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Curriculum Development > High School 9-12 > Comprehensive Programs > BSCS Biology: An Ecological Approach > Miscellany

BSCS Biology: An Ecological Approach

BSCS Green Version, ;10th Edition (introductory biology: Kendall/Hunt Publishing 2006)

The Instructional Theory Underlying Green Version's Design

Green Version's design is based on the following instructional hypotheses:

Students who are actively engaged in the learning process are the most successful learners.
Inquiry is central to active learning. Inquiry refers to the process by which scientists obtain and evaluate new information.
Learners benefit most from concrete learning experiences before trying to understand abstract concepts in science.
Learners must reconstruct knowledge as if it were entirely new to them.
Learners attempt to build onto their existing cognitive framework.

Implementation Support

Both BSCS and Kendall/Hunt are committed to teacher education and development. BSCS offers implementation support through the publisher, Kendall/Hunt, including workshops. These are conducted by BSCS staff or Green Version teachers who have been approved as trainers by BSCS. Kendall/Hunt offers an incentive program for defraying the cost of training. Contact Kendall/Hunt for more information and schedules.

Reviewer and Teacher Comments

"With respect to science process skills, two manuals (BSCS Blue and BSCS Green) had an activity among those reviewed where students were asked to pose the question to be investigated in the lab."

"With the exception of BSCS Blue and BSCS Green, lab manuals are not providing opportunities for students to formulate useable questions, plan experiments,, communicate results (other than short answers to questions), or coordinate and implement a full investigation as recommended by the science education standards."
--Germann, P.J., Haskins, S.S., and Auls, S.V. 1996.
Comparing features of seven high school biology
laboratory manuals. The American Biology Teacher (58)2: 78-84.

"This is not a factoid book, but a book of applications. It gives the students the opportunity to apply what they are learning. I love the way the text is organized. With the concept mapping, the student understands the 'what, where, when, and why' that gives the student the ability to find out the 'how.'"

--John Chipley, Everett Alvarez High School, Salinas, California

This project originally received funding from the National Science Foundation