The use of game activities is spreading in diverse contexts, including stimulating teamwork and creativity, selecting job candidates, and as a teaching aid. Games are recognized as promoting interaction and engagement among children through an abstract challenge, which often results in emotional reactions. We investigated whether a game-based activity is useful as a tool for teaching entomology, as assessed on the basis of the learning achieved and the feedback provided by students. Student feedback was positive regarding card content, the rules manual, game-play design, and game use (the functional perspective). Likewise, the students also considered the game a fun activity, fast and competitive, and even challenging (the personal perspective). Some difficulties were indicated, such as the amount of initial information required to play. Nonetheless, the game increased student learning, demonstrating its usefulness as a didactic activity in the classroom. In addition to encouraging creativity and healthy competition among students, the game represents an integrative and dynamic teaching mode that is different from traditional classroom methods.

Only about half of Americans are convinced that human activity is the major cause of climate change. This statistic highlights the increased need for high-quality climate science education but also highlights the fact that lessons on this subject are often complicated as denial argumentation abounds in classrooms. In order to achieve greater efficacy of and receptivity to climate science instruction, I propose the inclusion of lessons on the nature of science and the reframing of lessons in terms of risk management.

Evolution education in the United States remains controversial and challenging. This is in part due to the difficulty educators face when trying to overcome students' preexisting beliefs about evolution, which can bias assimilation of information and inhibit learning. We propose that the most effective way to overcome such belief persistence is through an engaging, hands-on inquiry approach that mimics the scientific process used to study evolution. Although this teaching approach, known as authentic science, has gained recognition for its effectiveness in the classroom, it has not been widely applied to teach evolution. We describe how an authentic science approach can be used to teach evolution by natural selection, and provide a formula for the development of such programs. Following this blueprint, we developed a program using Trinidadian guppies and implemented it in 7th grade classrooms in Colorado. Pre- and post-program assessments revealed significant increases in both the understanding and acceptance of evolution among participants. Authentic science experiments using locally adapted populations of live organisms may be able to overcome belief persistence and improve student understanding of evolution.

Class discussion can be a valuable way to meet educational standards and make student ideas visible. Tools like Twitter can be used to encourage discussion both in and outside of class. In this article, we provide (1) a concise explanation of Twitter and its use (including a comparison to similar digital communication tools); (2) a brief overview of educational gains and experiences in using Twitter; and (3) a step-by-step introduction to conducting Twitter discussions using hashtags. We conclude with an introduction to #scistuchat, a monthly Twitter discussion between scientists and students that addresses many of the core ideas in the biological sciences. We invite instructors to join this ongoing discussion series or use the ideas within this paper to begin their own discussion groups on social media.

We present a simple strategy that professors and research students can use to coordinate scientific education-outreach programs in the wider community. The focal points of this strategy are the use of preexisting community networks and the development of a simple but engaging educational program. Employing this straightforward model can help reduce the activation barrier for lab members who are interested in becoming involved in scientific outreach.

The importance of extant biodiversity, concerns regarding the rising Anthropocene extinction rates, and commitments made by signatories to biodiversity conventions each increase demands for timely data. However, as species and conservation indicators become more complex, the less accessible they are to educators. New pedagogies are needed so that students can generate their own data for studies of biodiversity and extinction. I present a simple indicator of species diversity that examines declines in species’ populations and whether or not these species subsequently recovered or faced extinction. Using such data, 14 threatened species are used as examples of the time taken for each species to reach a point of either recovery or extinction. The learning and pedagogical context for this information is reviewed, student use of the data demonstrated, and the lesson evaluated according to its learning objectives.

Until about two decades ago, the standard method of studying a microbe was to isolate it, grow it in culture, stain it, and examine it under a microscope. Today, new genomic tools are helping expand our view of the microbial world. Instead of viewing them as “germs” to be eliminated, we are beginning to perceive our microbes as an extension of ourselves – an important organ with unique functions essential to our well-being. Scientists even came up with a new term, “microbiome,” to define our microbes’ genes as an important counterpart to our human genome. With new information about the human microbiome comes the challenge of shifting biology students’ focus from casting microbes as pathogens toward appreciating microbes as symbionts. “The Human Microbiome,” a curriculum supplement produced by the Genetic Science Learning Center, emphasizes that microbes living in and on our bodies perform neutral and beneficial functions, that human microbiota form thriving ecosystems, and that disruptions to our microbial ecosystems may have consequences. In this article, we describe the curriculum materials, provide strategies for incorporating this cutting-edge topic into biology classrooms, list connections to the Next Generation Science Standards, and report on recent research testing the curriculum supplement's effectiveness for student learning.

Animal dissection has been routinely practiced in American biology classrooms for decades. With technological advancements, more states adopting student choice measures, and increased awareness about ethical concerns surrounding dissection, many useful dissection alternatives have been developed. To understand the current use of animal dissection and alternatives, and attitudes toward the practices, a nationwide survey of middle and high school biology teachers (n = 1178) and students (n = 500) was conducted. Most teachers (84%) and students (76%) reported using dissection in their classrooms, although nearly half of educators indicated that dissection is decreasing at their school. Educators cited student performance as the main factor driving their decision to use dissection or alternatives and reported conducting dissection exercises because of student interest. Most teachers had an interest in using alternatives, although only 36% used them in place of dissection. More than a third of biology students preferred the use of alternatives over animal specimens, yet most did not request dissection alternatives. Enabling students to opt in to dissection exercises rather than opt out, as is the current practice, and educating teachers and students about student choice and the advantages of dissection alternatives are suggested strategies to reduce animal use in education, in line with the “3 R’s” principle.

Our nation’s first school of forestry operated in the early 1900s, when states were still being admitted to the union, and the motor car and typewriter had just been introduced to the American public. In the previous century, timber operations had slashed their way through forests with the simple policy of “cut and get out.” To farmers, trees were obstacles to plows. The popular writings of Aldo Leopold describing the concepts of forest stewardship and the organization of natural communities would not appear for another four decades.