This activity is a classroom and field investigation where students will group Minnsota fish families and create their own pop can fishing rods.
In this biology field experience, students will explore trees of Minnesota. Working in cooperative groups, students will discover biodiversity of trees and determine populations of tree species through observation and use of dichotomous keys.
Drawings and animations, are used to help participants understand the differences between and steps involved in mitosis and meiosis. The cell cycle as well as individual steps of mitosis and meiosis are included in this learning material.
This initial module from the GENIQUEST project introduces the dragons and the inheritance of their traits, then delves into meiosis and its relationship to inherited traits. Students examine the effects of choosing different gametes on dragon offspring, and learn about genetic recombination by creating recombination events to generate specific offspring from two given parent dragons. Students learn about inbred strains and breed an inbred strain of dragons themselves.
This method video introduces the concept of molarity and illustrates how to perform the necessary calculations to create a serial dilution.
This lab video demonstrates how to make a one molar stock solution and serially dilute it.
This video from Nature features the start of the monarch butterflyë_í__ northward trek.
Students learn some of the implications of 3D printing in the biomedical field. Unlike 3D printers used in a classroom or by consumers, which use a plastic filament to produce a product, 3D printing for medical purposes is often with real living cells. In this lesson, students gain an understanding of how 3D printing is changing lives for the better through a presentation and group discussion. In the corresponding activity, they have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on simulation of a real-world 3D printing task.
Did you know sea lampreys aren’t native to Lake Erie? As invasive predators, they’re actually damaging Great Lakes fish and amphibian populations, including mudpuppies. Join host Lee Hall and Curator of Vertebrate Zoology Dr. Tim Matson for this specimen spotlight. Hear about Dr. Matson's long-term ecological research study examining the relationship between sea lampreys and mudpuppies. Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.
Students perform an activity similar to the childhood “telephone” game in which each communication step represents a biological process related to the passage of DNA from one cell to another. This game tangibly illustrates how DNA mutations can happen over several cell generations and the effects the mutations can have on the proteins that cells need to produce. Next, students use the results from the “telephone” game (normal, substitution, deletion or insertion) to test how the mutation affects the survivability of an organism in the wild. Through simple enactments, students act as “predators” and “eat” (remove) the organism from the environment, demonstrating natural selection based on mutation.
Students learn about mutations to both DNA and chromosomes, and uncontrolled changes to the genetic code. They are introduced to small-scale mutations (substitutions, deletions and insertions) and large-scale mutations (deletion duplications, inversions, insertions, translocations and nondisjunctions). The effects of different mutations are studied as well as environmental factors that may increase the likelihood of mutations. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-assessments are provided.
This activity is a longer project that involves using inquiry to find out what kinds of aquatic animals live in our school pond. Students use direct observation, journaling, outdoor classroom techniques, research skills, collaboration, and service learning to learn about their question.
Students will learn to identify 3 to 4 birds by their song.
Learn about nanoscience from the staff at the Lab's Molecular Foundry in this Live Science event, hosted by the K-12 STEM Education office on Oct. 9, 2020
National Geographic offers high-quality, standards-based, educational resources and activities and offers a handfull of student experiences, both inside and outside the classroom.
This website includes short videos that expose students to the world of science and nature; more importantly, they can provide students with insight into the kinds of things that are involved in the pursuit of a career in science and nature. Although these videos are not explicitly intended to serve as career guidance pieces, they can certainly be a valuable resource to students when coupled with the guided interpretation of a counselor or teacher. The content in the videos may be a bit advanced for younger elementary grades, but too child-oriented in presentation for older elementary grades. This resource would be most appropriate for third and fourth grade students.
Students watch video clips of animals and plants in their natural environments to determine what living things need to survive. They will then complete an illustration of their own real or imagined plant or animal fulfilling one or more of their needs for survival, within their natural environment. While this lesson does a good job explaining how animals meet their needs through their environments, additional lessons and experiences with plants would need to be provided in order to meet the full standard.
This learning strategy provides discussion and visualizations of the neuron and its function, as well as components and functions of different parts of the nervous system, including the human brain.
A visual representation of how elements in the body decay into neutrinos and travel through the universe
Dr. Gavin Svenson, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Director of Research & Collections and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, discovered a new species of praying mantis on an insect survey expedition in the Amazon Rainforest. The mantis, named Vespamantoida wherleyi, is brightly colored and mimics wasps to ward off predators—a combination that has never been seen before. The discovery and analysis have had widespread implications for the Mantoididae family. As part of our Scientist Saturdays series, learn even more about this newly discovered mantis from the expert himself—Dr. Svenson! Worksheets available for grades 7-8 and 9-12.