No abstract

The Indian rhinoceros or greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and, therefore, captive individuals have been subject to the European Endangered Species Programme since 1990. Enhancement of welfare is key in ensuring the breeding success of this species in captivity. Salivary cortisol has been recently used to assess welfare of captive and free-ranging animals. Nevertheless, rhythms of cortisol secretion may fluctuate throughout the year and therefore, knowledge of the circannual pattern of cortisol secretion is essential to evaluate the physiological significance of seasonal variations of cortisol levels as an indicator of stress in animals. Here, we analyse monthly differences in cortisol secretion in two Indian rhinoceros. Saliva samples of two rhinoceros were collected and analysed by radioimmunoassay for the period of one year to determine cortisol concentrations. We found a seasonal pattern of salivary cortisol secretion. The highest cortisol concentrations were found in August and decreased until reaching a nadir in January. Cortisol concentrations in these two animals showed a correlation with temperature and visitor numbers but it is not possible to draw conclusions from this study as to whether the variation in cortisol was due to these or other factors.

Pre-service primary teachers mostly have negative attitudes towards science teaching and learning, and their science background is usually low. This usually results in them feeling unable or unconfident to teach science at school. A previous step to improve their willingness to teach science to children is that they feel they can learn in-depth any science core idea. To do that, a course conducted as oriented-research about a core science problem was developed and used to evaluate the influence of their previous science background and initial attitudes towards science teaching and learning on content knowledge attainment. The chosen science idea was about diurnal astronomy (Sun movements and the Sun/Earth model). Content knowledge attainment was assessed using learning indicators, which represent what pre-service teachers should “know” and “know how” on this science core idea. Overall, pre-service teachers achieved high learning levels on this topic, and no significant differences in content knowledge attained by students according to both initial attitudes and science background were found. This suggests that this teaching methodology could be useful for pre-service teachers to achieve a thorough knowledge on science core ideas, which is considered to be an important step to improve their willingness to teach science at the primary school. Keywords: astronomy education, science content knowledge, teacher education.

The measurement of salivary cortisol allows non-invasive assessment of welfare in captive animals. We utilised this technique to test the effect of zoo opening on six Asian elephants and two Indian rhinoceros at the Terra Natura Zoological Park, Alicante, Spain, during pre-opening, opening and post-opening periods. Salivary cortisol concentrations were found to be significantly higher during the opening period than during pre- and post-opening periods for both species. This method could prove a useful tool in monitoring the success of decisions taken to improve the welfare of captive animals.

Despite of the importance of practical work for learning science as well as the nature of science, labwork often transmits an atheorical and empiricist view of scientific research and it is framed like a cookbook-style lab, that is, as a sequence of instructions students must follow with serious shortcomings from the methodological point of view, (i.e.: lacking of hypothesis, absence of inductive and deductive critical thinking). We show how this situation might be overcome by a guided-inquiry-based chemistry education where different kinds of practical work can be integrated in a coherent way within the learning of concepts, models and "paper and pencil" problems. As an example, we transform a conventional "labwork sheet" about the rate of a chemical reaction (sodium thiosulfate with hydrochloric acid) in a problematized sequence of activities, including detailed educational comments for each one of them.