Baylor College
HIV/AIDS in the United States
In the final of five lessons about HIV/AIDS, groups create presentations to share data about the infection rates in the United States, examining demographic and geographic trends over the past ten years. Depending on how much time you...
Baylor College
Post-Assessment: And Now, What Do You Know About Microbes?
Your life science class works in their groups to review the concept maps that they have constructed over the course of a microbiology unit. They share what they have learned with the rest of the class. In a second session, they are given...
Baylor College
Challenge: Microgravity
What a festive way to examine what happens to the heart in different gravitational situations! Small groups place a water-filled balloon in different locations (on a table top, in a tub of water, and held in a vertical position), drawing...
Baylor College
Pre-Assessment Activity: What Do You Know About Microbes?
In an introductory lesson, youngsters take a pre-assessment quiz, get a grasp of a gram of mass, and then estimate the mass of microorganisms that live within a human body. Using Glo Germ™, a material that allows you to simulate the...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Personalized Medicine
Genetics learners read an article and watch a video about personalized medicine and the hope it holds for treating patients more specifically than doctors currently are able to. They research, design, and produce a brochure about the...
Baylor College
Energy for Life (Energy from Food)
Energy comes in many forms, but how do living things get the energy they need to survive and thrive? In a simple, controlled experiment with yeast, water, and sugar, groups make observations about how yeast reacts with water alone, then...
Baylor College
Milestones in Microbiology
Life science learners read a set of six short Discovery Readings that describe historical events in the field of microbiology. For each, they identify clues about when the event occurred and then they try to arrange events in...
Baylor College
Comparing Sizes of Microorganisms
Kids compare what printed text looks like with the naked eye and under magnification. They discuss the extremely small scale that must be used to measure the size. They learn about the micrometer unit, then draw scale models of a variety...
Baylor College
Magnifying and Observing Cells
Though it isn't a novel activity to prepare onion cell and Elodea plant cell slides as examples of cells in a microbiology unit, this resource will leave you thoroughly prepared. As pupils examine the slides that they prepare, they draw...
Baylor College
Heart and Circulation: Pre- and Post-Assessments
Middle schoolers demonstrate what they know about the structure and function of the heart and blood vessels. A set of 15 multiple-choice questions also addresses how the heart handles microgravity and how animals without circulatory...
Baylor College
Microbes and Disease
Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present...
BioEd Online
Muscle Fibers
What better way to learn about muscle than by dissecting one? Using cow muscle (beef), learners compare bundles of yarn to muscle fibers as they explore each. The supplemental reading about astronauts losing muscle mass in space and what...
BioEd Online
Serving Sizes
When it comes to eating a balanced diet, portion control is paramount, but what is the difference between the serving size on the nutrition facts label and a portion as determined by the USDA? In a comprehensive look at portion control,...
Baylor College
It Begins with the Heart
Aspiring anatomists label a photograph of a human heart by comparing it to a colored diagram on the same page. The video that is mentioned in the procedure does not seem to be available, but the overview provides plentiful background...
Baylor College
The Heart is a Pump
Circulate this news: the heart is a pump containing one-way valves! Following the previous instructional activity on the external structure of the heart, learners now take a look at the inside. They use a three-color diagram to label a...
Baylor College
What is Blood Pressure?
Find out how we describe the force created by the blood against the walls of the vessels in a heart-pumping instructional activity! As part of a unit on the heart and circulatory system, cardiology kids use a blood pressure monitor to...
Baylor College
Defending Against Microbes
In the preceding lesson from the unit, beginning biologists discovered that microorganisms are everywhere, so the question follows, why are we not sick all of the time? Class members read and discuss an article in small groups about...
Baylor College
The Variety and Roles of Microbes
Mini microbiologists play a card game in which they group microorganisms by groups: virus, fungus, protist, or bacteria. Then they identify the roles different microbes play in the natural world and explore how humans effectively use...
Teach Engineering
Household Energy Conservation and Efficiency
Are your household devices eating up a lot of energy? Pupils investigate household energy efficiency through a set of activities. They find ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce consumption. This is the 21st installment of a...
BioEd Online
Gravity and Buoyancy
Would a baggie filled with water have the same shape sitting on a table as it would in a bucket of water? Why not? Allow learners to find out first-hand the effects of gravity acting alone on the baggie, as well as when gravity is...
Baylor College
Why Circulate?
Lub-dub, lub-dub. Why does the heart beat? Why does blood circulate throughout the body? Life scientists find out how important circulation is for dissolving and dispersing materials by timing how long it takes for food coloring spread...
Baylor College
Examining the Heart
Break hearts with this lesson plan: chicken or sheep hearts, that is! Your class examines the external and internal structure of the heart with a dissection activity. A handy anatomy resource provides the necessary materials for...
Baylor College
Observing Different Microbes
Following directions from a colorful slide preparation card, beginning biologists examine three different live microorganisms: bacteria, yeast, and paramecia. This is not an unusual activity to do with your class, but if you are doing it...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...