The expression "hands-on, minds-on" summarizes the philosophy that students will learn best if they are actively engaged and if their activities are closely linked to understanding important biological concepts.
Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, proposes a High School Biology sequence with Hands-on, Minds-On learning activities in which the major biological concepts build in a logical progression. Topics and learning activities are not a complete biology course, but they provide a good basis for developing strong student understanding of a broad range of important biological concepts.