The growing of rapid cycling Brassica rapa, Rbr, through a life cycle from seed to seed can provide the basis for learning many aspects of biology that are relevant to the studentsĺŐ understanding of themselves as individual organisms among themany others inhabiting the Earth.

Botanists and biologists work to create a DNA barcode library for plant life in this video segment from New York Voices.

In this activity, students will investigate how much chlorophyll is in olive oil using a Varnier Spectrometer. Students will measure and analyze the visible light absorbance spectra of three standard olive oils obtained from any supermarket: extra virgin, regular, and light.

In this video segment from New York Voices, botanists study plants to inform agriculture and climate change.

This pdf includes background information and ideas for lessons involving the processes that occur between fertilization and seed production in Fast Plants. Fertilization is explained and illustrated and an activity for students to observe reproductive development is described.

This activity begins as a classroom investigation, but may extend to a field investigation where students will determine the effects of air temperature on seed germination. This is accomplished by developing investigative questions, recording, and analyzing data.

ELL students create and share a botanic field guide incorporating depiction, measurement, description, and classification of common Minnesota trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and plants.

This activity for middle, high school or post-secondary students is an engaging laboratory investigation, which can be used to explore and gather evidence for the products of photosynthesis (and cellular respiration). Students experiment with rates of photosynthesis and/or cellular respiration by cutting disks from seed leaves (cotyledons) and using a procedure with a syringe to explore the rate at which oxygen is produced. The procedure for this experiment involves simple materials and seed leaves (cotyledons) from 3 or 4 day old Fast Plants.

This activity is a field investigation where students gather information before and after learning about plants, which will allow you to compare the knowledge the previously know and have acquired through your teaching.

This Immersion Unit provides a coherent series of lessons designed to guide students in developing deep conceptual understanding that is aligned with the standards, key science concepts, and essential features of classroom inquiry (as defined by the National Science Education Standards). Unit Overarching Concepts-Populations of living organisms change or stay the same over time as a result of the interactions between the genetic variations that are expressed by the individuals in the populations and the environment in which the population lives.-Science knowledge advances through inquiry.Unit Supporting Concepts-Individual organisms with certain variations of traits (adaptations) are more likely than others to survive and reproduce successfully.-When environmental conditions change it can affect the survival of both individual organisms and entire species.-Natural selection determines the differential survival of groups of organisms.-A small advantage in escaping a predator, resisting a drug, etc. can lead to the spread of a trait in a modest number of generations.-Mutations are a source of variation in an individualĺŐs genotype, and it can result in a change in phenotypeĺĐĺĐgood or bad.-Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations, using appropriate tools and technology to perform tests, collect data, analyze relationships, and display data.-No matter how well one scientific explanation fits observations, a new explanation might fit them just as well or better, or might fit a wider range of observations. In science, thetesting, revising, and occasional discarding of explanations, new and old, never ends.This unit was developed through the large Math and Science Partnership project called System-wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE), involving a collaboration among Los Angeles School District educators, California State University science and education faculty, and UW-Madison SCALE staff.

This Immersion Unit provides a coherent series of lessons designed to guide students in developing deep conceptual understanding that is aligned with the standards, key science concepts, and essential features of classroom inquiry (as defined by the National Science Education Standards). The Unit's overarching concepts are:- Naturally occurring variations of traits in a population are influenced by genetic and environmental factors and evolve over generations by selective processes.- Science knowledge advances through inquiry.Unit Supporting Concepts:- The variation of organisms within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of the species will survive under changed environmental conditions.- Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely than others to survive and have offspring. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms and entire species.- Some variation in heritable characteristics exists within every species. One of these characteristics gives individuals an advantage over others in surviving and reproducing, and the advantaged offspring, in turn,are more likely than others to survive and reproduce.- New varieties of cultivated plants and domestic animals have resulted from selective breeding for particular traits.- Scientists differ greatly in whatphenomena they study and how they go about their work. Although there is nofixed set of steps that all scientists follow, scientific investigations usually involve the collection of relevant evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected evidence.- Important contributions to the advancement of science, mathematics, and technology have been made by different kinds of people, in different cultures, at different times.In Immersion Units, students learn academic content by working like scientists: making observations, asking questions, doing further investigations to explore and explain natural phenomena, and communicating results based on evidence. Immersion Units are intended to support teachers in building a learning culture in their classrooms to sustain studentsĺŐ enthusiasm for engaging in scientific habits of thinking while learning rigorous science content.The first step of this unit engages students in developing a class criteria for effective record-keeping in science by guiding an inquiry into scientists' notebooks.The unit includes very complete implementation instructions (Teacher's Guide pages), student pages, and formative and summative assessments.Students investigate:- how variation within a population is influenced by environmental factors- how environmental factors influence reproductive success in a populationThis unit was developed through the large Math and Science Partnership project called System-wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE), involving a collaboration among Los Angeles School District educators, California State University science and education faculty, and UW-Madison SCALE staff.

