Tag: worksheet
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Penny Lab: Soap and Surface Tension
Most science classes begin the year with an exercise on the scientific method. It can be difficult to plan a short activity that will reinforce the main ideas of developing and testing a hypothesis. This lab is simple and doesn’t require much in the way of materials: pennies, water, and pipettes (and paper towels for…
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Cell Cycle Labeling
Students label the image of a cell undergoing mitosis and answer questions about the cell cycle.
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Graphing Hand Span and Height
This exercise illustrates the difference between bar graphs and scatter plots and walks students through the process of representing data they collect.
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Color the Parts of a Microscope
Students read text that describe the parts and functions of the microscope and ask them to color the parts as they read.
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Microscope Labeling
This simple worksheet pairs with a lesson on the light microscope, where beginning biology students learn the parts of the light microscope and the steps needed to focus a slide under high power.
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Measuring Biodiversity Using Beans
Students analyze a community of beans (pinto, lima, navy) to determine the richness, abundance, and biodiversity index of two communities.
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Random Sampling
Students model how field biologists would use a sampling technique to estimate the number of sunflowers in a field. First, they choose 10 plots at random by choosing paper slips, then take the average of those plots. The worksheet walks them through the steps of then using the average and the overall size of the…
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Color and Label the Nephron
Practice labeling the nephron with this reinforcement activity. Students can also color the image to identify the major structures of the nephron: glomerulus, bowman’s capsule, proximal and distal tubules, loop of Henle, collecting duct and capillaries. This was designed to go with a larger unit on how the urinary system and kidneys help the body…
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Niche Partitioning – Gorongosa Phenomenon
Explore niche partitioning in Gorongosa with this interactive graph and activity.
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Ecology Lesson on Trophic Cascades
This year I decided to change the way I teach the last unit of the year, which is ecology. Our textbook is really old, and not aligned to NGSS. The lessons followed a familiar “old-school” pattern: take notes mainly about definitions, do an activity or lab, then take a quiz. This year, I wanted to…
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DNA, Proteins, and Sickle Cell
In this activity, students use a codon chart to compare the DNA sequence of HbA (normal hemoglobin) to HbS (sickle cell). The DNA differs in a single base, where the codon for normal hemoglobin codes for glutamine, and the mutant form codes for valine.
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Genetic Crosses with 2 Traits with Rabbits
Beginning biology students can struggle with dihybrid crosses and setting up Punnett squares that have two traits. When tackling this concept, make sure students are familiar and competent with basic genetic crosses and setting up Punnett squares for a single trait. For example, a tall (Tt) plant is crossed with a short plant (tt). Once…
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Sheep Heart Dissection
Students use this dissection guide to learn the anatomy of the heart, using a sheep as a model. The sheep heart is similar to a human, and students can identify the major vessels: aorta, pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, and the vena cava. The guide includes instructions on how to determine which side of the heart…
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Comparing the Amniote Egg to the Placenta – Coloring
Color the amniote egg of a chicken and compare to the development of a human embryo.
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Photosystems and Chemiosmosis Coloring
Use this coloring worksheet to explore how plant cells harvest energy form the sun to generate ATP in the process known as chemiosmosis.