Many of today's adolescents have little to no connection to their environments or the native plants and animals that share their spaces. This is primarily due to a significant decrease in the amount of time children spend outdoors now, compared with children in the mid to late 20th century, compounded by a lack of natural history and outdoor experiences in schools. Nature journaling is an effective way for life science teachers to get adolescents outside and incorporate nature studies into their lessons. Students engaged in regular, sustained nature journaling could experience an increase in literacy and critical thinking skills, an increase in understanding and connections to their native landscapes, and a decline in anxiety and depression.

First pioneered in 2010, Fish Cam provides the opportunity for students to engage in novel behavioral research without the need for extensive materials or for leaving the classroom. Fish Cam utilizes a robust behavioral paradigm, shoaling behavior in fish, and enables students to collect information from simple, easy-to-understand observations, allowing for student-led experimental design, data collection, analysis, and discussions on the scientific process. In these ways Fish Cam removes the cost and time-intensive aspects of doing this sort of work in the classroom. Shoaling behavior, which is well represented in the scientific literature, refers to social aggregations of fish. Almost all species of fish form shoals, and this process is easy to study under laboratory conditions. An evolutionary adaptation, shoaling provides individuals better access to resources and decreases the risk of predation. In its initial launch, Fish Cam was highly successful as a learning tool but suffered from difficulties associated with delivering the information online in 2010. Now, with the rapid development of online communication tools associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have the second iteration of Fish Cam. The flexibility of new delivery platforms enables partner organizations to view experiments and adapt the experience to their specific educational goals. Here we present an overview of Fish Cam, including lesson plans, a description of shoaling behavior in fish, and the results of Fish Cam studies run in the fall of 2020.

After numerous calls for action, science education within the United States is increasingly moving toward student-centered instructional models that emphasize science as a process and phenomena-based learning. In turn, this shift in instructional practice is driving the need for classroom-tested curricula that develop students' science process skills and engage students in authentic science learning. In this article, we present a set of materials that were used to deliver inquiry-based science instruction for middle school students exploring the impact of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) on human health. Using the highly adaptable zebrafish model organism (Danio rerio), our activities guide students through the process of asking a scientific question, developing and testing a hypothesis, and using evidence to draw conclusions. Finally, we provide recommendations for implementation based on our experience with both in-classroom and distance learning modes of implementation.

Data manipulation and statistical analysis are increasingly important learning goals for undergraduate biology majors, yet many biology students approach statistics courses with apprehension. We designed a set of activities to use engaging subject matter, bird feeder webcams located throughout the Western Hemisphere, to foster a growth mindset by gradually building on data analysis and experimental design skills, using the American Statistical Association's educational guidelines.

In biology class, climate change is relevant because of its impact on biodiversity. While the subject of climate change should be taught in science classes, problems with teaching it involve preconceived ideas that can create barriers. Instruction is also hindered by a lack of materials that support direct observation by students in both rural and urban areas. An inquiry-based approach incorporating phenology offers a possible solution to the problem, giving students the ability to observe climate change firsthand. Phenology is the practice of observing flora or fauna over a time period within a geographic area and recording seasonal changes. The data can be uploaded into the National Phenology Network for study purposes. This website also provides materials, lesson plans, and instructions for observing seasonal changes and connecting them to climate change, which can then be correlated to impacts on biodiversity. The Department of Natural Resources National Wildlife Federation also has material that can help the instructional process. When students are involved in direct observational activities, climate change moves from an abstract concept to a concrete phenomenon. Their new knowledge can empower students to try and make a difference at a local level.

This classroom activity showcases how a free website and app, iNaturalist, can be used to introduce students to inquiry while also providing them with an opportunity to explore the outdoors. Inquiry-based approaches are known to have positive impacts on student learning. In addition to this, teaching scientific concepts outside may improve student learning gains while also highlighting the great biodiversity that exists right in their backyards. This project allows students to generate and investigate their own research questions based on their local communities. Students gather observations on the local organisms, utilizing iNaturalist, and ultimately create a presentation to share their findings. The instructor can modify the length of the project and the level of inquiry to fit the needs of a specific classroom. This project can be repeated several times to promote an appreciation of nature. Students can transform into true ecosystem explorers.

While educationally beneficial, place-based learning can be challenging to implement in an applied forest ecology course that draws a diversity of students with limited forest experience. I describe a semester-long sequence of labs designed to instill place-based learning principles. The semester begins with an observational lab to develop an initial personal forest relationship, with future learning reinforcing and cultivating this bond. Forest-specific labs cover key applied ecology concepts while continuing to expand on students' place knowledge with an overarching forest management plan to provide real-world application and expression of understanding.