Search results for: “Search”
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Podcast – Good Vibrations and Treehoppers
Introduce your students to the world of science podcasts! Listen to a short audio clip on treehoppers and how they use sound to attract mates.
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My Remote Toolbox
My school announced that the fall school year will start as remote learning due to wide scale community spread of Covid-19. I would much rather teach and person, but I do understand the concerns of parents, teachers, staff, and other community stakeholders. Note: Many of the activities I created for remote learning I still use…
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Jim Allison: Breakthrough
The film, “Jim Allison: Breakthrough” can be streamed through online platforms, like PBS or from Amazon Prime Video. Teachers can sign up for a free license at https://www.breakthroughdoc.com/for-educators The film is 1 1/2 hours long, which is longer than most class periods, and many teen attention spans, so I split the worksheet into two halves.…
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Evolution of Caffeine
In this activity, students access a database called UniProt that provides information about protein sequences derived from genome sequencing. Students search for the protein sequences of three plants that produce caffeine, Camellia sinensis, Coffea arabica, and Theobroma cacao (tea, coffee, and cocoa). They compare the protein sequences to determine if the gene to create caffeine arose independently…
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Pedigree Analysis – AP Bio
Designed for biology students studying genetics. Determine the inheritance pattern for human disorders, like Tay-Sachs or Marfan Syndrome.
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Anatomy and Physiology Lesson on Tissues
Phenomenon based unit where students examine the case of a child with the epidermolysis bullosa.
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Falling Cats – CER
Students practice Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) while examining the relationship between falling height and cat injuries. The graphs show that cats who fall 2-7 stories often suffer more injuries than cats who fall from greater distances. Not much information is given about how the data was collected, though the original source is included, I…
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DataClassroom
High school biology classrooms often lack the time and resources to do long term studies and data collection that researchers engage in. Luckily for us, many projects make their data available for use by schools. Organizations like HHMI and Data Nuggets have created student resources that focus on analyzing real scientific data. One of these…
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Exploration: An Inquiry Activity on the Dubia Roach
A short activity for day one in the science class. Give students a live animal to observe, like a dubia roach. They write observations, questions, and make inferences to share with the class.
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Genetics of Chicken Combs
The combs of chickens are controlled by four alleles, which interact to produce four distinct phenotypes: single, rose, pea, and walnut. In this exercise, students predict the outcomes of chicken crosses. Ideally, students should already know how to do crosses that involve two traits, the mechanisms for solving these problems are similar. My honors biology…
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African Elephant – Change Over Time
Students read about how elephant populations declined over a century due to the ivory trade and how international laws attempt to protect elephants. A video shows how female elephants in some areas have evolved the tuskless trait in response to selective pressure from poaching.
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The Tardigrade Project
This project was created for AP Biology students where they scrape lichens from trees near campus and filter them over night so that tardigrades and other microorganisms can be collected from the water.
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Mitochondria, DNA, and the Aging Process
This short article was designed for anatomy and physiology students studying the cell. The class focuses on how disease states can often be traced back to problems with cells. Senescence, or aging, has been linked to a build-up of mutations in mtDNA.
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Science News Articles for Kids
Are you looking for current science for your students? This is a list of go-to sources for reliable science news.
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Case Study: How Do Tibetans Survive High Altitudes
Based on the Berkeley website: Understanding Evolution, this version focuses on the how the body maintains homeostasis at high altitudes. This involves increased production of red blood cells to improve oxygen supplies to tissues. Tibetan populations have adapted to high altitudes by producing fewer red blood cells which improves fetal mortality rates. Case looks…