Curated OER
Breaking It Down
Seventh graders explain the mechanism of digestion. In this biology lesson, 7th graders perform an iodine test to check for the presence of starch. They discuss how energy travels through the food chain.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Got Lactase? The Co-Evolution of Genes and Culture
Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...
Curated OER
Gel Electrophoresis
High schoolers conduct a variety of experiments to explore gel electrophoresis. In this biology lesson, explain how this process separate DNA and RNA. They discuss the practical applications of this method.
Curated OER
Protein Coagulation or Denaturation
In this proteins worksheet, students compare the coagulation of egg whites and milk proteins and then complete 5 short answer questions. A protein coagulation quiz is also included with 5 multiple choice questions.
Curated OER
Jeopardy
High schoolers played a game of Jeopardy where there was five categories with five questions each in order to assess the retention of concepts taught over the semester. The categories included: Graphing/Summarizing/ Scientific Method,...
Curated OER
What's on Your Plate?
Students demonstrate the path of food in the body. In this biology lesson, students conduct an experiment to determine how large the the digestive system is. They name the different organs involved in the digestive process.
Curated OER
Lactose Intolerance
Students are taught how enzymes enable chemical reactions to occur a body temperature and how the lack of enzymes in the body can cause problems in the break-down and absorpion of nutrients. They match up different enzymes with the...
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There's Always Room For Jell-O
Students explore the breakdown of proteins. They cut wells in Jell-O and observe as the detergent digests the Jell-O. Students record their observations and take measurements.
Curated OER
From One End to the Other
Seventh graders become more familiar with how our food is broken down mechanically and chemically. They also trace the food through the alimentary canal.
Curated OER
Fly Forensics
Freddy's Friendly Fruit Market is under attack by fruit flies, and it is up to your aspiring biologists to solve the crime! By reading and analyzing the phenotypes, detectives determine which fly is responsible. This memorable assignment...
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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...
Curated OER
Activity #7 Apple Color Change
Students compare the different rates of reaction between an apple covered with vitamin C and an apple with no vitamin C. They compare the different rates of reaction between an apple placed in the sun and one not exposed to the sun. ...
Curated OER
Science Concept Maps
A collection of concept maps has some terms filled in and others left blank for young scientists to fill in. This library can provide you with many pop quizzes for all of your middle to high school science curriculum.
Curated OER
Determination of Phylogenetic Relationships Using Restriction Analysis
Students applied various mathematical analyses to interpret their data. By using the resulting DNA fragment patterns from several enzymes students established a possible evolutionary relationship among the mice.
Curated OER
COMPARISON OF FOUR-, SIX-, AND EIGHT-bp CUTS IN CALF THYMUS DNA
Students use this laboratory exercise, restriction enzymes to recognize a four-, six-, and eight-nucleotide sequence. Assuming that the four component nucleotides (A, C, T, G) are distributed randomly within a DNA molecule, then any...
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Ethyl Alcohol
In this ethyl alcohol learning exercise, high schoolers read about the characteristics of ethanol including the effects it has on the body when ingested and digested. This learning exercise has 2 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Saliva Lab
In this saliva worksheet, students conduct an experiment to test how saliva breaks down starches. Students complete 6 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Ingestion
For this ingestion worksheet, 9th graders fill in the blank about ingestion. Students relate the role of saliva, teeth, and the esophagus to their importance in ingestion.
Curated OER
The Cloning of Plasmid and Spinach DNA
Students will first extract genomic DNA from spinach and perform a restriction enzyme digestion on both the spinach DNA and the plasmid using the same restriction enzyme. They then ligate the cut plasmid DNA with the cut spinach DNA in...
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Cloning of Plasmid and Spinach DNA
Students ligate fragments of genomic DNA from spinach into a vector plasmid. They perform a restriction enzyme digestion. Student use a ligated DNA molecule to transform E. coli cells. Students analyze their procedures and outcome of...
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Comparison of Four-, Six-, And Eight-bp Cuts in Calf Thymus Dna
High schoolers investigate the use of restriction enzymes to recognize a four-, six-, and eight-nucleotide sequence. They utilize restrictive endonucleases to cut Thymus DNA and compare results by viewing the DNA fragments on Agarose Gel...
Curated OER
Selecting Soil Organisms in Compost
Students conduct an experiment to demonstrate that many of the enzyme systems needed to break down society's wastes exist in nature among the decomposers in a compost pile. They culture compost bacteria on starch agar to examine the...
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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
Cell Respiration Worksheet
Beginning biologists demonstrate their grasp on cellular respiration, photosynthesis, and energy flow though ecosystems when completing this learning exercise. Fifteen multiple choice and short answer questions test their knowledge....