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The aim of this study is to examine the opinions of prospective teachers about biology and nature-related activities for mentally disabled students. The survey method was used in this quantitative study. Attitude scale towards biology and nature-related activities for mentally disabled students was used as a data collection tool. The scale was applied to a total of 258 (183 females, 75 males) prospective teachers studying at the education faculty of a state university and taking special education courses. According to the findings, prospective teachers expressed their positive opinions about all the activities specified in the scale. However, a few prospective teachers stated that some of the activities, especially interaction with animals, were not applicable for their mentally disabled students. However, when the findings are evaluated in general, it is concluded that biology and nature-related activities are very valuable for mentally disabled students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Playing in natural environments is a popular activity for young children. In previous years, studies have shown benefits of playing in natural environment for children's motor development and attention restoration. In this study, we explored the relation between playing in natural environments and children's language use. A total of N = 18 children (4–7 years) from three Dutch primary schools participated. To measure children's language use during outdoor play, we recorded their utterances for ten minutes while playing in a non-nature-based playground and a nature-based playground. Audio tapes were transcribed and coded using a coding scheme focusing on communicative functions. Findings indicated that children used more language and more complex language while playing in the nature-based playground. Additionally, four themes were identified: (1) Children used language to refer to their play situation, (2) Children used language to refer to the elements of their physical play environment. (3) Compared to the non-nature-based playground, children talked more about the objects of the nature-based playground, and (4) Children talked more about science and math concepts. Play in the nature-based playground appeared to be a richer conversational setting for language use than the non-nature-based playground, with a potential to scaffold and guide language use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents suggestions on techniques to enhance science teaching. It is noted that teachers can draw on children's innate inclination to engage with nature by planning outdoor experiences. It is advised to pair students prior to embarking on a nature walk or nature play to connect nature, language and thought.

The article presents a lesson plan that guides bilingual primary students to create imaginary landscapes to represent slow changes to Earth's surface.

The article presents a lesson plan that introduces fourth graders to the local watershed and the river flowing throughout the city. INSET: Safety Tips.

The article presents a lesson plan that teaches fifth-grade students to use the principles of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to improve local water quality. INSET: The Importance of Watersheds.

The article describes the author's work designing a multi-session outdoor science education unit which allowed 4th and 5th grade students to create guided tours of wildlife preserves and mapped them through QR visual codes. Topics addressed include the significance of local ecological instruction for children, determining and enlisting student interests within the activity, and creating a scavenger hunt to include within the field work.

This article examines an experimental kindergarten programme Work in the Kindergarten: An Australian Programme based on the Life and Customs of the Australian Black developed by Martha Simpson in early twentieth-century Australia. Here Simpson adapted international Revisionist Froebelian approaches to cultural epoch theory and nature study in an Australian context. Accepting that human development recapitulates, Simpson posited that Aboriginal culture could serve as stimulus for age-appropriate and improving child-centred activities. Local contingencies, including histories of violent cross-racial encounter, complicated an attempt by kindergartener Helen Beaumont to apply the programme in the Sydney slum suburb of Leichhardt. These contingencies are documented and analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses ways in which U.S. science teachers can use technology to engage their students in nature. Topics discussed include the use of interpretive trails with trail markets utilizing quick response (QR) codes, the use of Google Sites websites to map out trails, and student Internet research and use of Creative Commons images.

