The California Blackworm ("Lumbriculus variegatus") is a freshwater segmented worm species that has been used by biology instructors as a model system for inquiry-based student investigations. The blackworm dorsal blood vessel pulsation rate is easily quantified. Moreover, this species can facilitate the study of neuromuscular…

Across the United States, political leaders, educators, and business persons are issuing an urgent call for reform in STEM education (NGSS Lead States 2013). One important response to this call is Integrated STEM, which the National Governor's Association (2007, p. 7) says involves, "... an emphasis on design and problem solving in…

This article centers on the use of place-based education (PBE), an internationally known and employed pedagogy. This yearlong, mixed-methods study centers on a grant-funded program aimed at supporting secondary teachers' implementation of environmental place-based education (PBE), specifically meaningful watershed education experiences (MWEEs).…

In his interesting and informative book "Is That a Fact?," Joe Schwarcz avers that pigs do not sweat and the saying "sweating like a pig" originates in iron smelting. Oblong pieces of hot iron, with a fancied resemblance to a sow with piglets, cool in sand to the dew point of the surrounding air, and hence water condenses on…

This study aims to develop a test that can be used to explore mental models and representation patterns of objects in liquid fluid. The test developed by adapting the Reeves's Development Model was carried out in several stages, namely: determining the orientation and test segments; initial survey; preparation of the initial draft; try out;…

Writing as both instructors and students who worked together in the undergraduate course "Water Justice," we reflect on the limits and possibilities of engaging in anticolonial teaching-learning practices within the ongoing contexts of settler colonialism and racial violence that shapes universities. We describe how we designed…

Lead poisoning has well-known impacts for the developing brain of young children, with a large literature documenting the negative effects of elevated blood lead levels on academic and behavioral outcomes. In April of 2014, the municipal water source in Flint, Michigan was changed, causing lead from aging pipes to leach into the city's drinking…

Virtual water is the amount of water that we ignore in water consumption and is considerably higher than the visible water we see in daily uses. Realizing the water spent in the production processes of objects can cause us to change our consumption habits. In 1979, Joseph Cornell presented a four-step framework called Learning Flow to move nature…

Overcoming the challenge of using the steam tables can be considered a rite of passage in undergraduate thermodynamics courses. Students often circumvent the use of steam tables and resort to simpler digital alternatives to retrieve properties. In fact, the steam tables and their digital relatives that supply numeric property values fail to…

Understanding climate change is becoming an urgent requirement for those in education. The normative values of education have long been closely aligned with the global, modernised world. The industrial model has underpinned the hidden and overt curriculum. Increasingly though, a new eco-centric orientation to economics, technology, and social…

Background: Waterpipe tobacco smoking is associated with many negative health outcomes due to toxicants produced by heating the tobacco using charcoal or electrical heaters. Little is known about how young adult waterpipe tobacco smokers perceive harms of these heating sources. Aims: To examine young adult waterpipe tobacco smokers' perceived…

An environmental chemistry service-learning project was implemented by Greenville University in coordination with the local county health department to test the quality of well water for residents in a five-county region of southern Illinois. Well owners attended a student run well water testing "kickoff meeting", received testing kits,…

Density is a difficult concept for students to understand because it cannot be directly observed. If students are to gain a deeper understanding of the concept of density, they need to learn about density at both the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Virtual reality provides an opportunity for learners to experience phenomena at microscopic…

The body is often ignored, in elementary science education, as a site of knowledge, meaning, and feeling. This study explored how embodied performances, defined as drama- and movement-based representations of science ideas, spontaneous or rehearsed, shaped construction and communication of science knowledge and identities among Latinx fifth…

Nursery growers are one of the largest agricultural users of water. Researchers have been developing new water treatment techniques and technologies for nursery growers to assist in preserving this precious resource, yet adoption within the industry has been limited. Extension professionals need to work closely with nursery growers to encourage…