With innovative and original ideas developed by the author and tested in his classroom and in his department, many lessons are inquiry modifications of traditional "cookbook" labs that  biology teachers will recognize. This book's goal is to encourage teachers to model the process of converting existing curriculum ideas to more effective active learning designs--essentially taking what teachers know already and giving them ideas for special lesson twists.

A perfect resource to introduce standards-based inquiry and constructivist lessons into the classroom, the lesson entries provide a pool of active learning lessons to choose from, and they offer valuable tips on how to implement them. Many of the lessons include student handouts for ease of classroom use.