Seasoned conservation researchers often struggle to bridge the research-implementation gap and promote the translation of their work into meaningful conservation actions. Graduate students face the same problems and must contend with obstacles such as limited opportunities for relevant interdisciplinary training and a lack of institutional support for application of research results. However, students also have a crucial set of opportunities (e.g., access to academic resources outside their degree programs and opportunities to design research projects promoting collaboration with stakeholders) at their disposal to address these problems. On the basis of results of breakout discussions at a symposium on the human dimensions of the ocean, a review of the literature, and our own experiences, we devised recommendations on how graduate students can create resources within their academic institutions, institutionalize resources, and engage with stakeholders to promote real-world conservation outcomes. Within their academic institutions, graduate students should foster links to practitioners and promote knowledge and skill sharing among students. To institutionalize resources, students should cultivate student leaders and faculty sponsors, systematically document their program activities, and engage in strategic planning to promote the sustainability of their efforts. While conducting research, students should create connections to and engage actively with stakeholders in their relevant study areas and disseminate research results both to stakeholders and the broader public. Our recommendations can serve as a template for graduate students wishing to bridge the research-implementation gap, both during their current studies and in their future careers as conservation researchers and practitioners. Recomendaciones Prácticas para Ayudar a Estudiantes a Vencer la Brecha entre Investigación e Implementación y Promover la Conservación [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will focus on a qualitative research project that occurred in the fall of 2011 at Chandler Gilbert Community College, which set out to better understand the learning process of experiential education by observing the comments and actions of students interacting in nature-based learning. The research study is based on the premise that students who develop a moral awareness of nature will better understand the core conceptual components of environmental sustainability. The main objective of this research project was to assess the transformational learning of students enrolled in PHI-216 Environmental Ethics courses who engaged in experiential learning to better understand environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article discusses garden-based learning (GBL) for students with disabilities, which involves teaching science topics to elementary students through the maintenance of a school garden. GBL is reported to encourage scientific inquiry, unification of scientific concepts, and motor skills, as well as teaching physics, life sciences, and the difference between natural and technological science. The book "How to Grow a School Garden" by A. Bucklin-Sporer and R. Pringle is recommended, and administrative support, teacher development, and program implementation are discussed. A kindergarten teacher's account of making salsa from the class garden is presented, and vermicomposting is suggested as a companion to gardening instruction.

The author, a fifth grade teacher, describes classroom activities to encourage student interest in science, including bringing in sand samples to study, observing river beds, and engaging in citizen science activities such as collecting data on turtle hatchlings. The author mentions the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts, the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research project on vernal pools, and resources offered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

The article discusses how digital storytelling can be used in a science curriculum to increase students' connection to nature. The project combines science and technology education through digital photography with storytelling and nature. Other topics examined include recommendations for project evaluation, the lack of direct contact with nature in children's lives, and computer literacy.

Organized tours to watch wildlife are popular recreational and educational activities, in which the visitor expectative (to observe as many and as diverse animals as possible) runs parallel to conservation purposes. However, the presence of visitors may cause negative impacts on wildlife, which makes recreation difficult to manage. Thus, restricting visitor’s load to minimize impacts on fauna may be advisable, but too much restriction may end up disappointing the public. We analysed how visitors’ group size influences the number and variety of birds observed during an educational activity directed to scholars, in a forested area where public access is otherwise restricted. We observed fewer birds, but not fewer species, as the size of scholars’ groups increased. Such effect was apparently mediated by a few species demonstrating reduced tolerance to increased group size. Our results support the idea that reducing the size of visitors’ groups not only helps to minimize the negative impacts on wildlife derived from leisure activities, but also allows visitors to watch more wildlife. Therefore, organizing visitors in small numbers is recommended in the design of activities directed to groups of people visiting natural areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Capitalising on areas in which teachers feel most comfortable, the teaching of Biology, environmental education or nature to young children can be an alternative way of introducing and understanding Science. A Citizen Science program currently being run by the University of South Australia (UniSA) may be an appropriate starting point. Citizen Science is research involving interested members of the public, including school groups and parents, who participate by collecting scientific data in collaboration with scientists and professional bodies. Following the success of two previous projects, Operation Possum and Operation Bluetongue, the 2009 venture of Operation Magpie encouraged interested participants to access a website, where information was provided regarding magpie behaviour and bird watching. This paper reports on a series of lessons developed from the program to encourage teachers and students to understand how better to interact with wildlife in their backyards (UniSA 2009). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are environmental science students developing the mindsets and obtaining the tools needed to help address the considerable challenges posed by the 21st century? Today's major environmental issues are characterized by high-stakes decisions and high levels of uncertainty. Although traditional scientific approaches are valuable, contemporary environmental issues also require new tools and new ways of thinking. We provide an example of how such new, or "post-normal", approaches have been taught at the graduate level, through practical application of scenario planning. Surveyed students reported that they found the scenario planfling course highly stimulating, thought-provoking, and inspiring. Key learning points included recognizing the need for multiple points of view when considering complex environmental issues, and better appreciating the pervasiveness of uncertainty. Collaborating with non-academic stakeholders was also particularly helpful. Most students left the course feeling more positive about the potential contribution they can make in addressing the environmental challenges that society faces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a lesson plan for primary education which teaches to observe natural objects or phenomena.

