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The authors of this article have participated in intensive professional development in the Peruvian Amazon and brought this firsthand experience of the rainforest back to their classrooms. However, the activities presented in this article are designed to be accessible and inspirational to "all students," regardless of whether they or their teachers have traveled beyond their hometowns. With experiences in urban and rural California, Alabama, New York, and Oklahoma schools, the authors present ways to weave investigations of the ecological roles of local trees together with activities that raise students' awareness of global connections and build their capacities as environmental scientists and global citizens.

This systematic review extends the boundary of prior reviews in the environmental education (EE) field by analyzing publications focused on Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAM). We examined peer-reviewed literature and dissertations/theses in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) published between January 2000 and February 2018 to examine outcomes of EE interventions occurring in both formal and nonformal settings among LATAM youth up to age 18 years. Our findings reflect recurring critiques of EE, such as the field's limited empirical research and a bias toward measuring knowledge gain. Our findings also highlight themes specific to LATAM, related to issue-based EE programs, EE versus Education for Sustainable Development, barriers to EE implementation and potential challenges posed by bias, privilege and power in LATAM-based EE research. Access to potentially appropriate publications was limited by weaknesses in search databases. Only a small selection of LATAM countries is represented in publications that met the search criteria, limiting our capacity to draw stronger conclusions about the region as a whole.

Species richness, migration, habitats, ecological niches, adaptations: Concepts such as these come alive when students explore and analyze landscapes, environmental characteristics, and related biological features represented on digital maps. Most students are familiar with navigation tools integrated into smartphone apps but may be surprised to learn that the same mapping technologies are found in biological, environmental, and conservation research. Using maps or tabular spatial data, students can construct powerful scientific arguments grounded in real data. One user-friendly yet powerful mapping tool is ArcGIS Online. GIS stands for "Geographic Information System," which refers to a data management system that captures, processes, and displays spatial data. Teachers and students can use maps provided on the website, build their own from a large repository of online data, or create maps using data they enter themselves. ArcGIS Online is free, fast, and reliable. Research on use of GIS in science and environmental education has documented the challenges as well as opportunities (Barnett et al. 2013). This article describes two cases in which the authors used web-based GIS maps in student inquiry focused on bird habitats, biodiversity, and conservation. The maps and lessons were developed in collaboration with almost 60 teachers who participated in the Crossing Boundaries Project. Each lesson was co-designed with teachers, piloted during professional development workshops, field tested in the classrooms of participating teachers, and continually refined. Each case describes a map, corollary lesson sequence, student investigation highlights, and a teacher's implementation experience. The teacher using the first lesson was teaching a ninth-grade course entitled STEM 9. The teacher using the second lesson was teaching environmental science for grades 11 and 12. In both cases, the teachers were using desktop computers in a wired computer lab. The maps and related resources are available online.

The introduction to the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") calls for students to learn science within the context of practice because "practices alone are activities and content alone is memorization. It is through integration that science begins to make sense and allows students to apply the material" (NGSS Lead States 2013, p. xiv). To enable students to see scientists in action and envision potential careers in science, these authors produced six multimedia vignettes portraying talented, enthusiastic young Cornell University graduate students conducting conservation science research. Their research, involving fieldwork in sites ranging from meadows in New York State to lakes in the Bolivian Andes, addresses scientific questions related to plants, birds, fish, and frogs. Crossing Boundaries, a National Science Foundation-funded project, introduces students to careers in which information and communication technologies are used to analyze, evaluate, and communicate about conservation science. These authors produced the profiles because their previous work with teachers had revealed that many students in the biological sciences are unaware of careers beyond those in health fields.

Using an interactive map-based PDF, students learn key concepts related to biodiversity while developing data-analysis and critical-thinking skills. The Bird Island lesson provides students with experience in translating geospatial data into bar graphs, then interpreting these graphs to compare biodiversity across ecoregions on a fictional island. When the lesson is extended to include real data for Puerto Rico, students can explore distributions of selected bird species based on environmental attributes, making connections between each species' adaptations, habitat requirements, and distribution across the island. This introductory lesson provides a jumping-off point for field and Web-based biodiversity investigations.

What bird species live in your area? Which migrate and which stay year-round? How do bird populations change over time? Citizen science provides the essential tools to address these questions and more. With ever-growing databases such as Project FeederWatch and eBird, students can connect with people around the world as they make observations, pose questions, conduct investigations, and build deeper connections with the natural world. This article describes several different citizen science investigations in which students learn about adaptation, interactions among species and their environments, and change over time--fundamental principles in biology (NRC 1996, 2012). Students see the real-world relevance of science as they experience authentic processes of science, from posing testable questions to analyzing data and reaching defensible conclusions. (Contains 6 figures and 5 online resources.)

