Search results for: “system”
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Investigation: Stride Length and Bone Lengths
This activity is intended to introduce students to spreadsheets while also reinforcing concepts learned in the unit on the skeletal system. While graphs may be easier to create using google sheets, student can still create graphs by hand using graph paper. Your class will need a set of meter sticks or rules to…
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Investigation: Estimating Population Size
In this investigation, students simulate how mark and recapture techniques are used to estimate population size. Prepare populations in advance by gathering 60-150 small objects, like toy spiders, beans, or beads. Toy animals seem to be more exciting for students, and you can sometimes find them at dollar stores. In my class, I…
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How to Use a Spreadsheet to Create a Graph
High school teachers often assume that their students know how to use basic word processing programs, internet browsers, and spreadsheets. My students come to me with very little knowledge in how to do advanced tasks in those platforms, like inserting a graph or image. I created this assignment to give students an introduction into…
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Manipulate DNA in a Simulation to Explore Mutations
This activity uses a simulation from the Concord Consortium. It shows how DNA is transcribed to RNA and then turned into a protein. It’s a very clear animation and can be used on its own as part of a lecture on protein synthesis. I have even used this as a demonstration to show protein folding…
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Color the Cellular Structures of the Ameba
This worksheet describes the structures of the unicellular protist known as the ameba. Though NGSS standards do not require units on protozoans, this can still be a useful exercise for examining how structure relates to function and how single-celled organisms move, consume food, and reproduce. What is the amoeba? An amoeba is a type of…
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Color a Typical Prokaryote Cell
This worksheet is similar to the animal cell coloring and the plant cell coloring, where the focus is on structures found in the cell and how those structures relate to the cell’s function. Students read a short passage about prokaryotes and the two kingdoms of bacteria: archaeabacteria and eubacteria. The passage includes information about…
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Practice Problems: Genetics and Blood Types
This worksheet provides students with practice problems on multiple allele traits, specifically on how blood types are inherited. The problems focus on the ABO blood groups and students are asked to perform crosses where parents’ blood types are known. For example, if one parent has type O blood and the other parent has…
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Investigation – Animal Behavior with Isopods
An isopod is a crustacean with a segmented body and seven pairs of legs. They are commonly known as pill bugs, roly-polys, or woodlice. Isopods are found in a variety of habitats, including soil, under rocks, and in decaying wood. They are detritivores, meaning they eat dead and decaying matter. Isopods are an important part…
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Food Web: Identify Consumers
Food webs are basic concepts in biology and ecology, where students learn the concept of energy flow in an ecosystem by viewing models of food webs. This labeling worksheet asks students to identify the primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers in a forest ecosystem. A food web is a representation of the complex interrelationship between…
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The Anatomy of the Kidney and Nephron
This coloring worksheet asks students to color the kidney to identify where structures like the medulla, cortex, renal vessels and ureters are located. Another image focuses on an individual nephron to identify the glomerulus, proximal and distal tubules, and the Loop of Henle. This worksheet is intended for advanced students of anatomy. Students will…
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Compare a Human and Chimpanzee Skeleton
This handout can be used in discussions on the evolution of bipedalism or in any unit on the skeletal system. Students label the bones of the skeleton and make comparisons between the forelimbs, hind limbs, and pelvis. I created this handout to compliment an evolutionary lesson and video from HHMI on the “Origin of Humans”…
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Investigation: What Factors Affect Lung Capacity
In this investigation, students use balloons and rulers to estimate the vital capacity of lungs using test subjects within the class. To perform the test, subjects take a deep breath and blow into a balloon. The diameter is measured and a graph is used to estimate the volume of air expelled based on the diameter…
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Inquiry in Genetics Using Wisconsin Fast Plants
Genetic Experiments can be intimidating for teachers due to the time and cost of breeding plants or animals in a classroom. These issues are further complicated in a public school setting which may have space issues, limited funds, and lack of access to labs. My favorite model for genetic experiments is the Wisconsin Fast…
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Comparing a Human and Avian Skeleton
Students often learn the bones of a human skeleton in health, but biology class can reinforce these lessons by comparing the human skeleton to that of other vertebrates. In this case, students color the skeleton of a bird and a human according to the directions. The colors will illustrate how many of the bones…
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What Does a Bird’s Beak Tell You About Its Diet?
In this activity, students examine images of birds and make inferences about the bird’s diet and lifestyle based on the shape of their beaks and legs. Birds are very diverse in their habits, spear-shaped beaks are used for fishing, short stout beaks are used for cracking seeds, and the curved beaks of raptors are used…