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The article presents the experiences of instructors with an electronic response system. The most recent technology to catch one's attention is "clicker" technology-a computer-mediated, wireless response system that holds high promise for helping the science lecture hall become an effective student-centered learning environment. Although the roots of this technology go back at least to 1972, the current infrared versions have been available commercially only since 1999. At the General College of the University of Minnesota, where the author teaches biology, the instructors helped prepare students for transfer into degree-granting units of the university. Thus, they shared some institutional and instructional challenges with community colleges, one of which is the need to implement technologies that are relatively inexpensive and logistically simple. At face value, clicker technology appeared to fit the needs of the instructors and they began using it in two courses in the fall of 2004. One course is an introductory anatomy and physiology course, where 160 students meet once per week in a large lecture hall.

Although the Scopes trial remains rite most famous court decision associated with the teaching of evolutions, there have been many other more important court decisions associated with the teaching of evolution and creationism in public schools. An understanding of these decisions can help teachers answer students' questions about the teaching of evolution and creationism. Such an understanding can also be used to counter the antiscience attitudes and actions of creationist parents, school administrators, and colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which described the larval fish assemblages as indicators of reproductive success, nursery habitat, and connectivity in several reaches in two major tributaries of the Red River Basin, Minnesota. Materials and methods; Results; Discussion.

Presents a study that described the ovarian cycle of the river shiner Notropis blennius in the Mississippi River. Determination of the clutch size of the fishes; Correlation between clutch size and fish size; Relationship between clutch and ovum size.

We examined gut contents of 65 Topeka shiners (Notropis topeka) collected from the Rock River drainage of southwestern Minnesota in 1997. Anecdotal and unpublished information regarding food habits have suggested that the Topeka shiner is largely a benthic or nektonic insectivore. Our results show that it is an omnivore that feeds opportunistically on immature aquatic insects, several kinds of microcrustaceans and other invertebrates, larval fish, algae, vascular plant matter, and detritus. The Topeka shiner functions both as a benthic and nektonic feeder and shows strong trophic similarities to its sister species, the sand shiner (N. ludibundis). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]