Teach Engineering
Corn for Fuel?!
Can corn power the world? Young scientists learn about how corn and other plants can provide renewable biofuels in the second of nine lessons. They set up an experiment to investigate how different variables affect plant growth. All of...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Yin and Yang of Photosynthesis: Day vs. Night
Floating fragments of elodea can grow even without roots. Young scientists use eldoea plants to observe the oxygen production from photosynthesis. They study the difference between having access to high amounts of light and low amounts...
Cornell University
Bacteria Take Over and Down
Bacteria outnumber all other forms of life on Earth. Scholars observe the growth of bacteria in petri dishes to understand their role in maintaining good health. Then, they observe the growth of bacteria after they introduce...
Channel Islands Film
Island Cattle Ranching
Is cattle ranching on Santa Rosa island viable or non-viable? Rather than focusing on the issues of the transition of Santa Rosa island from a privately owned island cattle ranch to a national park, class members are asked to consider if...
CK-12 Foundation
Sex-Linked Inheritance
Sex-linked traits indicate a gene's location on a specific chromosome. Scholars learn about sex-linked traits and the specifics behind color blindness in the videos. Then they complete the online interactive to apply their knowledge...
CK-12 Foundation
Modern Genetics
Genetic counselors advise their clients on the chance of passing specific diseases on to their children. Pupils learn about genotypes, phenotypes, and genetics in the lesson. Matching activities, multiple-choice questions, and a...
NOAA
What Killed the Seeds?
Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...
University of Minnesota
Dendritic Spines Lab
This is your brain on drugs ... literally! Your neuroscientists-in-training examine the evidence of drug use on the human brain and how neurons change their connectivity when altered by drugs. They then work together to create testing...
LABScI
Genetic Equilibrium: Human Diversity
Investigate the Hardy-Weinberg Principle to explain genetic equilibrium. The 10th lesson plan of a series of 12 is a laboratory exploration of genetic equilibrium. Your classes use a mixture of beans to model allele and genotype...
Teach Engineering
Grow Your Own Algae!
Develop a model of a wastewater treatment center. The last activity of the unit has pupils mix a lake water sample into a tank of water containing fertilizers. Over time, the algae from the lake water grows and removes the nutrient-rich...
Exploratorium
Salty Pits
Yuck, does my deodorant kill that? To test whether deodorant is anti-bacterial, class members use petri dishes to grow control bacteria and bacteria from sweat, and then compare them to see if deodorant effects the growth.
Kenan Fellows
The Effects of Environmental Conditions on Aquatic Organisms
What kind of experiment can your class do to how observe the environment effects on organisms? Groups design and conduct lab experiments to learn about the effects of the environment on aquatic organisms. Based upon knowledge gained from...
Kenan Fellows
Microorganisms in Pond Water
That is living in the water? Groups of two to three view pond water with microscopes in order to find microorganisms. They draw pictures of the ones they find in their slides. The groups compare their drawings to pictures of common pond...
University of Florida
Investigating the Fungus among Us
What do you call a fungus that writes music? A decomposer! Here, young biologists explore fungus by tasting fungus (blue cheese) to creating art with fungus to playing a board game centered around, you got it, fungus. Surprise scholars...
BBSRC
Discovering DNA: The Recipe for Life
A pinch of adenine, a dash of thymine and ta-da, you have life! Well, it's not quite that simple, but through this series of activities and experiments young scientists learn about the structure of DNA and how it contains the recipe for...
University of California
Plankton
Plankton: so much more than just a SpongeBob character. Three different activities have kids looking at both phytoplankton and zooplankton in pictures, as well as collecting their own samples (depending on your access to a saltwater...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Icefish Adaptations
What adaptations exist in order for icefish to survive the subfreezing temperatures of the Antarctic Ocean? Middle and high schoolers can find out through watching a related 13-minute video and performing a simple investigation to...
BioEd Online
Butterflies in Space
How does gravity affect the life cycle of a butterfly? Learn first-hand what types of investigations astronauts perform in space by following along with one of NASA's experiments. Create butterfly habitats in the classroom with specific...