In the basic biology of high school, the observation of phagocytosis by hemocytes can be easily observed by using lepidopteran insects following the method of Sawa and Nakamatsu (2014). However, when we conducted a questionnaire survey of students in the class, several students answered that they could not find phagocytosed blood cells by themselves. In order to provide students with materials and methods that allow them to make their own observations, we focused on materials that emit fluorescence, and examined the types of foreign substances and experimental conditions that are suitable. As a result, the most suitable experimental condition for teaching was the use of yellow fluorescent ink diluted 500 times with physiological saline and a reaction time of 15 minutes. In addition, blood cells that showed phagocytosis to fluorescent ink could be easily observed by installing a flashlight-type UV light in the microscope. It is thought that students can easily observe the blood cells that show phagocytosis by finding fluorescent foreign substances in the dark field using only UV light and then recognizing the outline of blood cells in the light and dark fields using both halogen light and UV light.

In order to realize Society 5.0, an intelligent and futuristic society, a new form of science education is required in Japan. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been published and the STEM Law has been enacted. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) promotes education reform in order to maintain and develop international competitiveness in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In this study, in order to extract suggestions for education reform in Japan, we analyzed six types of biology textbooks from three textbook companies with high market shares in the United States. We investigated how NGSS changed biology textbooks. It became clear that textbooks in the United States are divided into two types: those that are greatly influenced by NGSS, and those that are not. The influential textbooks incorporate many STEM activities. In this study, we analyzed the teacher’s edition of these textbooks. As a result, we discovered to what extent the new textbooks incorporate engineering and technological content, scientific and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts which are the core elements of NGSS.

In this study, to shed light on status quo of teaching Ecology as secondary education, we conducted a questionnaire survey by focusing on Biology class teachers at high-schools in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan on December 2018. We also analyzed the experimental contents of Ecology in text book of high-school Biology authorized during 2016 to 2018. Question items consist of the following four categories; feedback to contents in the textbook, materials used in classroom lecture, implementation status of experience-based learning, educational background of teachers for Ecology and specific subjects for the class. The answers are summarized as follows: Though teachers want to make more opportunity to do experience-based study in the outdoor field, it is difficult for both students and teachers. There are limited materials provided online or via museum, which is suitable to use in high-school education in Japan. Also, experimental contents in text book, which is actually used in the class is biased in the limited cases. There are several cases in which, teachers prepare original field work course based on their experience or skills. Here, we suggest the following counterplans: development of material for high-school students and increase an opportunity to expand the teacher’s original ideas about experience-based study outdoor in high school Ecology.

Kindergarten teachers to support interactions between children and animals often use honorific titles such as “san,” “kun,” and “chan” to refer to animals. The results of a questionnaire survey of 83 teachers showed that honorific expressions were used in 60.5% of the three types of interaction situations between children and eight different types of animals. The frequency to use of honorific expressions was higher in situations in which the child was playing nicely with the animal and in situations in which the child was bullying the animal than in situations in which the child was interested in the animal’s ecology. In terms of the aim of using honorific expressions, teachers were aware of the development of children’s respects, feelings of friendliness, and feelings of compassion for organisms.