This Farming Fast Plants activity introduces a classroom investigation that is easily adaptable for all grade levels and designed to engageteachers and students as investigators. The activity has the practical outcome of producing an abundant supply of Fast Plants seed for future classroom use and for sharing with other teachers. The central question of the activity is ĺŇHow many seeds can your students produce from each seed planted?ĺÓ

This four-page handout explains the key steps to follow when caring for Wisconsin Fast Plants (Brassica rapa) throughout their life cycle, from sowing through harvesting seeds. This handout includes information about the materials needed, methods for tending and caring for your plants, and troubleshooting tips.

This PDF chart provides an organizational guide for recording student data as observations, measures(estimates), counts and descriptions on the growth, development, and reproduction of up to 5 Fast Plants (Rapid Cycling Brassica Rapa or "RBR"), and statistical summaries of the data. Data from individual student charts can be aggregated into class or group data charts or a spreadsheet for further display and analysis. These student data can then serve as the basis a deeper understanding of the nature of phenotypic variation, providing a basis for investigating the inheritance of a target characteristic and examples of its variation.

Description and links to computer simulations that allow students to perform genetic crosses quickly. Students can use these simulations to test their genetic models developed from experiments done in the classroom with actual Fast Plants. These simulations were developed in 2000-2001 by Tom Whitaker and were tested successfully by hundreds of students at Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin as part of a new approach to genetics used by the Biology I team.

Description: This is an investigation describing the procedure for looking at a seed pod from a mature Fast Plant with a dry pod by sandwiching the pod between layers of clear tape, then exploring the sibling seeds. Questions that might be considered:- In how many ways can you describe the pod (the mother)? Are the pods from one plant more like each other than they are like the pods from other plants? What about the siblings from a single pod? - Do all the seeds in a pod have the same father? - How much variation is there within and between families of Fast Plants? - How much does the environment affect the variation in Fast Plants, e.g. the number of seeds per pod, style length, plant height, days to first flowering, etc? - Is there any relationship between the length of the seed pod and its position on the maternal plant?

This pdf includes background information and an activity for engaging students in the processes that occur during pollination, fertilization and seed development in Fast Plants. Pollination is explained and illustrated and an activity for students to pollinate Fast Plants and observe reproductive development is described.In participating in this activity students will:ĺĽ understand flowering as the sexually mature stage of plant development;ĺĽ understand where and how ovules and pollen originate (male and female gamete formation);ĺĽ explore the parts of the flower and the role that each part plays in reproduction;ĺĽ observe the reproductive tissues of plants, including pollen and stigma, under magnification;ĺĽ understand the interdependent coevolutionary relationship of bees and brassicas; andĺĽ begin the process of reproduction in their Fast Plants by performing a pollination using a beestick,ĺĽ setting the stage for future developmental events.

This pdf file gives instructions and dimensions for building a wooden or PVC stand for a fluorescent lightbank (using fluorescent shop lights). A fluorescent lightbank is most appropriate for growing large numbers of plants. The light bank uses only 4.5 X 2.5 feet of space, which will accommodate several large classroom experiments. The lightbank consists of 6 or more 4-foot fluorescent bulbs side by side. The most common bulb used is a 40-watt Cool White DeluxeĺŞ, but other 4-foot bulbs such as a 34-watt or a 40-watt Cool WhiteĺŞ are also acceptable for growing Fast Plants

Students develop an understanding of the maple syrup process from tapping trees to evaporating sap through hands-on experiences.

Instructions for conducting an experiment using a growing system made from plastic soda bottles to find out what effect salt has on Fast Plants.