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Ocean Creature Classification
Students develop their own system for classifying a group of objects or organisms using observed similarities and differences. They investigate the process of scientific classification, and explain how marine organisms are classified by...
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Ocean Creature Classification
Students develop a Taxonomic Key for marine invertebrates from pictures they are given after practicing together with common objects, such as shoes. They then compare their key to a provided Ocean Invertebrates Taxonomic Key.
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Ecology and the St. Lawrence River
Ninth graders complete a unit of lessons on ecosystems, organism interactions, and energy flow. They create a key for known species of fish, diagram the movement of energy through an ecosystem, and create and present food chains and food...
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Diversity and Adaptation
Tenth graders explore structure, function and variation among species. Through field observations, lab activities and homework, 10th graders observe and record examples of adaptation and variation.
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A Tree of Life Activity
Students solve a mystery of the identification of a unknown organism by comparing its morphological characteristics to those in a tree of life classification poster. They compare the observable characteristics of the specimen and...
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Sequence Alignment
Young scholars explore the uses of sequence alignment. In this DNA lesson students complete several experiments on sequencing and algorithms.
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Understanding Cladistics
Students explore cladistics and create a cladogram of their own. They are shown how the scientist at the American Museum of Natural History use a method called cladistics to group animals. Students are asked how the animals (lion,...
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Gaia: The Wisdom of the Earth
Learners are introduced to Gaia theory of natural homeostasis. They graph Earth's temperatures over time, construct terrariums or monitor the outdoor environment. Related videos titles are suggested, but may be outdated. The objectives...
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The Birds and the Beaks
Learners explore the adaptations that birds have. In this adaptations lesson students view a video and create a concept map of birds and their adaptive traits.
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Molecular Approaches to Evolution
Students are introduced to working with molecular data. The first activity does both simulated and original data are used to compare amino acid, protein or DNA differences to construct phylogenetic trees or cladograms. These activities...
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Primate Classification 2006
Students examine groups of hierarchy and see how primates are categorized. In this primate classification lesson students view video and slides then examine the taxonomy of primates.
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Fun with Phylogenetic Trees
Tenth graders differentiate angiosperms and gymnosperms. In this biology lesson, 10th graders construct a musical phylogenetic tree from information they gathered on resource websites. They present their project in class.
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What's In A Name?
High schoolers create a binomial system of nomenclature for classifying organisms they encounter in a field trip to a natural history museum or from pictures in library books. They work in small groups to create accurate drawings and...
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Arsenic and Human Health
Ninth graders concentrate on arsenic poisoning as an example of the connections among health, geography, and geology as they develop a persuasive presentation about the dangers of arsenic in the drinking water, targeting a specific...
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An Automobile Phylogenetic Tree
High schoolers construct a phylogenetic tree for various automobiles and trucks after considering important characteristics of these "organisms". They work in small groups to construct the trees and complete a set of questions then they...
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Pseudogene Suite
High schoolers use Biology Workbench to explore DNA sequence data for the GULOP gene in humans, chimpanzees, orangutans, and crab-eating macaques and the beta globin gene and its pseduogene in humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees.
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Investigating the Biosphere With Planetary Models
Students create a biosphere using the computer program SImEarth. They work in small groups to create "Daisyworld" in which they model aspects of the Gaia hypothesis. They form a question to answer and choose variables to investigate in...
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Prehistory Web Quest
Sixth graders identify how geography and climate determine the lives of early hominids, the characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies, how animals affected the lives of early hominids, and how hominids overcame their physical...
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Build-A-Bird
Students create an imaginary bird. In this anatomy lesson, students analyze how artists represent birds historically, then determine the anatomical aspects that suit a bird to its habitat. Using this information, students create an...
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The Chromosome Connection
Learners evaluate the degree of chromosome similarity and difference between humans and apes. Students infer about the relationship between a human and ape based on similarities found.
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Nuts & Bolts: is Classification, Arbitrary, Or Not?
Students, in groups, classify furniture, share their categories and rationales, then note how their different schemes vary, perfectly logical and useful, but completely arbitrary.
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Investigating the Biosphere with Planetary Models
Learners model the biosphere and manipulate variables affecting change and plan their experiments with the help of others. They describe their question, hypothesis, and methods of investigation.
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What's Living in My Mouth?
Young scholars articulate in written and oral formats that bacteria can be found living everywhere. They explain in written and oral formats why the immune system is necessary. Students are presented with an opportunity to see bacteria...
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Grouping Dinosaurs
Students investigate sets and subsets as they group coins and dinosaurs. Using scissors and provided sheet, they sort dinosaurs according to their commonalities. Their groupings are shared with the class.