Frog dissection is a time-honored tradition in biology class ... are your learners up to the challenge? Take the gross out of gross anatomy with a dissection lesson plan that builds vocabulary skills as well as attention to detail. The...

Earth historians research a specific dinosaur, write a paper about the Mesozoic era that it lived in, create an artistic rendition of the environment, and give a presentation in class about what they learned. Be aware that there are...

Explore 1870s when a "bone rush" led to amazing discoveries, as fossil-hunters risked life and limb in their quest for dinosaur remains. The class uses the attached visual encyclopedia to prep for a discussion on early paleontology. Two...

Begin the year with a review of the parts of a book. Exercises in the unit plan ask emergent readers to identify the information on the cover of a book and on the title page, to explain the purpose of a table of contents, and to describe...

Read informational text which relays how medical care differs around the globe and throughout history. There are three separate lessons, each focused on a particular case study, regional medical availability, and cultural norms. Learners...

Entangle your life science class in learning with this collaborative food web activity. Using pictures of the plants and animals native to a particular ecosystem, young biologists work in small groups to construct visual...

After cutting down a forest to make a farm, how long would it take the environment to turn an abandoned farm back into a forest? Scholars study this exact scenario while they interpret many charts and graphs of the changing ecosystems as...

What does it mean to be a good steward? Middle school environmentalists learn to care for their state's waterways through research, a guest speaker, and poster activity. Groups must locate and learn more about a river basin and the human...

There are an average of three human fatalities by bears in North America every year, which is low when you compare it to the 26 killed by dogs and the 90 killed by lightning annually. The lesson encourages researching human-bear...

There's an elephant in your classroom. That's right — a big, awkward elephant named Dissection. Sure, you'd like to talk about him ... but how? Whether you're a seasoned teacher or fresh out of student teaching, the topic of dissection...

Intrigue the class by completing a instructional activity on meiosis, filled with challenging and insightful activities to spark the interest of every person in the room. Each member of the class learns about genetic disorders due to...

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill directly impacted an area of the Gulf of Mexico the size of Oklahoma. A marine biology lesson looks at the impact of an oil spill on the deeper parts of the ocean. Scholars download actual data collected...

Can peas have grandparents? Learn about inherited traits and heredity with a set of activities focused on Mendelian genetics. As your class learns about the process of passing traits along in Punnett squares, they take on the role of...

How can a robot measure the length of something when we don't know how far the camera is from the object? The lesson plan explains the concept of perspective and many others. Scholars apply this knowledge to judge the length of fish and...

The experiment known as one of the most beautiful experiments in biology changed the way we think about DNA. Learn about the experiment and the scientists who designed it—as well as the scientists who built on the results—with an online...

Brainstorm ideas to design a sustainable guest village in the Sonoran Desert. The first installment of a nine-part unit teaches young environmental scientists about the basics of the Saguaro National Park and about sustainable design....

Future public health advocates read a case study of a combination of water pollutants that may be linked to autism. The class is split into three groups, one to research each of the suspected chemicals. The look at how each one affects...

Analyze and make inferences from the information used by linguists to construct the evolution of languages. They research different dating techniques to explain how scientists infer age with evidence.

PolarTREC brings polar researchers and educators together to benefit both science and education. Pupils select one research project in Antarctica to explore and present to their peers. Scholars polish research and presentation skills as...

Students identify four parts of trees. In this plant biology lesson, students read the book Trees and conduct Internet research to identify the parts of the tree. Students take notes from each website and complete an included worksheet.

Lead your biology class on a cell-sized adventure! Emerging scientists construct models of prokaryotes, then design an experiment to properly grow a bacterial culture. They conclude the activity by viewing the culture under a microscope....

Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the ethical issues behind stem cell research and cloning. They make their own ethical decisions on both subjects.

Have you ever tried to find hidden items in a picture when you don't know what you are looking for or how many things are hidden? A lesson applies that same concept to sampling the deep sea habitats. Participants must first create a...

Germs, parasites, and viruses, oh my! Facilitate a lesson on viruses as individuals explore functions of Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. They learn how viruses compare with other organisms in nature and how they contribute to health...