The article presents a classroom activity for seventh-grade students about the difference between observation and distinction and tentative aspects of the nature of science using living things. Students were asked to discuss their observations and inferences on the story of an extraterrestrial and car. They discussed their observations and developed reasons for their decision as well as apply the criteria of living things in real objects. Furthermore, they expressed contrasting views on living and non living things which led to the idea that scientists too have different interpretation of the same data.

The article provides information on the experience of a teacher and her kindergarten and first grade students who explored nature through direct exploration, field-trips and classroom activities. It reports that the children were able to discern various scientific elements from observing a live caterpillar in their classroom and also by reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle. It also states that the students were taken for a field trip and were encouraged to observe things around them and relate their observations to the adults near them.

This article discusses the practice of nature journaling. The author analyzes the ways in which students are able to construct multiple literacies through journaling. The integration of nature studies within language arts instruction offers various opportunities for guiding students towards a closer reading of literature, natural phenomena, and the surrounding world. The article documents the authors' rediscovery of nature study, what happens when environmental observations are incorporated into the curriculum of middle-school children, and alternative modes of literacy instruction. The study offered was conducted within the context of an interdisciplinary teaching and research project.

Around the world, many people concerned with the state of the environment participate in environmental action groups. Much of their learning occurs informally, simply by participating in the everyday, ongoing collective life of the chosen group. Such settings provide unique opportunities for studying how people learn science in complex settings without being directly instructed. This study was designed to investigate learning and teaching that occurs through ordinary, everyday participation in environmental action. We draw on data collected during a 2-year ethnographic study of a coast-wide eelgrass-mapping project. Taking a whole activity as our unit of analysis, we articulate the forms of participation that volunteers take and theorize learning in terms of changing participation and expanding opportunities for action. The community-based eelgrass stewardship group we studied is both socially and materially heterogeneous, made up of people young and old and with different expertise. We show that changing forms of participation are emergent features of unfolding sociomaterial inter-action, not determinate roles or rules. Furthermore, the possibilities for learning expand when individuals have the opportunity to frame problems that arise in ongoing activity. In the setting of our study, attributions (dichotomies) such as "off-task/on-task" and "teacher/learner" are artificial. We suggest that by providing expanding opportunities, in the form of a variety of sociomaterial resources, science educators can rethink the design of school-based science learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a lesson plan that incorporates the use of science trade books, read-alouds and dialogue journals in teaching students about the bodies of water on the Earth's surface. The objectives of the lesson are cited, as well as reference books and useful websites for the activity. Suggestions for grading students in this lesson are provided.

The article presents information on an activity which aims to encourage students to observe and explore their environment and to use science field journals. The activity requires students to work together to plant a garden and study its growth using the inquiry process of questioning and exploring. Useful web resources for this activity are cited.

The article reflects on various ways of teaching and learning that occurs both within and outside the traditional and formal schooling context. The growing field of informal science education encompasses real-world learning that humans engage in daily learning. Through a broad research, it has been found that science centres, museums, nature centres, community-based science programs, and classrooms, are a few informal science settings that contribute to understanding of scientific knowledge and attitudes towards science. These institutions offer a particular and unique blend of free-choice experiences that are typically voluntary, open-ended, non-sequential, self-directed, hands-on, and evaluation-free.

