"Homo sapiens" have become mostly disconnected from their ancestral connection with natural processes. One significant contributor to this disconnect is the recent advent of chronic screen usage included in elementary and secondary schools. This often passive interaction with a flat screen, two dimensional world, based on inflexible…

In this article, the author describes her early fascination with the natural world, and how this directed her through school and university into a scientific career. She talks about how she combined her previous experiences into one fabulous job, running the educational outreach for a pharmaceutical company, before the teaching itch led her to…

Simplified, reductionist approaches to curriculum design and delivery are pervasive in science education. In ecological curricula--particularly in, but not limited to K-12--biomes, ecosystems, habitats, and other units of study are simplified and presented as static, easily identified and described entities. Characteristics, components, and…

In this article, we consider the narrative reflections of elementary teacher and study co-author, Khahlela, as she recounts her difficult transition from a childhood and primary schooling filled with rich experiences in the natural world into high school and university science courses which left her feeling marginalized and lacking science…

Natural history collections contain billions of specimens which are used to inform our understanding of the biodiversity of our planet. Digitized natural history collections (dNHCs) provide an accessible resource for multiple audiences, including K-12 teachers. The incorporation of dNHCs in K-12 classrooms provides an opportunity to engage…

This article provides, based on the author's own scholarship, the three reasons that geography at the K-12 level must include a robust dose of climate change science: (1) Climatology is a cornerstone of physical geography; (2) Climate change science bridges urban and rural geographies; and (3) Climate change science connects the natural and human…

This Perspectives article proposes a renewed vision of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) through a translanguaging (TL) stance, grounded in critical sociolinguistic inquiry and embodied practice. A TL theory of language asserts an activist agenda to dismantle mono/lingualism, inviting a more dynamic and expansive view of…

Research and reform efforts frequently identify evidence as an essential component of science classroom instruction to actively engage students in science practices. Despite this agreement on the primacy of evidence, there is a lack of consensus around what counts as "evidence" in k-12 classrooms (e.g., ages 5-18): scholarship and…

Observation-based ecology (OBE) generates critical knowledge about the health of ecological systems and human impacts on these systems. Systematic observations of organisms and processes from an early age can help children develop ecological knowledge and skills, and deepen their connection to the natural world. Yet recent educational reforms may…

This paper focuses on how I have been attending to the TRC's [Truth and Reconciliation Commission's] calls to action within science teacher education. It draws on personal experiences, my dissertation, Canadian policy regarding Indigenous education, and academic literature to explore what the calls ask of teacher educators. Throughout, I consider…

Literacy is a powerful tool to engage students in learning about the social, cultural, political, and natural worlds around them. This is especially true within the discipline of science where students use reading and writing to engage in scientific inquiry. In the era of accountability reform, however, students spend more time acquiring reading…

The use of fossils as a tool in the classroom provide the medium in which students enthusiastically and directly engage in scientific exploration and thinking, enhancing their interest in future science curricula, and provide an avenue to develop scientific literacy. The National Research Council stated that students should have authentic…

"Engaging Imagination in Ecological Education" illustrates how to connect students to the natural world and encourage them to care about a more sustainable, ecologically secure planet. Cultivating ecological understanding can be more challenging for teachers than simply imparting knowledge of ecological issues; it requires reimagining…

Evolution offers an intellectually satisfying and extremely well-supported explanation for the diversity of life in the natural world, its similarities and differences, how changes occur and how new life forms have developed. There are plenty of reasons to anticipate the teaching of evolution with exhilaration. In recent years, the issue of…

We live in an era of rapid technological change. Not only must citizens contend with social problems presented by new and more invasive technologies, but they must also make sense of older technologies that can be viewed as natural to the world. We sought to answer the question, how is technology included and framed in K-12 content social studies…