Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cracking Codes and Ciphers

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore different codes and ciphers including Morse Code, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and the Alphabet. They discuss how and why codes are used. Students create their own code and message to exchange with classmates.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Did You Get the Message?

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders investigate the concept of coding in everyday life from past to present in an audio activity using Morse Code. They study the mechanics of the genetic code.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Should Humans Be Cloned?

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students explore links on the Internet to collect facts about cloning then prepare an essay on their findings. In this research writing lesson students examine how to include their opinions on what they have found in their research. 
Handout
ProCon

Obesity

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Is obesity a disease or just a preventable risk factor for other diseases? Scholars attempt to form their own opinions by reading a background of the issue and watching videos that explore the main pro and con arguments using an included...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Human Origins: The Prehistoric Human Race

For Teachers 9th - 12th
When it comes to the origin of the human species learners are full of misconceptions. Clear up the hominid confusion with this evolutionary activity focused on assisting students in understanding prehistoric man and his family tree....
Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Dendritic Spines Lab

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This is your brain on drugs ... literally! Your neuroscientists-in-training examine the evidence of drug use on the human brain and how neurons change their connectivity when altered by drugs. They then work together to create testing...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Breaking News English: Laboratory-Created Eggs and Sperm

For Students 5th - 10th
For this English worksheet, students read "Laboratory-Created Eggs and Sperm," and then respond to 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scientific Advances Could Bring Back the Dodo & Mammoth

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students reflect on the possibility of bringing extinct species back to life.  In this ESL lesson, students debate the pros and cons of extinction reversal then complete several activities centered around the topic.
Interactive
National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training (Spain)

Ministerio De Educacion: La Base De La Herencia 2 Bachillerato

For Students 9th - 10th
This unit discusses the following topics: cloning, transgenic, gene therapy, genetic code, human genome and DNA replication. It contains 19 interactive activities.
Handout
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Nature Versus Nurture Revisited

For Students 9th - 10th
Which dictates our existence? Is it our genetic makeup or the environment we grow up in? Kevin Davies offers an update on this long-standing debate, from the NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" Web site.