Curated OER
pH Potential
Pupils experiment to determine the positive and negative impacts of human activities on environmental change. They examine how physical and biological processes such as decomposition affect soil characteristics while looking at the pH of...
Curated OER
Water Quality
Students play the role of scientists testing for water quality in the area. In this ecology lesson plan, students determine the water sample's pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. They write a journal reflection after the...
Curated OER
Benthic Macroinvertebrates
Students survey and describe a stream ecosystem. They sample the benthic macroinvertebrate populations of a given stream and determine community structure through the use of the Chandler Index and a species diversity index.
Curated OER
Hardy-Weinberg Problems Tutorial
High schoolers are tested on their ability to solve mathematical problems dealing with the Hardy-Weinberg principle. There are 7 basic types of Hardy-Weinberg Problems which are randomly chosen by the program. Students sit at the...
Curated OER
Exploring the Uses of Beaks
Students explore the uses of bird beaks in the wild by participating in experiment stations. In this bird adaptation lesson, students work in groups and complete experiment stations that represent different types of bird beaks. Students...
Curated OER
Water Quality Survey: Monitoring the Sustainability of Pigeon Creek
Students research the History of Pigeon Creek (or any watershed in your area). For this environmental science lesson, students conduct field tests such as pH and nitrates. They collect data and compare what they collected with other groups.
Curated OER
Marine Biology Lesson on Understanding the Dynamics of the Reef Ecosystem
Students compare data from a healty and unhealthy reef ecosystem. In this marine biology lesson, students identify which sample is stressed. They formulate a hypothesis on why the reef is stressed and support their hypothesis with proven...
Curated OER
Selecting Soil Organisms in Compost
Students demonstrate that many of the enzyme systems needed to break down--and therefore clean up-society's wastes already exist in nature among the decomposers. They select the best starch-munching organisms by altering the environment...
Curated OER
Separating Soil from Dirt
You can use these lesson ideas to teach students about the importance and ecology of soil.
Curated OER
"Conducting a Watershed Snapshot of Blockhouse Creek"
Students examine specific skills in assessing water quality from a holistic approach. They assess the health of a local watershed and identify problems in the local watershed and suggest remediation.
Curated OER
More Basic Biotechnology Tools, Sorting & Copying DNA
You can use these slides to explain the many complicated steps of the Polymerase chain reaction. The diagnostic and forensic uses of gel electrophoresis are detailed. This PowerPoint could be used to communicate facts, and also to prompt...
Curated OER
The Adverse Effects of Birth Control on the Female Anatomy
Focus on terminology of the female anatomy and the various functions of each organ with a study on the pros and cons of birth control effects. This lesson plan provides a list of strategies to teach this concept for both female and male...
Nuffield Foundation
Extracting DNA from Living Things
Help! Someone's trying to take my DNA! An interesting lab experiment has scholars use basic materials to extract DNA. By applying ethanol, cold water, and a protease enzyme, like pineapple juice, they pull strands of DNA from peas,...
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 15
What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...
Curated OER
Extracting DNA from Your Cells
Three steps are needed to extract DNA from learners' inner cheek cells. The procedure and reasons for each step are explained. As enzymes work on the cells, a series of questions are answered regarding the structure of the DNA molecule....
Biology Junction
Population Genetics
Genetic variation shows the health of a population, yet cheetahs show very little variation over that last 10,000 years. Scholars learn the importance of genetic variation in populations after viewing an informative presentation. It...
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
Digestion of Starch: Microbes
Sugar isn't good for you, but it's great for microbes. A simple experiment has pupils investigate the digestion of starch by microbes to produce sugars. They apply two bacterial cultures, an amylase solution, and distilled water on a...
Curated OER
The Good and Bad Bacteria
High schoolers are able to name one kind of harmful bacteria and why it hurts us and also name one kind of helpful bacteria and how we use it. They describe the process of growing bacterial cultures in a lab. Students create a reasonable...
Curated OER
Investigating What Makes Fruit Go Brown
Is there anything that can be done to slow the browning of fruit once it has been cut? High schoolers determine the answer through five different investigations involving apples, potatoes, and chemical reactions. After each experiment,...
Cornell University
Optical Simulation of a Transmission Electron Microscope
Don't have an electron microscope? Have your classes build the next best thing! A hands-on instructional activity asks scholars to build a model of Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). They then use their models to identify the...
Curated OER
More Basic Biotechnology Tools
You can use these slides to explain the many complicated steps of the Polymerase Chain Reaction. The diagnostic and forensic uses of gel electrophoresis are detailed. This PowerPoint could be used to communicate facts, or to prompt...
Curated OER
DNA Fingerprinting
Students discuss methods used by forensic scientists and the basics of DNA and how it can be used to identify an individual after reading an article from The New York Times.
Nuffield Foundation
Biodiversity in Your Backyard!
Take your enthusiastic ecologists outdoors to explore the biodiversity right in their own schoolyard! In preparing for this activity, it may be worthwhile to research websites with local flora to help in the plant identification portion.