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What Does it Take to be a Survivor? Part One
Young scholars explore marine animal adaptation. In this introductory ocean life biology lesson, students access prior knowledge by participating in a whole class "thought swap." Young scholars form two lines, respond to a prompt from...
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Hydroponics
Students examine how to grow plants using a hydroponic system. In this hydroponics lesson students identify the advantages and disadvantages of growing plants hydrologically.
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Urban Ecosystems 3: Cities as Population Centers
Middle schoolers discover that throughout history cities have been centers of population but that human exploitation of fossil fuels was key to the growth of large cities worldwide. They research urban growth through a number of websites.
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Leaf ID and Leaf Bingo
Third graders explore the parts of a leaf and use a dichotomy key to identify leaves. In this biology lesson plan, learners study characteristics of various leaves and play a game of bingo to identify leaves by their traits. Students...
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Measuring Animal Sizes (and Relative Sizes in our Animal Environment)
Learners discover the actual size and weight of many insects and animals. In this biology lesson, students investigate animals and insects to determine their actual weight and size. In groups, learners create an animal or insect of their...
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Guetemala's Changing Forest
Eighth graders compare their local ecological zone to the tropical rainforest. In this natural ecology lesson, 8th graders complete an activity about the differences in ecological zones. They compare their biome to the Guatemalan...
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Hunting Invertebrate Fossils in the Classroom
Students acquire a general knowledge of fossils and paleontology, the study of evidence of life in the past and identify the major invertebrate groups (phyla) commonly found in the fossil record.
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Micronutrient Need Intervention
Students investigate the real world applications of nutrition. They study the problem of starvation and how it affects different populations. Students work in small groups in order to devise and intervention plan. They also search out...
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Electrophoretic Analysis: DNA Fingerprinting and Evolutionary Divergence
Students examine the principles of electrophoresis. They evaluate both the agarose and polyacrylamide system of molecular separation. In order to bring the concepts of genetics and evolution full circle from DNA to protein, students...
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Ecosystem Interactions in Refuges
Seventh graders, using national parks as models, illustrate the energy flow in ecosystems. Working in groups, they use murals, flow charts, or other visual displays to record their findings. Students represent the food chains and webs...
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Introduction To Plants
For this science worksheet, students complete a series of puzzles related to the subject of plants. They complete a reading and apply the information to measure reading comprehension.
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Auxin: Indole-3-Acetic Acid
Students identify auxins from their structural formulas. They understand the process of refluxing in chemical synthesis. Students perform thin layer chromatography using silica gel plates to differentiate chemical substances.
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Maine Black Bear Research and Field Study Activity
Students participate in a field study of Maine Black Bears. They first do academic research on the Maine Black Bear. Following extensive research and discussion, students go out into the field with Maine State Biologist to observe bears...
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Teaching about the Rainforest - Classroom Ideas
Students are introduced to the tropical rainforest through different ways that catch their attention such as: Visit a local botanical garden or conservatory so that students can see the variety of tropical plants in the world. They...
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Vertebrates
Students identify and describe five main groups of the Phylum Chordata. They discover that the Phylum Chordata is the vertebrates. Students identify the main difference between invertebrates and vertebrates. They read passages about...
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Living in a Tree
Young scholars explore animals that live in trees. In this nature and biology lesson, students go outdoors and make observations about animals and their unique body parts that help them to live in trees. Young scholars create drawings as...
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GPS Ecosystem (Ecotone) Scavenger Hunt
Learners describe the characteristics of an ecotone. In this ecotone lesson, students pick out their area and describe the visual appearance, conditions, ecosystem, biodiversity, predators, prey, and trees in their ecotone. They create a...
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Butterfly Life Cycle
Second graders explore biology. In this life cycle lesson, 2nd graders act out the stages a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. They spend days prior to this lesson observing caterpillars they have collected and developing...
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Biospheres
Second graders create models, practice inquiry skills, work with fellow students in teams, and reinforce concepts discussed in class all by using the theme of BIOSPHERES.
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Population Growth
Students grow duckweed, observe what happens when an organism population is allowed to grow without predation or competition, view videos about invasive species, and develop a proposal for controlling the growth of an invasive species in...
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Frogs Losing Ground
Students explore an exhibit through an interactive program on frogs. They can listen to the different sounds frogs make and the different types of frogs. They search for the types of frogs they find in their local area.
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Down, Dung and Dirty
Students observe the changes seen in succession and the biodiversity of a community through its species richness and evenness. They create a dung culture in a clear plastic cup from horse, goat or cow dung then observe the numbers of...
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DNA Sequencing Simulation
Students explore the Sanger sequencing method which produces a nested set of radioactive fragments from a template strand. They simulate the Sanger method of sequencing DNA, both visually and kinesthetically.
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Cell Energy Study Guide
In this cell energy worksheet, students answer questions about the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. They compare the two using a Venn diagram.