Craig A. Berg

Zebrafish as a Model System for Environmental Health Studies in the Grade 9–12 Classroom

Developing zebrafish embryos were used as a model system for high school students to conduct scientific investigations that reveal features of normal development and to test how different environmental toxicants impact the developmental process. The primary goal of the module was to engage students from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, with particular focus on underserved inner-city high schools, in inquiry-based learning and hands-on experimentation. In addition, the module served as a platform for both teachers and students to design additional inquiry-based experiments. In this module, students spawned adult zebrafish to generate developing embryos, exposed the embryos to various toxicants, then gathered, and analyzed data obtained from control and experimental embryos. The module provided a flexible, experimental framework for students to test the effects of numerous environmental toxicants, such as ethanol, caffeine, and nicotine, on the development of a model vertebrate organism. Students also observed the effects of dose on experimental outcomes. From observations of the effects of the chemical agents on vertebrate embryos, students drew conclusions on how these chemicals could impact human development and health. Results of pre-tests and post-tests completed by participating students indicate statistically significant changes in awareness of the impact of environmental agents on fish and human beings In addition, the programs evaluator concluded that participation in the module resulted in significant changes in the attitude of students and teachers toward science in general and environmental health in particular.

A guide to writing a scientific paper: a focus on high school through graduate level student research.

This article presents a detailed guide for high school through graduate level instructors that leads students to write effective and well-organized scientific papers. Interesting research emerges from the ability to ask questions, define problems, design experiments, analyze and interpret data, and make critical connections. This process is incomplete, unless new results are communicated to others because science fundamentally requires peer review and criticism to validate or discard proposed new knowledge. Thus, a concise and clearly written research paper is a critical step in the scientific process and is important for young researchers as they are mastering how to express scientific concepts and understanding. Moreover, learning to write a research paper provides a tool to improve science literacy as indicated in the National Research Councils National Science Education Standards (1996), and A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2011), the underlying foundation for the Next Generation Science Standards currently being developed. Background information explains the importance of peer review and communicating results, along with details of each critical component, the Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Specific steps essential to helping students write clear and coherent research papers that follow a logical format, use effective communication, and develop scientific inquiry are described.

Preparing and Hiring Exemplary Science Teachers

(1995). Preparing and Hiring Exemplary Science Teachers. Kappa Delta Pi Record: Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 80-89.

Minnows as a Classroom Model for Human Environmental Health

ABSTRACT Understanding human environmental health is difficult for high school students, as is the process of scientific investigation. This module provides a framework to address both concerns through an inquiry-based approach using a hypothesisdriven set of experiments that draws upon a real-life concern, environmental exposures to lead (Pb2+???). Students learn how scientists use model organisms to understand basic biological concepts, and how these models relate to human and environmental health. Students observe how Pb2+ alters fish behaviors. Because many levels of biological organization are involved, this module has application for multiple units within general and advanced biology classes. Beginning with what is known about Pb2+ toxicity, students develop testable hypotheses about how it may affect behavior, apply this knowledge to human populations, and identify the “next experiment.”

Acid Thunder: Acid Rain and Ancient Mesoamerica.

THE SOCIAL STUDIES uch of Mesoamerica’s rich cultural heritage is slowly eroding because of acid rain. Just as water dissolves an Alka-Seltzer tablet, acid rain erodes the limestone surfaces of Mexican archaeological sites at a rate of about one-half millimeter per century (Bravo et al. 2003). A half-millimeter may not seem like much, but at this pace, a few centuries of acid rain is sufficient to destroy paintings, frescoes, and other fine detail in ancient art and architecture (see figure 1). The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee is collaborating with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to study acid rain at Mexico’s archaeological sites. One product of this research is an interdisciplinary educational supplement designed for middleand high-school classrooms, called Acid Thunder: Saving El Tajín from Acid Rain. The supplement is in the form of a Webquest, an inquiry-oriented exercise focusing on analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, for which the Internet is the primary information source (Dodge 1995). The Webquest requires no specialized computer hardware or software, only an Internet connection and a Web browser.

Lights, Chemicals, Action: Studying Red Worms' Responses to Environmental Contaminants

Abstract 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 animals 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.

Villi, Villi Everywhere: Biological Structures, Surface Area, & Proportional Thinking

ABSTRACT We present an activity that models the teaching of content knowledge that transfers to many areas of the life sciences and simultaneously targets growth in cognitive development. The activity provides students with concrete objects and thinking expenences that facilitate an understanding of how surface area, in the context of biological systems, is a critical and common factor in life-supporting functions. Alveolus structure and gas exchange in the lungs, nephron structure and water retention in the kidneys, villus structure and nutrient absorption in the small intestine, and root-hair structure and nutrient absorption in plants are all biological examples in which surface area plays a key role in living things. In addition, this activity incorporates components that engage students in thinking about proportional reasoning, as many students lack the proportional thinking skills needed to fully understand this structure/function relationship or to transfer the relationship to a new, but related, situation.