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In this contribution, we focus on the application of a didactic game in pupils´ understanding of the concepts associated with the topic metabolism in chemistry lesson. Didactic games could be classified into basic educational categories. We look at a possible classification of games structure and methodology of its use. The essence of the paper is the second part, which consists of a specific example of a didactic game. The principle is to describe a concept without using keyword aimed at fixing of metabolism concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with mapping teachers' awareness of citizen science and their experiences with the use of projects with elements of citizen science in teaching process. The survey involved 63 primary and secondary school teachers with one of the science subjects in approbation. The results show that although the phenomenon of citizen science is terminologically unknown to teachers, they already have some experience with projects of this nature and their involvement in teaching seems interesting to teachers. Even regarding the results of the survey, one of the aims of the paper is to present the phenomenon of citizen science and its specific projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasion ecology was established as a science of invasion of animals and plants in the beginning of the second half of the 20th century by English ecologist Charles Sutherland Elton (1900-1991). Rapid development of the field of ecology is evident since the end of last century and following decades of 21st century. The paper deals with current development, diversity of concepts and hypotheses, including critiques of invasion terminology, invasion species concepts, introduced species as bad species and xenophoby appeared related to aliens as invaders. Invasion biology was an attempt to integrate alien animals and plants reseach into one science. In last decade new science of invasions is developed, characterized by multi- and interdisicplinarity, supported by social and economy sciences. To facilitate generalisations, and to improve the link between science, policy, and management, numerous frameworks have been developed in an attempt to unify different concepts and definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes one of the progressive forms of innovation of the educational process through the implementation of a QR code on worksheets in biology. QR code as a new technology is already accepted and fully used in biology. A part of mobile education (m-learning) is also the application of innovative methods and tools that develop students' key competencies. Emphasis is placed on the real work of students, the use of digital technologies, Internet literacy, the strengthening of interdisciplinary relationships and the elements of informal science education. The educational application of QR codes increases the attractiveness and demostrativeness of Biology lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the pupil's ideas of the concept of the "Human nervous system" at primary school with an emphasis on the identification of misconceptions. The theoretical starting point, which enables basic orientation in the issue, is work focused on pupils 'ideas, namely misconceptions (misconceptions of the curriculum) and preconceptions (pupils' imperfect ideas about the concept). The research tool for identifying the pupil's ideas of the concept was a phenomenon interview. The research sample consisted of pupils in the 7th grade of primary schools. The participant sample was selected on the basis of deliberate selection. At the end of the paper we present the identified misconceptions of the examined concept on the basis of a qualitative analysis of the obtained data and recommend conclusions for the pedagogical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in the paper discusses the use of the sociometric-rating questionnaire as a tool for determining pupils' status in the classroom. Individual pupils in the classroom form other classmates in their class and, from the teacher's point of view, these relationships in the classroom must be properly characterized. The aim of the paper is to highlight the possibilities that the questionnaire brings and the ease of its processing. The teacher's reward will be an explanation of many relationships and causes of pupil behavior in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of the research aimed at identification of pupils' misconceptions about skeletal and movement system in the seventh grade of elementary school. As a research tool we used the phenomenological interview, which we conducted with 20 pupils of three different elementary schools. Based on a qualitative analysis of the results we identified four types of pupils' predications. In this paper we concentrate only on pupils' misconceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the attitude of teachers to teaching Earth sciences. Several researches focused on the popularity of the subject Natural Science (Biology) show that it is in the 8th year of primary schools and the 3th year of the eight-year grammar school that the subject of Natural History (Biology) is the least popular. Slovak teachers of biology prefer the curriculum in the 6th grade and that the curriculum in the 8th grade of primary school not interesting for them. Many authors found that the attitudes and knowledge of pupils to palaeontology is influenced by the teacher. In our research, we focused on determining the popularity of Earth science curriculum and the use of region geological sites by teachers. The main aim of the research was to examine out the attitude of teachers to geological sciences and whether teachers at primary schools and grammar schools use geological localities of their region to teach in the 8th grade of primary schools and in the 3rd year of eight-year grammar schools. There statistically significant (p < 0,001) is difference between attitudes of teachers over 40 there have more positive attitude have as do younger teachers. Research suggests that of older teachers over 40 carry out more frequent excursions or field trips at geological locations than their younger colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." (Alvin Toffler a Fortune Magazine writer and futurist) The focus of education ceases to be the idea of acquiring knowledge itself, but the development of learning quality, learning ability, and the creation of a good foundation for lifelong learning. The general aim of the educational process is to continuously support and guide the learner to knowledge and to provide him with the best possible conditions and diversity of strategies to acquire the necessary competences, as well as to create a learning habits which are the basis of the lifelong learning. Nowadays, we increasingly hear about the challenges of education, geared to developing and evaluating key- and global competences. 