This video segment from the Secret of Life School Video: "Genetic Medicine: Tinkering with Our Genes" explores the potential for gene therapy to cure diseases like Alzheimer's.
Students learn how nanoparticles can be creatively used for medical diagnostic purposes. They learn about buckminsterfullerenes, more commonly known as buckyballs, and about the potential for these complex carbon molecules to deliver drugs and other treatments into the human body. They brainstorm methods to track buckyballs in the body, then build a buckyball from pipe cleaners with a fluorescent tag to model how nanoparticles might be labeled and detected for use in a living organism. As an extension, students research and select appropriate radioisotopes for different medical applications.
This annotated slideshow adapted from KET's Electronic Field Trip to the Forest illustrates how blight decimated the American chestnut tree and the methods scientists use to identify and pollinate the remaining trees to create blight-resistant trees.
Roberta Muell, Assistant Curator of Vertabrate Zoology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, talks about the facinating facts and importance of amphibians.
This Scientist Saturday, join host Lee Hall and Dr. Denise Su, the Museum’s Chief Academic Engagement Officer, Gertrude Haskell Britton Endowed Chair of Education, and Curator of Paleobotany & Paleoecology, in a fascinating specimen spotlight. Delve into the scientific study of ancient plants and learn about specimens found in calcified lumps known as “coal balls.” You’ll discover how these lumps—consisting mostly of plant matter preserved in calcium carbonate—allow us to understand fossil plants on a cellular level. Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.
Find out how angles and symmetry come into play in the game of pool in this video adapted from Annenberg Learner’s Learning Math: Measurement.
This video segment from NOVA: "Animal Imposters" shows the lightning-fast strike of the anglerfish.
It takes a thick skin to withstand the hardships that life has to offer. This collection of images shows a variety of animals, each with a slightly different type of protective covering.
Resource pages of 149 animals from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Each page contains animal details, habitats and known living areas, conservation status and threats, diet, photographs and videos, external resources, and downloadable fact sheets.
Learn about the structure and function of living organisms by drawing an imaginary animal in the Take the Stage game show, ANIMAL SURVIVAL! Viewers become contestants on a game show and are challenged to draw an imaginary animal that could live and survive in either the desert, ocean, or the arctic tundra. When drawing the imaginary animal, the contestants write out two distinct structures and a function for each of the structures that help it survive. Learning Objective: Compare the structures and functions of different species that help them live and survive in a specific environment.
Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students also learn why engineers need to know about animals and how they use that knowledge to design technologies that help other animals and/or humans. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.
This lab activity will not only draw on students' real life experiences but will also draw on student's previous lab experiences in proper laboratory techniques and data analysis performed in previous activities. The lab will incorporate the use of scientific inquiry methods and strategies while students develop reasonable answers to the questions asked.
See the many birds that spend their summer in the Arctic in this video segment from Nature.
This video segment from Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" explores the struggle for survival in one of Earth's most extreme environments.
This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, explores the amazing birds that live in or migrate to the polar regions. The issue was co-produced with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In addition to content knowledge articles and lesson plans, the issue includes information about bird-themed citizen science programs from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
This article assembles free resources from the Arctic and Antarctic Birds issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine into a unit outline based on the 5E learning cycle framework. Outlines are provided for Grades K-2 and 3-5.
This example Socratic questioning page provides an outline for leading a classroom discussion regarding whether or not viruses are alive. Sample questions, resources for background information, and tips and assessment information are provided.
This video segment adapted from NOVA features a variety of scientific perspectives on the age old question, "Are we alone in the universe?" Animations make vivid the improbability that we could intercept a radio wave signaling extra terrestrial intelligence.
This video segment explores the benefits and pitfalls of cloning as a means of reproduction. From Evolution: "Why Sex?"
This Readers Theater script includes parts for 8-9 students. It is based on the Feature Story, At Home in the Cold and discusses various adaptations that allow animals to survive in the cold oceans of the Arctic and Antarctica. The script was written for students in grades 4-5.