"Forest health" is an important concept often not covered in tree, forest, insect, or fungal ecology and biology. With minimal, inexpensive equipment, students can investigate and conduct their own forest health survey to assess the percentage of trees with natural or artificial wounds or stress. Insects and diseases in the forest are…

A tongue-in-cheek look at methods used for curriculum development by many colleges and universities compares the process to two others: destruction of trees and trial by ordeal. Forests are destroyed to produce large quantities of paper for printing of curricula in many versions, followed by Kafkaesque committee scrutiny. (MSE)

Because of the importance of contextual sensitivity in several cognitive processes that are affected in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as social cognition, understanding of language, or cognitive shifting, we argue that a lack of contextual sensitivity or "context blindness" should be given more attention in a neurocognitive…

There are numerous bird species that will nest only in dead or dying trees. Current forestry practices include clearing forests of these snags, or dead trees. This practice is driving many species out of the forests. An illustrated example of bird succession in and on a tree is given. (MA)

Institutions of higher learning are increasingly asked to defend curricular and pedagogical outcomes. Faculty must demonstrate that simulations are productive tools for learning, but a review of the literature shows that the evidence of their effectiveness is inconclusive, despite their popularity in the classroom. Simulations may in fact help…

Uneven economic growth, rapid population increases, and high costs of fossil fuels have caused much of the human race to experience an energy crisis. For the world's poor people the energy requirements consist mainly of firewood. This crisis will be aggravated further as population trends begin to overwhelm natural resources. Future demands for…

This curriculum guide for middle school environmental education focuses on energy, economics, and the environment (EEE), and the interrelatedness of these three areas of study. The booklet is designed to provide teachers and students with a conceptual framework for analyzing complicated issues that involve the economic implications of energy and…

The illustrated book is about the legend of Pluma de Quetzal and the marimba. The story, which takes place in the Mexican state of Chiapas, tells how the woodcutters who lived in the area would sit around the fire talking and singing every night. Sung by tired voices, their songs had no happy music. Instead of happiness and hope, they expressed…

The articles in this journal issue explore classroom methods for enhancing language acquisition. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) Forests and Trees: Conservation and Reforestation" (Joyce S. Steward); (2) "Using Literature to Teach Language" (Richard D. Cureton); (3) "Language Learning through…

This bulletin deals with forest management and provides an overview of forestry for the non-professional. The bulletin is divided into six sections: (1) What Is Forestry Management?; (2) How Is the Forest Measured?; (3) What Is Forest Protection?; (4) How Is the Forest Harvested?; (5) What Is Forest Regeneration?; and (6) What Is Forest…

This study examined how machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques can be leveraged to assess the interpretive behavior that is required for successful literary text comprehension. We compared the accuracy of seven different machine learning classification algorithms in predicting human ratings of student essays about…

The purpose of this research was to determine the depth and scope of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) through the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) exhibition. The small-scale qualitative study describes how a fifth-grade cohort and teachers at The International School of Azerbaijan uncover GCE in situ. Drawing on…

Academic failure among first-year university students has long fuelled a large number of debates. Many educational psychologists have tried to understand and then explain it. Many statisticians have tried to foresee it. Our research aims to classify, as early in the academic year as possible, students into three groups: the "low-risk"…

This set of teaching aids consists of 12 Audubon Nature Bulletins, providing teachers and students with informational reading on plants. The bulletins include these titles: The Parade of Spring Wild Flowers, Wild Flowers of Our Prairies, Seeds and How They Travel, Poison Ivy and Other Poisonous Plants, The Forest Community, Common Trees and Their…

This study examined how machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques can be leveraged to assess the interpretive behavior that is required for successful literary text comprehension. We compared the accuracy of seven different machine learning classification algorithms in predicting human ratings of student essays about…