscivores (highest). Estimates of delta[superscript 13]C suggested all collected taxa utilized littoral habitats for feeding purposes. Native chain pickerel ("Esox niger") had the highest delta[superscript 15]N and TP estimates at 14.4 and 4.11, respectively. Nonnative largemouth bass ("Micropterus salmoides") delta[superscript 15]N and TP estimates were 13.56 and 3.86, respectively. Model estimates suggested that chain pickerel and largemouth bass diets were partitioned: pickerel consumed only fish and bass consumed principally invertebrates with some intermittent fish contributions. This lab helped integrate multiple disciplines, provide practical experience, and encourage critical-thinking skills while educating students about trophic ecology. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

The National Research Council framework for science education and the Next Generation Science Standards have developed a need for additional research and development of curricula that is both technologically model-based and includes engineering practices. This is especially the case for biology education. This paper describes a quasi-experimental design study to test the effectiveness of a model-based curriculum focused on the concepts of natural selection and population ecology that makes use of Excel modeling tools (Modeling Instruction in Biology with Excel, MBI-E). The curriculum revolves around the bio-engineering practice of controlling an invasive species. The study takes place in the Midwest within ten high schools teaching a regular-level introductory biology class. A post-test was designed that targeted a number of common misconceptions in both concept areas as well as representational usage. The results of a post-test demonstrate that the MBI-E students significantly outperformed the traditional classes in both natural selection and population ecology concepts, thus overcoming a number of misconceptions. In addition, implementing students made use of more multiple representations as well as demonstrating greater fascination for science.

Fieldwork has always been an important component in the teaching of ecology in England's secondary schools where it has been delivered almost exclusively as part of the biology curriculum for nearly 70 years. However, historical evidence shows that both the quantity and quality of ecology fieldwork has been declining in recent decades at a time when the scope, complexity and interdisciplinarity of ecological science has been growing. This paper presents evidence of a continuing decline in ecology fieldwork over the past 15 years, discusses some possible causes and reviews solutions to reverse the trend. In particular, it argues that teaching scientific ecology through geography fieldwork could overcome several of the fundamental obstacles encountered in biology education. Trends in biology and geography fieldwork are compared. These show that the risks to ecology in forging a strong relationship, and increased dependency, with geography teaching are likely to be outweighed by reciprocal benefits.