This video segment from Greater Boston examines whether environmental toxins may be to blame for a rare skin disease.
In this video segment from Nature, learn about six different breeds of cattle.
As a human embryo develops, its cells become progressively restricted in the types of specialized cells that they can produce. Inner cell mass (ICM) cells of the blastocyst can make any type of body cell. Gastrula-stage cells can give rise to the cells of a given germ layer. Later, cells become even more restricted. For example, the pancreatic bud of the endoderm layer can only make the cells of the pancreas.
In this interactive demonstration students will make observations of diffusion of a semi permeable membrane and be able to compare these observations to the functions of a cell membrane.
This activity demonstrates diffusion, osmosis, and active transport through 12 interactive models. Start by following the path of a molecule of dye in water, create concentration gradients on either side of a cell membrane and watch the movement of substances in and out of a cell, and monitor the movement of oxygen into red blood cells with and without hemoglobin.
This lesson is an exploratory station activity to assist students in building a model of diffusion, as cellular transport.
Biological membranes are selectively permeable; some molecules can cross while others cannot. One way to affect this is through pore size. Change the pore size with the slider to change the permeability of the membrane to the different types of molecules. Trace an individual molecule to see the path it takes.
In a multi-week experiment, student teams gather biogas data from the mini-anaerobic digesters that they build to break down different types of food waste with microbes. Using plastic soda bottles for the mini-anaerobic digesters and gas measurement devices, they compare methane gas production from decomposing hot dogs, diced vs. whole. They monitor and measure the gas production, then graph and analyze the collected data. Students learn how anaerobic digestion can be used to biorecycle waste (food, poop or yard waste) into valuable resources (nutrients, biogas, energy).
To reinforce students' understanding of the human digestion process, the functions of several stomach and small intestine fluids are analyzed, and the concept of simulation is introduced through a short, introductory demonstration of how these fluids work. Students learn what simulation means and how it relates to the engineering process, particularly in biomedical engineering. The teacher demo requires vinegar, baking soda, water and aspirin.
The digestive system is amazing: it takes the foods we eat and breaks them into smaller components that our body can use for energy, cell repair and growth. This lesson introduces students to the main parts of the digestive system and how they interact. In addition, students learn about some of the challenges astronauts face when trying to eat in outer space.
In this lesson, students learn how coal is used and mined, then simulate the mining process and its impacts on the earth by attempting to remove chocolate chips from a cookie without destroying it. Includes a teacher guide and step-by-step instructions.
This lab activity is a paper fossil dig where students discover skeletal characteristics of humans, primates and hominids and are asked to make a short oral presentation to the class.
The Digital Public Library of America is a free digital collection of artifacts gathered from libraries, archives and museums. This great collection of primary source materials will continue to grow as new items are made digital.
Students design and conduct experiments to determine what environmental factors favor decomposition by soil microbes. They use chunks of carrots for the materials to be decomposed, and their experiments are carried out in plastic bags filled with dirt. Every few days students remove the carrots from the dirt and weigh them. Depending on the experimental conditions, after a few weeks most of the carrots will have decomposed completely.
The disappearance of bees will have tremendous impact upon the way we live according to scientists in this segment from Nature.
Students disassemble and analyze retractable pens. Through the process of "reverse engineering," they learn how the ink pens work.
In recent years, the redistribution of risk has created conditions for natural and technological disasters to become more widespread, more difficult to manage, and more discriminatory in their effects. Policy and planning decision-makers frequently focus on the impact that human settlement patterns, land use decisions, and risky technologies can have on vulnerable populations. However, to ensure safety and promote equity, they also must be familiar with the social and political dynamics that are present at each stage of the disaster management cycle. Therefore, this course will provide students with: An understanding of the breadth of factors that give rise to disaster vulnerability; and A foundation for assessing and managing the social and political processes associated with disaster policy and planning.
This activity is a field investigation where students will observe three areas with high sensitivity to pollution, and test water quality in two of the locations.
In this unit, students make regular journal entries about a plant/animal/insect community in the natural area around our school and use this to create a Non-fiction Class Book. They also interview family/resources to discover, record and present stories about human relationships with nature from their culture(s).
This resource aims to teach map reading skills of worldwide temperatures, percipitation, biovidsetiy, and soil nutrition levels in rainforest areas. It includes world maps, tropical rainforest maps, vocabulary, and teaching strategies.