This activity is an investigation to determine the effect of soil type on plant growth. The students will develop an understanding of the plant as producer.

This article features science lesson plans to teach elementary students about the sun's energy, the relationship between light and heat, albedo, and the absorption of different surfaces. National standards and literacy integrations are provided for each lesson.

This article highlights hands-on or multimedia lesson plans about oceans. Science lessons are paired with suggested literacy lesson plans. All lessons are aligned to national standards.

This article highlights hands-on or multimedia lesson plans about plant structures, growth and development, seed production, and dispersal. Science lessons are paired with suggested literacy lesson plans. All lessons are aligned to national standards.

This article highlights hands-on or multimedia lesson plans about the tundra and ecosystem concepts. Science lessons are paired with suggested literacy lesson plans. All lessons are aligned to national standards.

This article provides links to hands-on science activities that could be used in an festival or informal learning event. National standards correlations are provided.

This article provides links to lessons and units about birds, bird characteristics, and penguins. Ideas for literacy integration are included, and all lessons are aligned to national standards.

Students experience haptic (the sense of touch) feedback by using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robots and touch sensors to emulate touch feedback recognition. With four touch sensors connected to LEGO NXTs, they design sensor attachments that feel physically distinguishable from each another. Then students answer questions and communicate their answers to the NXT by pressing the touch sensor that is associated with the right multiple-choice answer letter. Haptics becomes essential when students must use the NXT sensors to answer the next set of questions without the aid of their vision. This challenges them to rely solely on the tactile feeling of each unique touch sensor attachment that they created in order to choose the correct peripheral slot. Students also learn about real-world applications of haptics technology.

This is a lesson dealing with a new subdivision of bioethics called neuroethics. As our knowledge of the brain and nervous system expands, so do the ethical issues that result from this knowledge. This new area of study results from our increasing research in the field of neurobiology. In the first part of this activity, students will discuss the stigma associated with psychological illness. They will then be introduced to Dr. Kay Jamison who discusses some of the ethical implications of bipolar disorder. The class will take part in an activity called a Topical Barometer where they will have to choose a position regarding an ethical decision. In Part 2 of the activity, they will write a position paper after exploring the topic of drug enhancement, another controversial issue in the world of neuroscience. From the original handout text by Caren Gough

In this video segment adapted from United Tribes Technical College, meet Native Americans who are concerned about climate change and believe that action today can help future generations once again live in harmony with Earth.

Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students calculate the number of days it takes for participants in a hypothetical weight-reduction program to reach a target weight. QL: rates of change.

Learn why heart disease, a largely preventable condition, is the leading cause of death in this country today, in this video adapted from The Hidden Epidemic: Heart Disease in America.

Students learn about the heart and its role at the center of the human cardiovascular system. In the associated activity, students play out a scenario in which they are biomedical engineers asked to design artificial hearts. They learn about the path of blood flow through the heart and use that knowledge to evaluate designs of artificial hearts on the market.

Students learn about the form and function of the human heart through lecture, research and dissection. They brainstorm ideas that pertain to various heart conditions and organize these ideas into categories that help them research possible solutions. An expert in the field of cardiac valve research was interviewed for this lesson and shares his ideas with the class. Students conclude by researching various possible heart defects.

A main concern of shoe engineers is creating shoes that provide the right amount of arch support to prevent (or fix) common gait misalignments that lead to injury. During this activity, students look at their own footprints and determine whether they have either of the two most prominent gait misalignments: overpronation (collapsing arches) or supination (high arches). Knowing the shape of a person's foot, and their natural arch movement is necessary to design shoes to fix these gain alignments.

This activity provides an excellent example of an active debate within the scientific community regarding a relatively recent human fossil find, Homo floresiensis. The activity highlights the ways in which scientists can interpret scientific evidence in different ways, how scientists build arguments to support their claims, and how assumptions can influence interpretation. Students watch part of a NOVA program on the fossil find, and take notes on the evidence discussed. They then discuss in small groups and then as a large group which argument they consider more convincing and why.

Learn how a cow eats and digests food in this video segment from Nature.

In this activity, the students will use wax paper shaped as leaves and kite string to build a shelter to protect them from the rain. The students will then test the shelters for durability and water resistance.

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, explores reasons why Homo sapiens had an advantage over Neanderthals in the pursuit of territory and natural resources.

In this video from Outdoor Nevada, learn about the habitat, diet, and defense mechanisms of horned lizards.