Birds are among the most fascinating creatures on Earth, found on every continent and prevalent even in human-dominated landscapes. Some are beautiful, others are accomplished singers, and all play important roles in the ecosystems in which they live. Even amateur birders have made important discoveries about birds, and there is still a lot to learn and explore. While birding, youth connect with the natural world; if they share their observations through citizen science, they also make valuable contributions to one's understanding of that world. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has developed educational resources, known as BirdSleuth, which are used around the country to support students in citizen-science participation, outdoor activities, and inquiry-based investigations. Each fall, the Cornell Lab publishes the national edition of its student research journal, "Classroom BirdScope," which features student research and creative work by young birders around the country. BirdSleuth teachers use birds and the local environment to teach concepts in science, math, language arts, and art. Emphasizing hands-on, real-world learning experiences, the activities boost academic achievement while helping students develop stronger ties to their community and appreciation for the natural world. (Contains 5 figures, 1 resource, and 4 online resources.)

A new online tool called "Science Pipes" allows students to conduct biodiversity investigations. With this free tool, students create and run analyses that would otherwise require access to unwieldy data sets and the ability to write computer code. Using these data, students can conduct guided inquiries or hypothesis-driven research to investigate patterns and trends--such as the distribution of plant and animal species across biomes or the migration routes of various bird species. (Contains 3 figures and 3 online resources.)

The "flexibly adaptive" model of professional development, developed in the GIT Ahead project, enables secondary science teachers to incorporate a variety of geospatial technology applications into wide-ranging classroom contexts. Teacher impacts were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. Post-questionnaire responses showed significant growth in teachers' perceived technological expertise, interest, and ability to integrate geospatial technology into their science teaching. Application of the Technical Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework to three case studies illustrates such growth. Crucial aspects of professional development in support of teaching science with geospatial technology include intensive training, ongoing support, a supportive learning community, and flexibility in terms of support provided and implementation expectations. Implications are presented for design of professional development and use of TPACK in evaluating impacts.

Two studies analyzed impacts of writing and receiving web-mediated peer reviews on revision of research reports by undergraduate science students. After conducting toxicology experiments, 77 students posted draft reports and exchanged double-blind reviews. The first study randomly assigned students to four groups representing full, partial, or no peer review. Students engaging in any aspect of peer review made more revisions than students confined to reviewing their own reports. In the second study, all students engaged in peer review, and the influence of writing versus receiving critiques was analyzed using linear regression. Both studies showed receiving reviews to be more significant than writing them in terms of triggering report revisions. Students valued the peer review experience and credited it with giving them insights about their work. Conclusions address implications for optimal design of online peer review systems and for further research into student learning gains.

This article compares peer review in professional versus education settings, summarizing key aspects of scientific peer review and reflecting on how these relate to the process as experienced by students. Consideration of professional peer review benefits educators in two ways. First, systems used for student peer review can employ some of the same tactics employed in professional science to minimize bias, optimize the impact of reviews, and maximize the quality of final manuscripts. In addition, explicit discussion of relevant aspects of professional peer review introduces students to important aspects of the nature of science. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The traditional presumption in higher education that subject-matter knowledge is sufficient for effective teaching is breaking down. One cause of this change is the growing knowledge about how people learn, a consequence of which is a heightened focus on student-centered teaching practices. Another is the increasing diversity of students seeking college degrees, who differ by age, background, expectations, and learning styles. At the same time, emerging educational technologies provide a bewildering array of new possibilities for teaching, some of which reinforce rote learning while others engage students in refining their understanding and constructing knowledge. In the face of all of these challenges, faculty need to be able to draw on various teaching strategies rather than relying exclusively on lectures and traditional laboratory exercises. Based on his own career and those of other teaching faculty, Peter Kugel (1993) has described a series of stages through which educators typically progress in learning how to teach. Initially, educators focus on themselves and their role in the classroom, worrying about how they will survive and whether they will be accepted by their students. Gradually they progress to greater focus on coverage of the subject matter. Finally, those who become highly proficient focus on the students as independent learners and try to help them develop interests and skills for lifelong learning. Many faculty first begin traversing this path when launching their careers as assistant professors, although surely their panic could be reduced and their initial teaching results be improved if they had begun to progress along this continuum while still in graduate school. Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) fellowships provide one way in which graduate students can begin learning to teach in a well-scaffolded environment. All those receiving GK-12 fellowships spend 10 hours per week working as science-teaching partners in K-12 classrooms and at least another five hours preparing to do so. Although the details of execution differ from site to site, all of the programs offer structured opportunities for graduate students to work side by side with experienced teachers and to reflect on their teaching experiences. The GK-12 program is only one of many possible ways to help graduate students learn how to teach. The fellowships are expensive and time-consuming, and they cannot feasibly be offered to more than a small fraction of prospective faculty. But lessons learned through this program could be extended to other forms of graduate-student professional development aimed at nurturing teaching skills. (Contains 1 table and 10 resources.)

Describes a cooperative project that integrates the internet into the peer-review process to enhance student understanding of the nature of science through engagement in socially authentic scientific research and the double-blinded peer review process. Reports the ratings of faculty and students of the online peer review. (Author/YDS)