Curated OER
How to Design an Experiment
Students work together to develop and implement an experiment. They investigate the properties of nylon and construct a mobile of organic materials. They share their experiments with the class.
Curated OER
Cells and Cancer
Students idenitfy that cancer is a growth of mutated cells and that cancer cells are only one type of cell that causes disease in our body. They also identify that all eukaryotic cells contain a nucleus, cytoskeleton, and a cell...
Serendip
Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration
How does energy from the sun make plants grow? Scholars move step by step through the processes that promote plant propagation during a detailed lesson. The resource illustrates ADP production and hydrolysis, then allows learners to...
Curated OER
Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy
A complete overview of oxidation, reduction, and how electrons are moved in respiration. You could use this slide show to elaborate on the concept of harvesting stored energy, and to summarize the stages of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are All Plants Created Equal?
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting activity analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
Virginia Department of Education
Charles’ Law
Searching for a relatively interesting way to demonstrate Charles' Law? Here is a lesson in which pupils heat air inside a flask and then cool the flask to quickly cool the air. They make observations about what occurs during the cooling...
Cornell University
Bacteria Take Over and Down
Bacteria outnumber all other forms of life on Earth. Scholars observe the growth of bacteria in petri dishes to understand their role in maintaining good health. Then, they observe the growth of bacteria after they introduce...
Serendip
DNA Structure, Function and Replication
Before a cell replicates, its DNA must replicate. Take advantage of a hands-on guided lesson plan to teach budding scientists how this happens. Using a set of nucleotide cards, learners become the DNA and work to create matching strands...
Serendip
Food, Energy and Body Weight
High schoolers learn why humans need calories, how they control weight with food choices, and the impact of exercise on energy. Scholars then apply their understanding to a case study of lunch choices and exercise.
Biology Junction
Plasma Membrane – Gateway to the Cell
Just as skin covers your body limiting what can go in and out, plasma membranes cover cells to do the same. Scholars begin with a presentation that gives overview of the structure and function of plasma membranes. Then, they learn how...
Curated OER
Semipermeable Membranes and Bioaccumulation
Beginning biologists place a drop of food coloring into water of differing temperatures to observe the effect on the diffusion rate. They remove the shells from raw eggs and then experiment with osmosis over the remaining membranes....
Teach Engineering
Engineering and the Periodic Table
Elements, to the rescue! Scholars first review the periodic table, and then learn about the first 20 elements and their properties and uses in the fourth of six lessons in the Mixtures and Solutions unit. Applying their newfound...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Genes Can Be Moved Between Species
Biotechnology changes lives every day, but how did it all start? Learn about Cohen and Boyer's technique for recombinant DNA and the founding of this new scientific study. Then, scholars use the online interactive to discover how Hanahan...
Curated OER
Cell physiology and chemistry
Students design an experiment to discriminate between chemical diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion and active transport through a membrane. Be specific about predictions and interpretations!
Curated OER
How Many Drops?
Students conduct a simple test to determine how many drops of each of three liquids can be placed on a penny before spilling over. They come up with an explanation for their observations about different amounts of liquids a penny can hold.
Curated OER
Inheritance Patterns in Zorks
In this inheritance patterns activity, students create a visual of a Zork using chromosome strips to represent alleles from the father and the mother to determine the traits in the offspring. Students translate the genotype to the...
Curated OER
DNA Extraction
Students extract and observe a visible amount of DNA from Escherichia. coli cells. They discuss the properties of DNA. Confirmation of the presence of DNA by a reaction with an indicator is confirmed within this lesson. Many hands-on...
Curated OER
Lipid Worksheet
In this lipid worksheet, students answer questions about the structure and functions of lipids. They read about the three main lipids in the body including triglycerides, phospholipids and cholesterol and answer questions about each.
Curated OER
Elements of Life
Learners discover they are made of elements in activities based on comparing the human body to the periodic table. In this science lesson students are engaged with 3 hands on basic chemistry activities. The learners end the lesson by...
Curated OER
Is There Really Life on Mars?
Students examine the work of scientists and determine how they test their theories.
Curated OER
Diffusion Across a Selectively Permeable Membrane
Students investigate how water passes through cell membranes. In this biology instructional activity, students differentiate osmosis and diffusion. They illustrate the movement of water in both processes.
Curated OER
Describe the Perfect Pathogen
Students develop a pathogen based upon their knowledge of pathogens and after presenting it to the class, they then suggest ways that the pathogen might be combated. Next they identify possible physical or behavioral changes in a...
Curated OER
Cracking the Code - Cloning Paper Plasmid
Young scholars explore the "genetic code." They observe how genes may be manipulated for genetic research, gene cloning, and genetic engineering. In a lab setting, students examine the mechanics involved in cutting and ligating DNAs...
Curated OER
The Plasma Membrane
In this plasma membrane instructional activity, students will explore how cells are able to maintain homeostasis and the function of the plasma membrane. This instructional activity has 6 fill in the blank and 7 true or false questions.