This article features children's literature about arctic, Antarctic, and migratory birds.
In this Nature video, learn about the extraordinary impact that birds have on the agriculture of a small Indian community.
Students study how heart valves work and investigate how valves that become faulty over time can be replaced with advancements in engineering and technology. Learning about the flow of blood through the heart, students are able to fully understand how and why the heart is such a powerful organ in our bodies.
In this video segment, adapted from NOVA, Dr. Judah Folkman uses the scientific method to discover how cancer cells induce the formation of new blood vessels, which in turn nourish those cancer cells.
Students are introduced to the circulatory system, the heart, and blood flow in the human body. Through guided pre-reading, during-reading and post-reading activities, students learn about the circulatory system's parts, functions and disorders, as well as engineering medical solutions. By cultivating literacy practices as presented in this lesson, students can improve their scientific and technological literacy.
Throughout the day, your nervous system monitors and makes endless adjustments to your body's basic systems -- all to keep you alive. This interactive feature illustrates the complexity of such a task.
Students are introduced to the challenge question, which revolves around proving that a cabinet x-ray system can produce bone mineral density images. Students work independently to generate ideas from the questions provided, then share with partners and then with the class as part of the Multiple Perspectives phase of this unit. Then, as part of the associated activity, students explore multiple websites to gather information about bone mineral density and answer worksheet questions, followed by a quiz on the material covered in the articles.
Students examine an image produced by a cabinet x-ray system to determine if it is a quality bone mineral density image. They write in their journals about what they need to know to be able to make this judgment. Students learn about what bone mineral density is, how a BMD image can be obtained, and how it is related to the x-ray field. Students examine the process used to obtain a BMD image and how this process is related to mathematics, primarily through logarithmic functions. They study the relationship between logarithms and exponents, the properties of logarithms, common and natural logarithms, solving exponential equations and Beer's law.
See how plants make the world better (and the career lab a little bit happier) as you learn about rewarding careers in plant science.
Find out how serious head concussions can be in this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW.
This video segment from The Human Spark observes the brains responses to a series of cognitive tests.
Activity to help students differentiate how disciplines focus on a problem.
In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, learn about bubonic plague and how city officials in San Francisco tried to contain its spread in the early 1900s..
This activity is a field investigation where students gather data on physical characteristics of the ecosystem surrounding their school.
This activity is a field investigation where students gather data on physical changes of the ecosystem surrounding their school habitat.
In this Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module, students build spreadsheets and draw graphs to explore a chemical buffer's ability to resist pH change, i.e., the buffer capacity. Quantification of buffer capacity is conceptually straightforward but involves multiple repetitive calculations. The key relationship is the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation: , which follows from the Law of Mass Action and The spreadsheets automate many of the calculations, thereby simplifying the process. Instead of focusing on the calculations, students can see what buffer capacity means and focus on the a deeper understanding of its implications. After reviewing several buffer calculations, the stduents use the spreadsheet to investigate buffer capacity graphically and characterize blood's physiological buffer system. While solving the question of how many breaths one can take before alkalosis sets in, the students manipulate a logarithmic equation, do "what if" modeling, and analyze rates of change from plots of their cacluated results.
In this interactive activity from Shedd Aquarium, build a fish and then release it into the reef to search for food and evade predators. Try different combinations and observe how each kind of fish has unique adaptations that help it survive in its habitat.
Construct and measure the energy efficiency and solar heat gain of a cardboard model house. Use a light bulb heater to imitate a real furnace and a temperature sensor to monitor and regulate the internal temperature of the house. Use a bright bulb in a gooseneck lamp to model sunlight at different times of the year, and test the effectiveness of windows for passive solar heating.
A bungee jump involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. Design a bungee jump that is "safe" for a hard-boiled egg. Create a safety egg harness and connect it to a rubber band, which is your the "bungee cord." Finally, attach your bungee cord to a force sensor to measures the forces that push or pull your egg.
This is a hands-on activity to assess the students understanding of peptide and disulfide bonds formed during protein synthesis. Students demonstrate the process of dehydration synthesis by combining amino acids through peptide bonds creating molecules of water, and one protein amino acid strand. It can also be used to assess students understanding of the process of translation.