Introduction.Science is a process that seems to be given lip-service and then forgotten. ..Imagine that a teacher three hundred years ago sat down with a group of students under a tree. .."Students, I am going to tell you all I know about this subject. ..It will only take an hour, and then we will spend the remainder of the year rubbing our chins, scratching our heads while wondering what this means and trying to extend our knowledge a little further." ..A generation later, one of those students became a teacher. ..The story repeated itself in all respects but one: ..it took a day, rather than an hour, to tell the students all that was known about that subject. ..Of course, one of those grew up to be a teacher, and the day became a week. ..Successive students became teachers; the week became a month, and then a half-year... ..Near the end of the 1800's it took the whole year to tell all that was known about that subject. ..That left no time for the process of science - rubbing chins, scratching heads and wondering why the world was the way it was. ..Today, it is impossible to tell all that is known about a subject. .. The big problem now is "what can I leave out!?" ..Alas, what has already been left out is training in the process called "science."

..... This author was one of two founders of the first lower division biology course WITH A LAB at the prestigious University of California at San Diego. ..The course was entitled: .."An Introduction to Biology as an Experimental Science." .. As an experiment in pedagogy, the Biology Department wisely mandated that approximately one-third of the course must deal with things that are not known for certain. ..That is where the cutting edge of science is located. ..It is there that the process of science - exploration and discovery - can be experienced by the students and the teacher.

..... Is this 'cutting edge' beyond the grasp of high school teachers - not to mention their young students? .. No! ..Very emphatically NO! ..This universe is so full of unanswered questions that even little children can embark on a project for which no one has the answer. ..As this web-site evolves, more and more projects for little children will be presented. ..Many will be exercises - a word used to denote something that is to be done perhaps many times before but is used to hone technique. ..Those projects that are new to science, and upon which students (and, hopefully, their teachers or parents as collaborators) make discoveries that are new to science, will be appended with the word "PUBLISH!"

..... This author has long had the fond thought that some high schoolers would be involved in a project that catches the attention of younger siblings, who want to "help." .. Some of the projects given in this web-site will mention things younger ones can do that would be valuable to the overall endeavor. ..Yes, maybe a seven-year old can be a co-author!

..... Anyway, in the linked experimental extensions, the student and teacher can use the AP Biology lab experience as a foundation to go further forward, and, perhaps run into questions for which there is yet no answer. ..For example, what all the texts tell about transpiration cannot explain the existence of plants more than 40 feet (35 m) tall! .. Yet trees are beckoning young minds to discover their mysteries.

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