21st century skills such as problem solving, communication, collaboration and digital literacy are underlined. There is, therefore, no doubt as to what direction the education should go, but there is great uncertainty as to how to reach learning objectives and how to effectively assess the outcomes and the progress of the learning process. Therefore, the classroom assessment of the 21st century is more about the assessing a set of multiple skills, attitudes and knowledge, that is, competences. Based on the theoretical analysis of literary sources, the paper describes the perspectives and challenges of classroom assessment strategies in terms of the requirements and visions of the 21st century with regard to science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the creative implementation of digital technologies with added value in education. We created interactive worksheet in the SPARKvue software into the chemistry excercises with mobile devices and wifi PASCO sensors. The interactive worksheet is the new digital environment for teachers and student that allows to guide, control and assess cognitive process in education with digital technologies. More precisely, we are focusing on teaching using the IBSE method within the subject of: Discovering the influence of the pH of soil on the successful growth of plants using the pH sensor. The realization of the kvalitative research was done on two levels of IBSE, the guided and the structured inquiry. We realized qualitative research in high school on the 82 respondets. The research focused to the specific added value of PASCO sensors and the software environment SPARKvue. We identify some aspects of added value of technology how is: mobility, scientific accuracy and efficiency in experimental work, interactivity and the possibility of implementing formative assessment tools to inquiry based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic, which is becoming increasingly important in geographic education - the local landscape geography is very suitable for the application of various innovative methods and forms of teaching. However, the teacher often does not have sufficient information and teaching materials of acceptable quality about the local country. The use of electronic textbooks with appropriate multimedia and interactive content is practical for the teacher and more interesting and engaging for pupils than using a printed textbook. The aim of the paper is to present the electronic interactive textbook of the Upper Pohronie regional geography and evaluate its applicability by the EvaluEdu tool (Karolčík et al., 2012). The textbook is not only a good source of information about the region, but also a database of specific interactive tasks, ideas for school projects and examples of innovative and unconventional geography teaching of the local region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is oriented on the determination of a degree of scientific literacy of university students of natural sciences at graduate level, applying the methodology TOSLS. By quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results of testing, we found out that students have the lowest level of knowledge in skills related to recognition of characteristic features of the scientific research, as well as with the evaluation of the credibility of the source of the scientific information and with interpretation of the quantitative and statistical data. The results also revealed the differences in scores between the single-discipline and double- subject (a teacher) study programs. On the basis of the achieved results, we present in the paper the conclusions and recommendations for the teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time experimenting with school digital equipment is considered one of the promising ways in order to teach and learn science effectively. Better availability of school computer measuring systems for our schools makes this modern approach a real alternative to traditional laboratory work of students. One of the most valued benefits of this technology is real-time graphing that provides student to "see" and even to "feel" the connection between a physical event and its visual representation. This paper deals with the implementation of a biological process with a biochemical background - alcohol fermentation - into the secondary school laboratory. The paper provides an excerpt of student worksheet supplemented by the notes for teachers that were designed by European project acronymed COMBLAB (No. 517587-LLP-1-2011-1-ES-COMENIUS-CMP). The structure of presented activity is inquiry guided and follows the three-step sequence of POE (Predict-Observe-Explain). