Hillary Mills uses a series of hands-on activities to engage and excite her students to learn new scientific concepts. Using fossils, buckets of sand, rocks, pennies and timeline cards, she covers in short order everything from geologic terminology to how isotopes break down over time. This fast-paced small group activity is deceptively simple yet packed with learning

This lesson emphasizes the connections between science and mathematics by using a performance, or authentic, assessment format. Students will develop measurement skills as they relate the size of their fists to the size of their hearts. Students have the opportunity to explore applications involving their own hearts. An activity sheet (pdf) is included.

Every living thing must be able to reproduce and make offspring. Most of us are familiar with how humans and mammals make babies, but do all creatures reproduce in the same way? Do insects, like the beetle, give birth to little insects? Also in: French | Spanish

This activity is a lab investigation is which students will design and conduct an experiment related to movement of materials through a cell membrane. Modified from a lab I received from a fellow teacher, Jeanne M. Reed.

This classroom activity is an inquiry based lesson where students observe and measure temperature changes in order to determine which fabrics are best at keeping in heat.

This inquiry lab activity involves students working to observe and describe to how worms will interact/adapt with their environment.

This activity is a lab investigation in which students design and conduct experiments using pineapple juice containing the enzyme bromelain and its affect on the substrate gelatin found in Jell-O. The focus of student driven investigations are on enzyme specificity, activity and the impact of environmental factors on enzyme functioning. Based on the original activities from School Improvement in Maryland; "Pineapple/Jell-O Lab," Access Excellence Activities Exchange; "Enzyme Labs Using Jell-O" by Anne McDonald and Michael O'Hare, and AP & Regents Biology; "Lab 8: Pineapple Enzymes and Jell-O Molds" by Kim B. Foglia.

This is an activity where students learn about inquiry by designing an experiment on bean plants with the goal of growing the tallest plant. Students work in groups to plan the growing conditions of the control and three experimental plants. Students collect data for about three weeks and analyze their data to see if their hypothesis is correct or not. The end product can be a report presented in a number of ways.

This lesson guides students to learn the science behind cloning, explore the benefits and consequences of human cloning, and communicate their knowledge and points of view. Students begin by reading an article titled Primer on Ethics and Cloning by Dr. Glenn McGee, available for free on the AIBS's ActionBioscience.org website. The lesson provides questions for the instructor to guide a class discussion about the article. Instructors can then choose from different activities to engage students further in this issue. One activity has students role play advisory teams providing information to a committee on the ethical issues of human cloning. The teams conduct research online, keep a journal recording their research paths, and answer questions in presentation format. Another activity has students researching and presenting information on human cloning. Through their research students can learn about cloning technology and related laws, as well as the perspectives of groups or individual scientist's viewpoints. Included are web site evaluation worksheets that are useful for student internet searches on any topic.

This activity is designed for students to discover how making observations of the environment is the key to making sound predictions. Students will also learn how both positive and negative outcomes of these predictions can affect and shape future decisions.

Biology entire year curriculum which allows students to develop their own driving questions which address NGSS standards and will lead them through their learning via collaborative groups of peers. There are six different storylines that cover a year long high school Biology course. The activities are designed for all students and are culturally-responsive. The lesson plans are free for educators, and the materials required are designed to be economically feasible for all students and school's with limited resources. There is also a Facebook working group called Illinois Biology Storylines Group which is also very beneficial for educators to share information about activities.

This showcase of digital broadsides is devoted to nature poets and their work. Imagine Nature explores the convergence of poetry, graphic arts, and the technology of the Internet. Along with the text of the poem, some broadsides includes an audio reading (often by the author), photographs or original artwork, related nature sounds, or videos. The featured works include: "The Snakes of September" by Stanley Kunitz| "Sleeping In the Forest" by Mary Oliver| "St. Francis and the Sow" by Galway Kinnell| "For Luis" by Michael McClure| "The Butterfly Obtains" by Emily Dickinson| "Little Cosmic Dust Poem" by John Haines|"Sitting by a Swamp" by David Wagoner.

This is a five-activity module that explores the evidence for and impacts of melting glacial ice, with resources from major institutions and scientists who study glaciers -- primarily in Arctic areas. The suite of activities includes both glaciers and melting ice, as well as the impact of melt water downstream. Each activity follows the 5E model of Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation.

Students learn about trophic levels in a marine food pyramid. Students play a game and complete mathematic equations to learn what happens to coral reef health when shark populations decrease.

Students will create and investigate testable questions about how basil changes based on growing conditions.

During this activity, students will investigate leech behavior. Students will learn to ask a question about leech behavior that can be investigated.

This activity is a field investigation or bio-blitz where students are collecting as many different types of insects as they can. Back in the lab, they will record their findings, sort and classify the insects found. This will lead into a class discussion on biodiversity and the importance of insects and their benefits all living things.

This field activity asks students to examine and interpret a given environmental site where a disturbance (fallen tree, beaver dam etc.) has taken place.

Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to model the growth in population of a species of birds introduced to an isolated island in New Zealand.

This activity is a step by step lesson to introduce a nature journal to students. We will establish the routine we will use.