Teaching high-school students philosophy of science and conservation biology using an ecological workshop at school and in the field

The Spatial Ecology Lab studies the restoration of phosphate mines at Zin-Oron site, supported by the Israel Chemicals Ltd., which includes educational activities for high school and university students. We developed an ecological workshop to teach 5-units biology high-school students how to set up a scientific research, based on the philosophy of science’s principles, and use it to explore a restoration-oriented research question. Each workshop includes three meetings. The first meeting takes place at the school and covers: a. Scientific thinking and philosophy; b. System ecology and trophic interactions; c. Restoration ecology. Based on the information on the restoration practice, the students propose a research question, followed by a set of hypotheses (null, H₀, and alternatives, H₁, H₂) and their corresponding predictions. The second meeting takes place in the field and includes: a. Explanations on the geography and geology of the area; b. Data collection according to the predefined hypotheses and predictions; c. Tour at Hatira wadi to get familiar with the local fauna and flora; d. Exposure to biodiversity, by participating in bird banding or scorpions identification at Yeruham Science Center. The collected data are analyzed at school by the students with the assistance of their teachers, according to a clear step-by step protocol. The third meeting takes place at the school, where students go over the results and discuss, through the scientific elimination process, the final conclusions. We received high evaluations from the students and teachers, indicating that this workshop indeed goes in line with our key goals.