Promoting student understanding of ecosystem processes is critical to biological education. Yet, teaching complex life systems can be difficult because systems are dynamic and often behave in a non-linear manner. In this paper, we discuss assessment results from a middle school classroom intervention in which a conceptual representation framework…

Pupils aged 12-14 from the University of Ghana Primary and Junior High School conducted studies off the coast adjacent to Accra, including a field visit to explore the effects of climate change on the country's biology, ecology and physical environment. They composed poems and made paintings about the coast and sea as means of conveying their…

The "Inclusion of Nature in Self" scale (INS) was applied to monitor shifts in reported connectedness with nature within the framework of a school-based environmental education programme. One hundred and twenty-three German students (sixth-graders) participated in a one-day module, which included hands-on indoor (classroom) and outdoor (nearby…

This study attempted to examine students' learning outcomes and their learning experiences through playing a Serious Educational Game. A mixed-method research design was employed collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 98 middle-school students ranging from sixth to eighth grades participated through paper-and-pencil…

Among potential topics in the new science of biodiversity, understanding the characteristics and impact of invasive birds is an attractive subject to include as part of junior high school biology studies. Birds are aesthetic and raise curiosity. Curiosity about birds, combined with field observations, can stimulate students to ask authentic…

Different views exist about whether anthropomorphic ideas assist or hinder learning in biology. This paper discusses the anthropomorphic and anthropocentric ideas children have about micro-organisms, and whether they affect their understanding. The research was carried out in primary and secondary schools in the South of England and involved 414…

This study examined the effectiveness of worksheets while learning about biodiversity in a natural history museum. Despite the frequent use of worksheets by school classes during out-of-school activities, their effectiveness in enhancing knowledge acquisition has been addressed by relatively few empirical studies. 148 Austrian grammar school…

We report on the development of a middle school life sciences inquiry module, Sensing the Environment. This "data-enriched" inquiry module includes a series of activities exploring the nature of science, photosynthesis, transpiration, and natural selection, which culminates in students' querying authentic environmental data to support a scientific…