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current problem of pedagogical theory and practice in the teaching of science education subjects is the concretization of the constructivist approach in teaching. One of the possibilities of its successful implementation is active discovery of pupils through activities aimed at meaningful learning of natural concepts. In the paper, we present our experience with the verification of activities to prevent misconceptions of the selected themes big ideas "Cell" and recommendations for educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the authors try to bring the reader closer to understanding the concept of LUMINISCENCE of organic compounds from a physico-chemical point of view. The structure of luminiscent substances, called luminophores, as well as various luminiscence subtypes according to source of excitation energy are described. Interesting application fields, including firefly lightening, laundry brightening or detection of blood traces in criminalistics, are explained. Moreover, the phenomenon of luminiscence in determination of biomarkers and identification of pathogens in diagnostics of diseases is mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas chromatography is an analytical separation method, which has since its invention in 1952 developed rapidly and has become one of the most widely used analytical techniques in the field of the environment, industry or medicine. The paper briefly presents the history, principles, instrumentation and some applications of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One form of cooperative learning know as „learning at stations“ has become quite popular in Germany in the past few years among secondary school level science teachers. The learning at stations is one of the forms of opened teaching. The method leads the students to be active, offers students a number of different stations in the classroom where they can choose to work. This paper describes the learning at stations methods and illustrates its use with various sample lessons that were developed and tested. We found out that students mainly prefer the tasks that support their motion and personal creativity, what markedly influenced also information retention. On the other hand, the least favorized activities were those, which were conditioned by information searching in scientific literature because of time limitation. Pupils predominantly remembered utility of poisonous plants and its possible intoxications. They positively responded to group work that promoted their cooperativity, communication and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the exploration of smoking and alcohol dependence among secondary school youth. The group consisted of 208 students of grammar schools in the Bratislava region. As a research tool, we chose the questionnaire method. We applied a standardized questionnaire to be used in the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD) regularly every four years, in Slovakia since 1995. Our results were compared with ESPAD measurements in Slovakia in years 2003 and 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with determining the level of adoption of selected biological concepts in the curriculum of the 9th grade of primary school. As a specific tool it was used the didactic test oriented on verification of the degree of a mastery of knowledge and skills of pupils. In the test there were used teaching tasks comprising the cognitive areas: memory acquisition, understanding, reasoning, analysis, argumentation and application. The results of qualitative and quantitative analysis were processed in the conclusions and recommendations for teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today the labor market offers wide range of job opportunities in the IT area. At the same time, there is an increasing demand from employers to employees outside this area for user skills like capability to orientate in various digital environments - databases, software for creating projects or to work with digital imaging and analytical means. It is important to show pupils of secondary schools an example of using mentioned digital means in various fields of work, before they will choose direction of their further study and future profession. In this paper, we offer few ideas which enable pupils to look into these environments from biology perspective and to try simple tasks which also help them to better understand the phenomenon about they are just learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with didactic research, where we investigated the level of knowledge of 6th grade students of elementary school. As a research tool, we used a non-standardized knowledge test in two versions - I, II. The tests reflected the biology curriculum around the sixth grade, topics: The life of man in human settlements; The basic structure of life; Living organisms and their structure; The construction of the body of plants and fungi; Physique invertebrates. The test results have undergone some quantitative and qualitative analysis. In this article we analyzed what mistakes the students commited solving the test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric materials are considered as modern materials of present and future. Experts are constantly looking for new optimized processes for their degradation, recycling and distribution, so that they would not represent a serious ecological issue. The paper aims to support the experimental activity of students by using commercially available products. We present three school experiments that point to potential processes of biopolymer production, hydrogel degradation and disintegration of packaging fillings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years in the field of science education the attention is focused on innovative approaches, such like the inquiry-based science education (IBSE). The main goal of IBSE is to prepare students for their future career by developing and improving their skills to face problems critically, design procedures on how to solve them, realize the designed procedures, process and analyze gained data and draw conclusions based on evidence. Within the national project VEMIV there was a pedagogical experiment designed and carried out. In the paper there is a test of inquiry skills aimed at monitoring the level of inquiry skills development introduced as well as there is an analysis of the results in the field of physical tasks presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, inquiry activities are often more repeated notion