it’s too cluttered. Simplify it. Do it again.” Most of the time, their reactions are unprintable. After the third submission, I show them collections of NSF, NIH, and journal referee commentaries, all of which are contra- dictory. We then discuss strategies for keeping one’s sanity in these conditions. The Oral Communication week is the most trau- matic. Acting as a committee of the whole, the class has to give a freshman biology lecture—to 300 fellow students. Each Honors student has to speak for about seven minutes. Afterwards, we discuss scientific communication, professional meetings, speaking under stresstul conditions, and public speaking techniques. During Day with the Pros week, pairs of students spend a day with a surgeon, a vet, and a pathologist. The task is to see how much science these people use in their daily professional activity, considering that almost the whole of each pro’s training was in science. The students are amazed at the small amount of science they see compared to business, psychology, and running around. To balance this, we spend some time on a research trip conducted by the local & aquarium. At the end of the semester, we review some of the great scientific discoveries which have been docu- mented in human terms, such as the discovery of the DNA double helix by Watson and Crick. By the time the course is over, science has been thoroughly demy- thologized, but it has been humanized; and the stu- dents have a fairly good picture of what a scientist actually does with his or her time. we?” Frank Heppner, Honors Professor, Zoology For further information, contact the author at Univer- sity of Rhode Island, Department of Zoology, Kingston, RI 02881. Reprinted from National Honors Report, 7 (4): 24-25, 1986. OOOO A Lake Study in the Classroom After teaching field-type ecology courses for almost 30 years, I was asked to develop a two-semester, non- science major, freshman biology course. Since I couldn’t think of a more important group of students with which to work, I accepted the task with enthusi- asm. I soon realized that the hands-on type of lab approach I had been using for so long would present a challenge in the confines of four walls, with only electrical and water outlets connecting me with the outside world. I decided to bring that world inside. First, 1 bought an eight-section walipaper mural and placed a mid- south hardwood forest on one wall of the lab and posted outdoor scenes on the other three walls. At least we had something to look at and talk about. Next, i decided that we needed a real lake in the lab, so I went to a local park and took slide photos from the top of the watershed down to the very edge of the lake. I then borrowed a fresh water ecology exercise from the U. S. Forest Service (Investigating Your Environment Series, 1976) and modified it to fit my students’ needs. Sooey I begin the lab with a succession of slides of the lake, as if we were walking down the hill to the water. We discuss signs of beaver activity and weather conditions; we ask—"“Is the lake a natural or a man-made commu- nity?”; we look for evidence of possible fishing activity and what that implies; and so on. The students take notes as though we were on an actual hike. Then students turn their attention to an aquarium stocked with the necessary flora and fauna to complete the study. With the necessary tables provided, the stu- dents can estimate the dissolved oxygen and pH of the water. Once the students have made their observations and recorded their predictions, they check their work with a relatively inexpensive Hach Water Test Kit. I find that the students and teaching assistants enjoy the experience, and we all get to spend a couple of hours “out of doors” as well. This simple activity could be expanded or modified to investigate soils, sand dunes, forests, deserts, or any other habitat. The emphasis is on the scientific method of observing, recording, hypothesizing, and testing. Neil A. Miller, Professor, Biology For further information, contact the author at Memphis State University, Memphis, TN 38152. Suanne D. Roueche, Editor August 23, 1991, Vol. Xill, No. 16 ©The University of Texas at Austin, 1991 Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. e, INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.