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Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach used in different countries for learning foreign languages (FL) during non-language classes. Studies suggest that teaching methodologies aware of (verbal) language--such as CLIL--and other science modes (operational, symbolic, visual, etc.) can be beneficial for learning science. Within this PhD research, we aimed to understand science education practices and the influence of English (as a FL) on CLIL science teaching/learning. We designed a qualitative case study in a Portuguese school and gathered information through different methods. We found that, because English is present, a science teacher may become more open to the students' (language) learning difficulties and to changing strategies/resources. Besides promoting FL proficiency, CLIL could represent a language-aware approach for enhancing science teaching/learning. This contributes to studies on CLIL and science education with a language focus and opens a reflection on teacher practices/education for the learning of science.

This paper reports research work related to a wider study, aimed at developing a mobile app for Science Education in primary-school. Several studies reveal that Science Education can be improved by using technology, namely educational software. However, to promote a structured use of technology, innovative learning approaches must be designed for educational software. This paper aims to answer how the interaction between students and a mobile app for Science Education can promote students' scientific competences development and self-regulated learning. To achieve this, a learning approach was designed, combining the Universal Design for Learning principles, Inquiry-Based Science Education and the BSCS 5E -- teaching model for Science Education designed by the "Biological Sciences Curriculum Study," which results in the acronym of the model. The 5E is related to each phase of the model: Engagement; Exploration; Explanation; Elaboration; Evaluation. The proposed was based on a grounded, participatory, and user-centred approach, crossing literature contributions with data collected among primary-school teachers through the application of a questionnaire (n = 118). Data collected allowed deductions about the expected adequacy of the learning approach, according to Nieveen's criteria for high quality educational interventions. This adequacy was revealed through the teachers' conceptions about the potential impact of the conceptualized mobile app (i) to provide a comprehensive and practical Science Education learning; and (ii) to enhance students' scientific competences development and self-regulated learning. The paper aims to contribute to the design of an innovative learning approach in Science Education and to share it with other researchers since it can be expanded to other educational software.

The development of meaningful environments at school for the learning of Science as well as of foreign languages is an educational concern. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), aimed at the students' acquisition of both the foreign Language and specific subject Content, is an approach that may promote the learning of English in use during subject classes and could result in the improvement of conditions and practices of Science education. Research, actually, reveals that teaching methodologies aware of language -- such as CLIL -- and other semiotic modes implied in Science are beneficial for the learning of Science. Studying a CLIL programme ("English Plus" project, EP), in which Science is taught/learnt with/in English, is thus relevant. A case study on the EP project and its participants (English and Science teachers, students involved in different school years) in one lower secondary state school in Portugal was carried out. In the present research, qualitative data collected through teacher interviews are presented and discussed, with the goal of understanding the role of Language(s) (verbal language in the mother tongue or English and other representation modalities) in the teaching of Science for EP teachers, both in conventional and project classes. A greater teacher awareness and use of Language(s), when an additional language (English, here) is also present for Science education, results from this work. This contributes to research on CLIL Science studies and teacher reflections on adopting a language-focused approach for Science education, also when the mother tongue is spoken.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) represents the teachers' professional knowledge needed to integrate technology in education. Following a design-based approach this study describes the strategies for designing and assessing an in-service science teacher education course. Data was obtained through interviews, questionnaires, using participant observation and analysis of in-service science teachers' professional portfolios. A detailed description of the research methodology and findings is given, including an overview of the implications of the study. Results show that integrating technology with a Research Teaching Perspective (RTP) could be a way to develop innovative science lessons for students. Suggestions for the creation of a design framework for the development of initial and in-service science teachers' TPCK are put forward.

The ocean plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Earth System and in the provision of vital goods and services. The United Nations (UN) declared 2021–2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Roadmap for the Ocean Decade aims to achieve six critical societal outcomes (SOs) by 2030, through the pursuit of four objectives (Os). It specifically recognizes the scarcity of biological data for deep-sea biomes, and challenges the global scientific community to conduct research to advance understanding of deep-sea ecosystems to inform sustainable management. In this paper, we map four key scientific questions identified by the academic community to the Ocean Decade SOs: (i) What is the diversity of life in the deep ocean? (ii) How are populations and habitats connected? (iii) What is the role of living organisms in ecosystem function and service provision? and (iv) How do species, communities, and ecosystems respond to disturbance? We then consider the design of a global-scale program to address these questions by reviewing key drivers of ecological pattern and process. We recommend using the following criteria to stratify a global survey design: biogeographic region, depth, horizontal distance, substrate type, high and low climate hazard, fished/unfished, near/far from sources of pollution, licensed/protected from industry activities. We consider both spatial and temporal surveys, and emphasize new biological data collection that prioritizes southern and polar latitudes, deeper (> 2000 m) depths, and midwater environments. We provide guidance on observational, experimental, and monitoring needs for different benthic and pelagic ecosystems. We then review recent efforts to standardize biological data and specimen collection and archiving, making “sampling design to knowledge application” recommendations in the context of a new global program. We also review and comment on needs, and recommend actions, to develop capacity in deep-sea research; and the role of inclusivity - from accessing indigenous and local knowledge to the sharing of technologies - as part of such a global program. We discuss the concept of a new global deep-sea biological research program ‘Challenger 150,’ highlighting what it could deliver for the Ocean Decade and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.