This paper addresses student‐teachers' ability to read nature in a woodland habitat before and after a 10‐week ecology course. Reading nature is our definition of the ability to observe, describe and explain basic ecology in the field. Data consists of field‐based pre‐course and post‐course interviews followed up by metacognitive interviews where students analyse their own learning. A bi‐dimensional coding scheme is adopted to examine the range and development of students' ability to read nature . Students find it important to know the ecology of a few key species and they recognize the importance of having learned the language of ecology — ecologish — helping them to describe and discuss ecology. Students generally recognize the excursions as key learning situations in ecology education but they give different reasons for finding excursions so important. This variation will be elaborated in the paper together with the implications for teaching ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on an educational program followed at the Northwood Early Head Start Program in Lincoln, Nebraska which is based on the view that the natural world stimulates all domains of children's development. The child's observational skills, exploration and attention to sensory information leads to the development of cognitive capacity for scientific inquiry and aesthetic development. The program focused on planning a garden for infants and toddlers which encouraged learning in children through direct experiences rather than through direct teaching. Today children in the U.S. know less about nature because natural play areas are disappearing and less time is being spent outdoors. The garden was designed so as to maximize children's access to plants, insects, and soil while communicating concepts of space and boundary. The program led to toddlers getting involved in gardening activities and acquiring knowledge about the living beings in the garden such as butterflies, birds, squirrels and worms. Small group activities were undertaken as part of the program which helped toddlers in comparing and categorizing natural materials. INSETS: Plant Suggestion for Gardening with Children.;Books That Celebrate Nature and Provide Information..

We analyzed empirical factors that predicted academic performance of wildlife sciences majors at Auburn University who graduated during the period 1995-2000 in the required courses in the wildlife sciences curriculum (not the university core curriculum or supporting courses). Controlling for a variety of factors, we found no evidence that academic performance of native students (i.e., those entering the program as freshmen) in the required wildlife sciences curriculum exceeded that of transfer students. Rather, we found that high-school grade-point average (GPA) and Academic College Testing (ACT) or Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores were the most important predictors of future academic performance. Among transfer students, transfer GPA was a strong, positive predictor of subsequent academic performance in the required wildlife sciences curriculum. We suspect that transfer students in a wildlife sciences program are able to meet challenges associated with entering a new university setting because of small class sizes and personal relationships that often develop with faculty. Our results suggested a bifurcated strategy when recruiting students: recruitment efforts aimed at native students should focus on ACT or SAT scores and high-school GPA, while transfer students should be targeted on the basis of transfer GPA, regardless of whether they have taken the ACT or SAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents classroom activity for students to enable to learn about the nature of sand. Sands were collected from various environments, such as the river, lake, ocean beaches, deserts and mountains. The activity allows the students to make comparisons among the variety of sources. The first step was to wash samples several times with tap water to separate organic matter and fine particles. After the samples were labeled, organized by groups and stored on a table to dry, an examination of the leftover organic matter should be conducted. Conclusively, the sand activities provide a conceptual introduction to weathering, erosion and deposition as part of the rock cycle.

The article presents the author's views on teaching kindergarten students about nature through a yearlong study. The author chose bird watching as the topic for his study, because he believes that such an extensive study helps students in learning subject matter disciplines in the context of inquiry. To start with the study, a bird station was set up in the classroom by placing a seed feeder and a suction-cup hummingbird feeder one classroom window, with a few picture books, and observation sheets. The children developed a heightened awareness about the nature of science.

Focuses on the development of a study to help students become aware and appreciate their natural surroundings. Details of birding expedition which the students attended; Effects of in-class and outdoor activities on the students' enthusiasms; Students' growing concern for birds and nature.

The article evaluates the students' knowledge in forestry and tree identification when a lecture-demonstration approach and an inquiry-process approach are reinforced with an outdoor experience as part of a nature study course in a resident camp setting. Major differences between the two educational programs relate to the higher degree of organization and coordination of activities in the formal curricula while the informal curricula are often characterized by fragmentation and competition for adolescents' time. A nature study course is usually an integral part of the most organized camp curriculum. A basic part of the course is obtaining knowledge and its utilization in forestry and tree identification.