not only in scientific community but also in public. Inquiry-based activities provide a wide range of application for the active work of students, developing their creative skills and increasing their level of scientific literacy, as evidenced by many domestic and foreign studies. Within the project Chain Reaction, activities which enable the active participation of students in scientific research are tested. The project targets 14- to 16-year-old students who in groups investigate a research problem and then present their findings and experiences at national or international events. Aim of this paper is to outline the strategy for the use of research activities within the project Chain Reaction through practical demonstrations created activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the improvement in reading literacy by using selectively targeted process and methodical work on highly specialized texts in the field of Ecology, aimed toward high school students. The extent to which this methodically directed work, based on the use of scientific texts, influences the development of basic reading skills; the level of retention, comprehension, and analytical thinking had been monitored and fully analyzed. The conclusions in the research had been supported with the multitude of empirical data. The results had qualitatively shown strong applicability of the method as an effective teaching tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic approved the National education program for upper primary schools to start from 1. 9. 2015. Within the innovation, the framework curriculum and the educational standards for the subjects biology has been changed. In this paper the authors compare the currently valid public education program for elementary schools for the subject biology and an innovative public education program, specifying the changes that have occurred in the subject of biology and justify the proposed changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with determining the level of adoption of selected biological concepts by the pupils at the last year of grammar school. The research was the subject matter of the theme "Cell biology and general properties of the living systems" within the frame of the school-leaving standard for the biology. As a reference tool we used the criterial achievement tests, evaluated by quantitative/qualitative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern education implies a fundamental change in the role of teacher and pupil in favor of participatory teaching. The real transition from transmissible to modern teaching requires a new approach to designing instruction that begins teaching objectives. In this context, the aim of this paper is: - for example, biological education summarizes the essential characteristics of the learning objectives in terms of participatory education with an emphasis on cognitive objectives, - highlights the possibility of using Bloom's revised taxonomy of objectives when designing lesson and diagnosis rate of adoption of biological curriculum students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on results of research aimed at the opportunities for developing of pupils' creativity in biology teaching. The impact of proposed activities to develop pupils' creativity, we investigated the implementation of the experiment in two classes of fifth grade of primary school in the teaching of thematic unit Life in water and on shore. The results of research shows that designed activities to develop pupils' creativity in factors fluency, flexibility and originality. Therefore, we believe that the content of the State curriculum program provides the space for introducing creative activities in order to develop creative thinking of pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactive exhibits and science toys are the basic means of hands-on science education. They can readily be applied at science lessons at primary and secondary schools and this way they make the lessons attractive and enjoyable for children. Therefore we use science toys in various subjects in chemistry teachers' education. Presented paper shows some of the interactive teaching tools used at lessons of Physics for Chemists, Physical Chemistry and Science Communication. In a playful way the toys introduce properties of liquids (density, viscosity, and surface tension), optical properties (refraction, absorption and polarization of light), and chemical equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mrs Jane Marcet (1769 - 1858) was the 19th century's foremost communicator in science (chemistry, physics, botanics), but also in economy, history, geography, religion, and even grammar. Mrs Marcet was a prolific author and wrote dozens of books, but remained famous especially for her first book Conversations on Chemistry (1806). Inspired by the famous lectures of Humphry Davy, Mrs Marcet decided to explain chemistry in a straightforward and clear way accessible to young ladies. Conversations on Chemistry became one of the most important books in chemistry and ran to 16 editions in the UK. It is estimated that 160,000 copies were sold in the USA alone. This paper provides a short biography of Mrs Jane Marcet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports a review of biology textbook for 8th grade of primary school and the third year of an eight-year high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present outputs and materials of the project Aqua -- "Water and Life -- model applications and ideas to teach biology at the secondary schools". Materials offer to techers of biology and ecology a variety of ways, how to make education more modern and interesting. The objectives of developed materials are to teach students about relationships between biotic and abiotic factors and to highlight the importance and vulnerability of the aquatic organisms in order to increase the environmental awareness of young generation, which would lead to a better and more responsible behavior towards nature and natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]