Curated OER
Living in Extreme Environments: Havens on the Deep Sea Floor
Learners identify the characteristics of an extreme environment in the deep ocean and consider what organisms need to survive in these elements. They research sampling and data collection methods in this environment.
Curated OER
Generating Hypotheses & Experimental Design 2
An outline walks your scientists through the steps of the scientific process. It begins by taking a general idea and developing a hypothesis based on related factors. Each investigator then plans a method for testing the hypothesis,...
Curated OER
Using Blood-Typing to Determine Causes of Death in Surgery Patients
In this simulation activity, young biologists examine blood types to determine whether the death rate in a hospital was caused because of incorrect identification of patient blood types. You will need obtain and follow the procedures of...
Curated OER
Wildlife Sampling-Capture-Recapture
Seventh graders simulate the capture-recapture method of population sampling using beans. In this biology lesson, 7th graders calculate the total population of beans in the bowl. They assess whether this method is reliable or not.
Curated OER
Blood Typing Subunit
Students play the role of science detectives in an activity used to introduce the scientific method and the concept that blood is not identical and is identified by surface markers. Students must identify an unknown sample of "blood" by...
Curated OER
The Marvels of Mud
Young scientists roll up their sleeves and get a little dirty in this three-day earth science investigation. Following the scientific method, children monitor the growth of algae in pond water samples in order to determine the role that...
Curated OER
Generating Hypotheses and Experimental Design 1
Here is a thorough exercise in forming hypotheses for scientific investigations. Young scientists consider factors that may be related to the question they would like to address. They think through measurable changes that may result from...
Nuffield Foundation
Effect of Size on Uptake by Diffusion
Cell size is limited by the surface area to volume ratio, but why is this true? Scholars measure the surface area and volume of cubes before placing them into liquid. After a set amount of time, they measure the uptake by diffusion for...
Michigan Sea Grant
What's in This Water?
Pupils investigate the biological and chemical characteristics of water to determine where purple loosestrife occurs. They create data sheets to record water quality tests in several locations and work in groups to conduct the water...
Curated OER
Improving Literacy in the Biology Classroom via Genetic Disorders
Pupils read, write and reflect on Science articles, this approach will promote both literacy and critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills learned in the science classroom from these activities will impact students in many ways...
Curated OER
Soil Sample Lab 2
Students examine each soil sample and record observations. In this biology lesson, students design an experiment to test soil flow rate. They write a lab report about the experiment.
Curated OER
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Students explore how PCR works through various activities. In this biology lesson, students explain how PCR generate copies of DNA. They simulate the process using an online interactive website.
Curated OER
The Upper Palouse Restoration Project
Students become competent, to collect, record, and interpret information about a particular project they are undertaking. They apply the data and interpret them to analyze the environmental impact of a restoration project.
NorthEast Ohio Geoscience Education Outreach
Carbon Cycle
Using a jigsaw approach, earth science experts teach each other about the physical, biological, and geologic components of the carbon cycle, with a specific focus on the ocean.
Curated OER
Dinosaur and DNA Days
Biology stars extract DNA samples from beef thymus and then examine its properties. They use enzymes to digest the DNA samples, and then use electrophoresis to separate fragments. Finally, they discuss methods and principles of...
Virginia Department of Education
Organisms in Symbiosis
Searching for an activity that allows emerging biologists to explore symbiosis up close and personal? Pupils collect samples and view lichens through a microscope and conclude with a discussion about the relationship they have with other...
Curated OER
Hazards of Defrosted Food
Peas spoilage hot, peas spoilage cold: examine the bacterial growth on newly defrosted peas versus peas that have been defrosted for 24 hours. Using the session one questions in the "Microbes and Food Spoilage" PDF, learners will make...
Nuffield Foundation
Making a Streak Plate
Cultivate bacteria with a straightforward lesson featuring agar. Scholars create a streak plate on agar to ideally create colonies of bacteria or yeast that are growing separately from each other. The resource introduces the simplest...
Curated OER
Microscopic Water Life
Students use a light microscope to observe the organisms living in a sample of ocean or fresh water. Students create a drawing of the organisms that they observe. Students then discuss the different body plans of the organisms and the...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
DNA Profiling Activity
Everyone loves a good mystery ... can your class actually solve one? Partnered pupils take on the role of forensic investigators during a three-part activity focusing on DNA evidence processing. Learners discover the methods used to...
Nuffield Foundation
Following Gene Transfer by Conjugation in Bacteria
After the lab, you'll be able to solve this analogy: Natural selection is to vertical transfer of genes as ___ is to the horizontal transfer of genes. Young biologists conduct an experiment on E. coli bacteria to explore the process of...
Cornell University
Extracting DNA
Uncover the basics of DNA structure through exploration activities. Collaborative groups build DNA models and recreate the process of replication. Then, using plant cells such as peas or strawberries, they extract a DNA sample.
Curated OER
Who Took Jerell's iPod?
Young scholars investigate various substances to determine the perpetrator of a crime. In this biology lesson, students test for the presence of organic compounds in various samples. They identify an unknown substance based on its...
Curated OER
The Teaching of Biology and Difference
Seventh graders pretend they were Anton looking through the microscope for the first time. They describe the way he felt when he observed tiny moving objects in the sample of pond water. They look at their own samples of pond water,...