Until new materials are available that reflect the conceptual shift in teaching required by the Next Generation Science Standards, teachers will need to evaluate existing materials and consider strategies for adaptation. In this article, we demonstrate one strategy for evaluating pre-NGSS curricula to bring them into alignment with the NGSS Framework. To do this, we retrospectively analyzed materials from a high school capstone course in ecology that were developed prior to the advent of the new standards. Based on this analysis, we recommend some general steps to help teachers consider how to adapt materials they are currently using. We believe that this evaluation and adaptation process can also strengthen teachers' understanding of the Framework and its implications for teaching, for student learning, and for assessment.

Ecology may be seen as one of the main topics of biological education as it functions at the interface of several other aspects of biology. Although it may easily be conveyed through field trips and hands-on activities, it is taught theoretically most of the time and in traditional ecosystems like forests or lakes. For this study, new teaching material has been developed that demonstrates the exploration of more special or “atypical” ecosystems in biology classes. It combines working in a local vineyard with hands-on elements for school. By exploring a human-made ecosystem, which is different from those traditionally used, students gain content knowledge and get to know scientific methods. In our case study, students' learning progress, motivation, and enjoyment of learning were measured. The results indicate that teaching at an out-of-school learning site as well as working with hands-on materials not only has a motivational effect but also increases enjoyment of learning. Furthermore, neglected ecosystems like vineyards serve as new and fitting examples for teaching ecological and plant-biological topics. The results indicate a significant learning gain for the participants. Thus, biology curricula should be broadened to include more and local plants and ecosystems.

Students will test Madagascar hissing cockroach's capacity as a vector for transmission of microorganisms. By comparing a cockroach exposed to human contact (handled by students) and a cockroach with limited exposure (not handled), students can assess the ability of cockroaches to transmit microorganisms from one location (hands) to another (agar plate where the microorganism will be grown). This will allow students to determine if the Madagascar hissing cockroach, the classroom pet, is a potential vector for microorganisms. Students then will be able to question and relate the concept of insects and objects as vectors for common pathogen transfer.

As the world's population grows, sustainable food production and consumption has emerged as a complex biological problem. Managing this problem will require informed action by all citizens, which necessitates heightened comprehension of complicated quantitative datasets from multiple sources of information. This makes it imperative that undergraduates develop quantitative skills and information literacy in the context of biology. This laboratory module provides a framework for conducting discovery experiments that examine the resource demand (i.e., water use) of cultivation methods (compost-based, hydroponic) and their impact on the nutritional value of microgreens. Students use experimental and published data to compare the nutritional value and resource demands of microgreens to that of vegetables produced on industrial farms. Quantitative analyses culminate in critical thinking and discussion through which students come to a consensus on the potential of microgreens to be a sustainably produced crop that serves human nutritional needs.

In this inquiry-based lab, students are provided with a case study involving a young boy with a head injury exhibiting various symptoms, as well as simulated blood and urine samples to help diagnose the boy's disease. Throughout the course of the lab, students research, design, and conduct a series of tests culminating in a patient prognosis. All of the materials, which simulate the blood, urine, and testing compounds, are readily available at the grocery store or online. This real-world problem engages the students to think about negative feedback systems, patient symptoms, the hormones associated with blood glucose levels and urine production, as well as the detection techniques employed by physicians to diagnose patients. Diagnostic methods, testing procedures, and the disease itself make this lab extraordinarily relevant to the lives of students, as evidenced by our students' reactions to the lab.

To engage students in applying scientific process skills to real-world issues, we implemented a service-learning project model in our undergraduate introductory biology course for science majors. This model illustrates how we integrate inquiry inside and outside of the classroom through four steps: service, learning, classroom, and community. Out-of-class activities engaged students in serving the community (Service step) while deepening their learning experience beyond what they would learn in a classroom (Learning step). To connect the service-learning project with scientific process skills, students were asked to identify problems that our community partners were trying to solve, identify proposed solutions, and design ways to evaluate those solutions (Classroom step). Additionally, students connected their service-learning topic with core concepts in Biology. After their service, students used metrics to analyze their impact. Students then synthesized the connection between their service, learning, and classroom projects by presenting their findings to the scientific and lay communities through a poster session (Community step). Here we provide details of the model, recommendations, and examples for others to execute an inquiry-based service-learning project.

In traditional microbiology laboratory activities, different strains of bacteria are exposed to UV radiation for varying lengths of time. This article provides information that expands on these activities (or uses them alone) with Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism with which to study the effects of UV radiation. These activities might be used in an introductory class to teach students the basics of working with C. elegans. In cell biology and microbiology classes, students might learn about how UV radiation can damage cells and cause cancer. These activities can also be used to teach the students about how genetic background can affect the sensitivity to UV radiation. In the laboratory, the students design their own activities by altering the parameters of the basic UV radiation experiment. By performing these laboratory activities, students will learn about UV radiation and about all parts of the scientific process.

We outline a set of experiments that engage students in testing the effects of readily available household chemicals on maize seed germination and shoot growth, with three alcohols as examples. Proposing possible experimental outcomes, exposure to quantitative approaches, data recording, and the statistical analysis of data provide students with an experience that reflects the nature of modern scientific investigation.

Phenology refers to the seasonal changes in activity and abundance observed in both plants and animals. This article highlights two animal groups, aquatic insects and frogs, in which phenology can be observed, using data collected directly and via databases. Effects of climate change on phenological patterns are also discussed.

Developing classroom activities that help promote students' ability to synthesize and evaluate mechanisms of organ formation is important for their life-long learning in the life sciences. Here, I present several techniques that engage and gauge (engauge) students in middle school science outreach and undergraduate college settings by using normal development of the zebrafish heart. The zebrafish heart is used as a scaffold for enabling students to explore how developmental principles can inform heart repair and regeneration, as well as mechanisms that underlie heart abnormalities, such as cardia bifida (split heart). These strategies set the framework for future investigations into how instructors can engage their students in the process of scientific inquiry.