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Science education is criticized because it often fails to support problem-solving skills in students. Instead, the instructional methods primarily emphasize didactic models that fail to engage students and reveal how the material can be applied to solve real problems. To overcome these limitations, this study asked participants in a general ecology course to operate an advanced environmental instrumentation (GC/MS), collect pollution samples, complete data analysis, develop an environmental assessment, and proffer a remediation plan for a local river during an ill-structured task. Students were then given a novel task to assess their transfer skills. The study specifically examined student attitudes, effectiveness, and outcomes toward the integration of laboratories into a science course. Results found that students rated their level of instrumentation confidence as low, but showed statistically significant differences on transfer task scores. Implications for research are discussed.

One of the major areas of advancement in environmental science is bioremediation. Researchers have been using bacteria, fungi, algae and now macrophytes to remove pollutants from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we share the results of a study on the macrophyte uptake of xenoestrogens from an urban river. We found that the invasive curly leaf pond weed (Potamogeton illinoensis) accumulated an average of 66% higher levels of estrogenic compounds and 94% more Bisphenol-A than the native Illinois pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) in an urban river, in the watershed for the greater Chicago, IL area. The invasive species accumulated 76% more estrone, 55% more 17 β-estradiol and 31% more 17 α-ethynylestradiol than the native species. The Nonnative plants were also 72% larger than the native Illinois Pondweed. Managers may consider using invasive species to remove pollutants from ecosystems and restore ecosystem biogeochemistry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science education is criticized because it often fails to support problem-solving skills in students. Instead, the instructional methods primarily emphasize didactic models that fail to engage students and reveal how the material can be applied to solve real problems. To overcome these limitations, this study asked participants in a general ecology course to operate an advanced environmental instrumentation (GC/MS), collect pollution samples, complete data analysis, develop an environmental assessment, and proffer a remediation plan for a local river during an ill-structured task. Students were then given a novel task to assess their transfer skills. The study specifically examined student attitudes, effectiveness, and outcomes toward the integration of laboratories into a science course. Results found that students rated their level of instrumentation confidence as low, but showed statistically significant differences on transfer task scores. Implications for research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Between 1996 and 2001 an experimental set up in a chaparral community near San Diego, CA, examined various plant and ecosystem responses to CO2 concentrations ranging from 250 to 750 μl l−1. These experiments indicated a significant increase in soil C sequestration as CO2 rose above the ambient levels. In 2003, two years after the cessation of the CO2 treatments, we returned to this site to examine soil C dynamics with a particular emphasis on stability of specific pools of C. We found that in as little as two years, C content in the surface soils (0–15 cm) of previously CO2 enriched plots had dropped to levels below those of the ambient and pretreatment soils. In contrast, C retained in response to CO2 enrichment was more durable in the deeper soil layers (>25 cm deep) where both organic and inorganic C were on average 26% and 55% greater, respectively, than C content of ambient plots. Using stable isotope tracers, we found that treatment C represented 25% of total soil C and contributed to 55% of soil CO2 efflux, suggesting that most of treatment C is readily accessible to decomposers. We also found that, C present before CO2 fumigation was decomposed at a faster rate in the plots that were exposed to elevated CO2 than in those exposed to ambient CO2 levels. To our knowledge, this is the first report that allows for a detail accounting of soil C after ceasing CO2 treatments. Our study provides a unique insight to how stable the accrued soil C is as CO2 increases in the atmosphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]