Stimulate a neuron and monitor what happens. Pause, rewind, and move forward in time in order to observe the ions as they move across the neuron membrane.

This activity is a field observation and also an in-class discussion/share. Students share observations made outside and are aware of changes in the natural world.

This classroom activity introduces the yearlong topic of phenology and how to use the Weatherguide calendar.

Students receive information about cladistics and apply this phylogenetic approach to two problems, collecting data, determining whether traits are ancestral or derived, and using this information to select the most parsimonious tree.

This video segment from Nature offers an introduction to four species' migratory patterns. [2:05]

Tissues and cells of root, stem, and leaf anatomy in both dicots and monocots are investigated in this learning activity.

Plant growth regulators, including auxin, gibberellin, cytokinin, abscisic acid, and ethylene, are investigated in this learning activity to demonstrate how these chemicals (hormones) affect plant growth and development.

This activity is a field investigation where students identify native MN plants and record the common name, scientific name, and important information about each.

This learning experience introduces participants to scientific inquiry, hypothesis formation, experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation.

This activity is a first grade life science activity where the students practice inquiry skills by developing questions about seeds, planting them and noting details about how they change as they grow.

This activity is a field investigation of plant succession stages, which students will gather evidence of the areas plant history.

Learners use the Arcadia Earth app to explore how plastics enter waterways, break down into microplastics, and the effects this pollution has on aquatic and marine ecosystems. Utilizing information from the app, the class activity “Trash Dash,” and class discussions, learners will create solutions to reduce and remove plastic within the world’s waters.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Invite students to visit ecosystems around the world with this collection. This collection includes activities for the classroom, after school, and families. Also included is games.

In this activity students learn about the life cycles of many aquatic insects and then on a fieldtrip collect and analyze samples of pond life.

This activity is designed to help students learn common names of pond life in Minnesota. To be most effective students should make a visit to the pond before participating in this activity.

Watch how NJ high school students apply basic principles of molecular biology to solve real research probloms and publish their own genome research at GenBank, the international genomic sequence database. [6:12]

Students are given a figure from a journal article of a northern blot, and are asked to interpret the results, demonstrating an understanding of both the northern blot technique and RNA processing in eukaryotic cells.

Learners start by using the Arcadia Earth app’s Keep the Great Lakes GREAT section to glean base knowledge of the North American Great Lakes and factors impacting the region. Students then extend their knowledge to discover water-land and water-human interactions. The Spray Away activity will deepen their knowledge of watersheds’ function and importance, and the effects of human-produced waste. Spray Away will also shed light on the effects of human-produced runoff waste and its harmful impact on the Great Lakes region. The lesson concludes with discussing and brainstorming solutions to mitigate harmful runoff processes and pollution. Although this lesson specifies the Great Lakes of North America, principles and concepts can be applied to any watershed.

Estimated time required: 1 class period.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about the critical role of flowers in seed plant reproductive biology.

The PhET Activities Database is a collection of resources for using PhET sims. It includes hundreds of lesson plans, homework assignments, labs, clicker questions, and more. Some activities have been created by the PhET team and some have been created by teachers.