We have developed an experimental module that introduces high school students to guided scientific inquiry. It is designed to incorporate environmental health and ecological concepts into the basic biology or environmental-science content of the high school curriculum. Using the red worm, a familiar live species that is amenable to classroom experimentation, students learn how environmental agents affect the animal's locomotion by altering sensory neuron–muscle interactions and, as a result, influence its distribution in nature. In turn, the results of these experiments have direct application to human-caused environmental disruptions that cause changes in species distribution and indirectly increase the recognition that environmental chemicals affect human health. Students undertake a series of explorations to identify how red worms sense their environment and then apply that knowledge to understand the effects of chemical exposure on locomotor behavior. The activities are designed to generate critical thinking about neuromuscular processes and environmental pollutants that affect them.
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September 2016
Research Article|
September 01 2016
Lights, Chemicals, Action: Studying Red Worms’ Responses to Environmental Contaminants
Daniel N. Weber,
Renee A. Hesselbach,
Renee A. Hesselbach
2RENEE A. HESSELBACH, DAVID H. PETERING, and LOUISE P. PETERING are on the staff of the Children's Environmental Health Sciences Core Center, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 600 E. Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53204.
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David H. Petering,
David H. Petering
2RENEE A. HESSELBACH, DAVID H. PETERING, and LOUISE P. PETERING are on the staff of the Children's Environmental Health Sciences Core Center, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 600 E. Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53204.
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Louise P. Petering,
Louise P. Petering
2RENEE A. HESSELBACH, DAVID H. PETERING, and LOUISE P. PETERING are on the staff of the Children's Environmental Health Sciences Core Center, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 600 E. Greenfield Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53204.
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Craig A. Berg
Craig A. Berg
1CRAIG A. BERG is a Professor in the School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201.
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The American Biology Teacher (2016) 78 (7): 591–598.
Citation
Daniel N. Weber, Renee A. Hesselbach, David H. Petering, Louise P. Petering, Craig A. Berg; Lights, Chemicals, Action: Studying Red Worms’ Responses to Environmental Contaminants. The American Biology Teacher 1 September 2016; 78 (7): 591–598. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2016.78.7.591
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