NOAA
What Killed the Seeds?
Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...
University of California
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science instructional activity, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over...
NOAA
Off Base
How does carbon dioxide affect the world's oceans? The final installment in a series of six lessons has pupils research ocean acidification, then conduct an experiment to witness the delicate balance that exists in our seas. Materials...
Nuffield Foundation
Working with Immobilized Enzymes or Microscopic Organisms
Let the lab be a catalyst to learn about enzymes. Scholars create alginate beads filled with yeast. As part of an investigation into enzymes, they see how these beads provide a catalyst to the reaction of glucose into ethanol.
Curated OER
Fishy Behavior
Here's a lab that may make you rethink that morning cup of coffee. Biology scholars test the effects of caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine on the behavior of zebrafish through an intriguing experiment. Learners observe fish behavior before...
Curated OER
You Gotta Have Heart: Congenital Heart Defects and Heart Surgery
Assess anatomists' understanding of the structure of the mammalian heart by giving a pretest. Have them visit some websites to further learn about heart anatomy. Then take them into the laboratory to perform a dissection so that they get...
Curated OER
Modeling African American Scientist Ernest Just's Experiment on Parthenogenesis
A multicultural science lesson, students read a brief biography of Ernest Just and create a talk show in which they will perform an experiment after Just's work. With this lesson, students are taught to appreciate the contributions made...
Curated OER
DNA on Stick
Students experience a "hands-on" activity to get visual evidence of the physical nature of DNA and the process of DNA purification. They explore one method of chromosomal DNA isolation and DNA extraction.
Virginia Department of Education
Scientific Process and Experimental Design
The scientific method keeps you from believing only what you want to believe — it expands your mind. The activity introduces the eight steps in the scientific process and how to design an experiment to biology scholars. Live insects...
Curated OER
Genetically Modified Food (GMF)
Explore genetically modified foods through various experiments. In this biology instructional activity, students discuss the safety issues related to GMF's. They conduct a PCR analysis to identify the presence of genetic modification.
Virginia Department of Education
The Germ Theory and Koch’s Postulates
Explore the history of cholera and its effect on society with your biology class. Young biologists will then proceed to grow their own germs, prepared from live cultures, and follow the steps of the scientific method to generate data....
Curated OER
Teen Driving: Skills, Responsibilities and Reactions
As an introduction to the skills required for and responsibilities of driving, pre-teens and teens engage in a series of activities, chart their response times, and analyze how variables effect these reaction times. Class groups use the...
Curated OER
Organic Farming / Agriculture
Want an organic farming resource packed with experiments, background information, science fair projects, and topics of interest for further research? Here it is. Young environmental scientists can explore concepts involved in organic...
Curated OER
Algae Experiments
Students describe the characteristics of algae. In this biology lesson, students perform a series of experiment to explore algae. They investigate the basic things algae need to survive.
Curated OER
Polymerization Experiments
Students explain the process of polymerization. In this chemistry lesson, students produce carboxylesterase in the lab. They test its effectiveness in removing the by-product odor.
Salt River Project
How Do We Clean Polluted Water?
How do we clean up oil spills and other pollutants in the water? Explore water treatment strategies with a set of environmental science experiments. Groups remove oil from water, work with wastewater treatment, and perform a water...
Curated OER
A Constructivist Version of the Snail & Elodea Lab
Students explain the importance of having a control when setting up an experiment.
Curated OER
Biology-Genetics
Students predict the probable mode of inheritance from a pedigree diagram showing phenotypes. They study the genetic basis for Mendel's laws of segregation and independent assortment. They give a Power Point slide show demonstrating the...
Virginia Department of Education
The Cell Cycle and Mitosis
What a packed lesson! Provide your class with the opportunity to learn about the cell cycle in several exciting ways. Biologists first learn about the theory behind mitosis, then proceed to view onion tips under the microscope and create...
Curated OER
Phototaxis
Students conduct lab experiment to answer the question: How will starving Dictyostelium Discoideum Slugs respond to white light? They determine whether the slugs are attracted to or repelled by the light.
Curated OER
Allelopathy Experiments
Learners explore how allelopathy works in plants. In this botany lesson plan, students explain how this phenomenon affect other organisms. They read and analyze an article about allelopathy and discuss its flaws.
Towson University
Looking Into Lactase: Structured Inquiry
Why is lactase important? Biology scholars explore enzyme function in a structured inquiry lab. The activity tasks lab groups with observing how temperature and pH affect enzyme activity, as well as determining which milk products...
Nuffield Foundation
Following Gene Transfer by Conjugation in Bacteria
After the lab, you'll be able to solve this analogy: Natural selection is to vertical transfer of genes as ___ is to the horizontal transfer of genes. Young biologists conduct an experiment on E. coli bacteria to explore the process of...
Nuffield Foundation
Observing Water Moving Through Plants
We know plants assist in the water cycle, but how do plants get water from the ground into the air? Through a series of demonstrations or labs, scholars observe the movement of water through plants. They microscopically view the cells...