The article reports on the evolution of aim and method in the teaching of nature study in the common schools of the U.S. It provides summary of the various efforts of the schools during the past in directing the attention of children to nature environment study. The general condition of the people and their attitude toward elementary education during the time when nature-study was introduced are also discussed. It concludes that the purpose of utilizing and developing the intelligent interest of children in nature environment was not achieved.

The article presents information about the natural-history materials that are recommended for each of the grades in the elementary school. The younger children in grades one and two appear to have an orientation attitude. In increasing acquaintance with nature, the work should begin with those things that are closely associated with life and experiences of home and school. These materials can be classified under these headings: Animal Life; Plant Life; Garden work; Earth Materials; Climatology. Some of the smaller water animals may be grown in schoolroom aquaria for daily observation. Materials suggested for plant life study are vegetables such as potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower; fruits such as apples, bananas, melons pineapples; houseplants such as ferns, mosses, palms; trees, shrubs and herbs like oak, maple and plantain. Names and features of the common garden plants should be taught.

The article reports on the notes on study of nature. It presents the aim to provide children the proper opportunity to the diverse aspects of nature with the teacher and parent support. The correct teaching method in the nature study is discussed. It includes the study of nature activity programs and the study of humanities. For teachers, nature study is a pure means to develop the alert and inquiring mind of children. Its purpose is to inform them the nature's way in doing things. The different aspects of nature study by the committee is presented.

This article reports on the nature study for the elementary pupils. It provides an outline which suggests an order of topics in the study. With the guidance of the teacher, it is the intention of having each grade to select from the entire outline points that may be observed. Experiments should come mainly through the inventions of the pupils and should be performed when they are needed to answer some questions. It is of great value, however, to keep the subject before the pupils in its entirety. True study defines the subject and does not only dissect it.

The article presents an outline of a course on nature study for the spring, adapted from the book "Nature Study for Grammar Grades," by Wilbur S. Jackman. For April, the study work is divided into three general groups including observations that embrace the phenomena of mechanics closely linked with the student's daily life, astronomical and meteorological phenomena, and biological, zoological and botanical phenomena. Other related activities include visits to the boiler-room of the Chicago Institute in Illinois and an artificial ice-making and refrigerating plant, comparison of the periods and intensity of sunshine during the month of April with those observed during March, and a tour to Lincoln Park to observe marked change during the opening season.

The article presents an outline of classroom activities related to the study of nature. In the Pedagogic School, the students will each select a tree or shrub for especial study and make drawings in pencil and in water-color to mark each stage of the development process. Students will do some work in colored and grazed pottery using simple processes. After that, the study of spring buds and blossoms will be integrated to designs for ornamenting the customers of the first grade in their play of the "Sleeping Beauty."

The article focuses on the topics to be discussed by teachers in various subjects for the eighth grade students. Among the subjects featured are geography, mathematics, and nature study. Topics to be considered for the geography subject consist of the important delta rivers of Eurasia. These include comparison of the populations of European countries, and of the linear extent of the various rivers in Eurasia. The significant topics of ventilation, history, and geography will also be integrated in mathematics by requiring pupils to make precise measurements. In nature study, the issues to be studied will be the warming and ventilation of houses, wherein experiments will be performed to test the breathing capacity of each child in the room.

The article discusses the curriculum design of nature study. As the subject implied itself, there is no more effective way to teach nature study to children but to place them in a direct contact with nature in its undisturbed forms and under normal conditions. Teachers are at their best if they can make the child feel that the study of natural phenomena is worth his while, and second, to afford him some time and opportunity for investigating them. For their further learning about nature, a general plan where the school garden could play a vital role is suggested.

The article examines the attitude-building aspects of nature science. There were those who saw in nature study an object-lesson approach to elementary school science that it could be a method of teaching factual knowledge. The fact that the product of technology do not bring a satisfying life is abundantly clear in our affluent society, affluent in material things but poverty stricken in spirit. Nature study is essential to conservation and it is essential to the survival of the human species. It should lead to the development of those attitudes most essential to civilized behavior, love, appreciation, respect and humility.