Critical Thinking is a transversal skill needed to face current and future challenges, longed for in school, work, and life. Paradoxically, such relevance does not always translate into tangible efforts to measure and promote it. We present the cross-cultural translation, adaptation, and validation process of Critical Thinking Mindset Self-Rating Form to Portuguese university students. This study followed three phases: translation and adaptation of the form to Portuguese; a pilot study using the think-aloud technique, to assure the form's comprehensibility and accuracy; a second pilot study to validate that preliminary version. According to results, the translation showed validity and reliability. In the long-run, this version may be used by teachers as a formative assessment tool, to show university students what is their general disposition towards thinking critically and, from there, to create opportunities for reflection and transformation, thus contributing to the realization of Critical Thinking in the classroom and in campus.

Science education become one prioritie of modern societies, with the purpose of forming scientifically literate youth and adults. They play an active role in solving the problems existing in society, making critical and informed decisions. In this paper we discuss the need for scientifically literate citizens and the relevance of practical work as a key strategy for science learning in the early years. We'll describe the investigative process which supported in real-life educational contexts of a set of Didactic Strategies. We'll focus on the results of the 'Materials Lotto' detailing the results in science teaching and learning in kindergarten. The results show that children mobilize a wide array of skills and attitudes/beliefs, showing scientific knowledge at different degrees of complexity. We concluded that practical work in science education in the early years is an effective strategy for science teaching and learning, as groundwork for future science literacy of kindergarten children.

This article explores the significance of understanding fish habitat ecology in a changing climate and its implications for fisheries stability and ecosystem health. It emphasizes the need for diverse approaches, such as field observations, laboratory experiments, genomics, telemetry, and modeling, to quantify fish habitat needs. The integration of data on fish movement, connectivity, and food webs is crucial for predicting future fish distributions and informing management and conservation efforts. The article also discusses the various stressors faced by fish populations, including warming, hypoxia, and habitat loss, which have led to shifts in fish distributions. Accurately predicting fish population responses to environmental change requires data from various disciplines. The text highlights the importance of building social connectivity and communication between academia, stakeholders, managers, and policymakers for effective fish and habitat management. It emphasizes the need for long-term food security and sustainable fishing practices, as well as the concept of "One Health" to ensure the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment. The article concludes by expressing pride in hosting the 2023 FSBI Symposium and emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and engaging the public in fisheries science. [Extracted from the article]

The population of common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis in the English Channel recently developed two life cycles: annual (spawning 1 y.o.) and biennial (spawning 2 y.o.) instead of the biennial strategy known before, associated with increasing environmental temperatures in recent decades because of climate changes. Both groups differ in the size of mature animals (110–196 mm mantle length vs. 140–262 mm) and the number of chambers in the cuttlebone (60–97 in annual vs. 93–152 in biennial). The annual group represented some 15%–20% of the population, and the proportion of early spawners increased during the reproductive period, from 3%–5% in February/March to 50%–70% in June/July. Among spawning cuttlefish males predominated as ~2:1. Such environmentally driven changes in historical ecology as exemplified by the cuttlefish might be a critical link in the adaptation of the cephalopod life cycles to changing ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 Annual Symposium of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles hosted opportunities for researchers, scientists, and policy makers to reflect on the state of art of predicting fish distributions and consider the implications to the marine and aquatic environments of a changing climate. The outcome of one special interest group at the Symposium was a collection of questions, organized under five themes, which begin to capture the state of the field and identify priorities for research and management over the coming years. The five themes were Physiology, Mechanisms, Detect and Measure, Manage, and Wider Ecosystems. The questions, 25 of them, addressed concepts which remain poorly understood, are data deficient, and/or are likely to be impacted in measurable or profound ways by climate change. Moving from the first to the last theme, the questions expanded in the scope of their considerations, from specific processes within the individual to ecosystem‐wide impacts, but no one question is bigger than any other: each is important in detecting, understanding, and predicting fish distributions, and each will be impacted by an aspect of climate change. In this way, our questions, particularly those concerning unknown mechanisms and data deficiencies, aimed to offer a guide to other researchers, managers, and policy makers in the prioritization of future work as a changing climate is expected to have complex and disperse impacts on fish populations and distributions that will require a coordinated effort to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In different countries efforts have been made to integrate critical thinking into science curricula, recognizing that it is necessary to live in a plural society with citizenship competence. However, this objective has not been appropriately implemented in classrooms. One of the obstacles is the fact that teachers do not have a clear idea about critical thinking because the meaning ascribed to critical thinking in different contexts is rarely explicit. This paper attempts to clarify this concept, evincing its relationship with other concepts such as scientific literacy and to present and discuss a framework for promoting students' critical thinking in science classrooms. (Contains 1 figure.)

Purpose: The research aims to evaluate whether this educational approach is being implemented in a Portuguese public university and looking for explicit references to education for sustainable development (ESD) in the online descriptions of course units (CU). Design/methodology/approach: The research design adopted for this qualitative research follows the principles of a case study with exploratory, multiple and collective features. Findings: It was possible to find direct matches with key ESD expressions in fifteen of CU. In addition, nine CU were identified in the second stage of analysis of the teacher training master programmes. Research limitations/implications: One of the limitations of this study which the authors identified, and which was responsible for considerably reducing the probability of finding matches, was that only results in which the key expressions appeared in the description of the CU in exactly the same form as in the research instrument were recorded. Practical implications: The need for an educational programme for teachers to be developed and implemented in the near future. Social implications A training workshop will be proposed with the main aim of supporting teaching staff in making the necessary shift in their pedagogical practices to include a ESD orientation in their CU. Originality/value: The instrument developed appears in Appendix--Analysis Tool with key ESD expressions.