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Meiosis and Genetics In this lab, students investigate how the events of meiosis relate to Mendelian genetics. View »
Exploring Habitat Degradation with Isopods Habitat degradation and destruction are two of the biggest contributors to biodiversity loss worldwide. This easy activity will encourage your students to explore the effects of habitat degradation on pill bugs. View »
Pill Bug Behavior This activity is an introduction to animal behavior. Students conduct an experiment to test the response of pill bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) to conditions of low and high humidity. View »
Lumbriculus: Contraction Rate of the Dorsal Blood Vessel In this introductory physiology lab, students determine the contraction rate of the dorsal blood vessel of the blackworm Lumbriculus. Students then design and conduct an experiment to determine the effect of temperature change or chemical exposure on the contraction rate. View »
Introduction to Sterile Technique In this lab, students practice transfer of a bacterial culture using sterile technique. View »
Bacterial Growth on MacConkey Agar In this lab students culture three bacteria on nutrient agar and MacConkey agar and record the results. View »
Introduction to Prokaryotes: Cyanobacteria In this lab students observe two examples of cyanobacteria and make a simple comparison to a eukaryotic green alga. View »
Introduction to Fungi This lab introduces students to the Kingdom Fungi through study of two phyla, the zygomycetes and basidiomycetes. View »
Introduction to Blood Types In this lab, students are introduced to the human ABO blood groups. View »
Basic Mold Showplate Set This introduction to fungi focuses on the production of asexual spores by three fungi: Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Rhizopus. View »
Animal or Not? In this lab students compare an animal to an animal-like protist, or protozoan. View »
Nylon Synthesis Kit Demo Experience the Nylon Synthesis Kit Demo in this video! View »
Use Guided Inquiry to Explore Your Schoolyard on Earth Day Celebrate Earth Day with an engaging activity that gets your students outside and uses the 5E process of engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. View »
Introduction to Prokaryotes: Bacteria What are bacteria? In this introductory lab students make smears of bacteria on microscope slides from pure cultures, perform a simple stain, and observe their stained slides under a microscope View »
Introduction to Protista: Amoeba What characteristics do protists share with animals? In this lab students observe Amoeba proteus to find out. View »
Introduction to Protista: Euglena Euglena was once studied as a simple animal by zoologists and as a simple plant by botanists. How does this protist combine some characteristics of animals with the plant-like ability to photosynthesize? View »
Introduction to Protista: Paramecium Complexity in a single cell. In this lab students observe Paramecium as an example of a complex ciliated protist. View »
Investigating Seed Germination The story of how a seed becomes a plant is fascinating to young students. These activities for grades K-4 will help your students explore the process of germination, seed structure, and early seedling growth. View »
Isolating Bacteria from a Mixture How does a microbiologist isolate bacteria from a sample? In this lab students practice streaking a plate to isolate a single species of bacterium from a known mixture. View »
Seed Germination In this inquiry activity students in grades 5-10 design and conduct an experiment to investigate factors that may affect seed germination. View »
Wisconsin Fast Plants® and Product Testing In this inquiry activity, students conduct experiments to determine if a commercial product effects the germination of Wisconsin Fast Plants® seed. In doing so they practice basic science skills including collecting and graphing data, interpreting data, and doing serial dilutions. View »
Volcano in the Classroom Here’s a safe, easy, and vivid interpretation of a classic activity that won’t break the budget. All you’ll need are a few common items—a beaker, sand, water, a candle, and a hot plate. View »
Air Pollution: Tropospheric Ozone, Particulates, and Indoor Carbon Dioxide "Bad" ozone, dangerous particulates, and significant CO2 buildup—in and around your school! Access a series of field tests students can use to measure your school’s tropospheric ozone levels and the number of deposited particulates in different locations, and to study how carbon dioxide concentrations indoors vary throughout the school day. View »
Activities with UV Beads Ultraviolet-sensitive beads change color when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. They are inexpensive, yet give students a way to detect the presence of UV light, which is normally invisible to humans. Here are 2 inquiry-based activities that enable students to investigate UV light using these remarkable beads. View »
Osmosis Eggsperiment Is your osmosis lesson all it’s cracked up to be? Get it cooking with this fun, hands-on activity. Using a couple of fresh chicken eggs and a few household items, students can discover the hard-boiled facts about osmosis in animal cells—unscrambling an abstract concept by making it tangible. View »
A New Approach to Teaching Atomic Theory For chemistry teacher Siobhan Julian, teaching the history of atomic theory by lecture “was dry and tedious and boring for everyone involved.” Then she took a fresh approach—one that focuses on doing science to learn science history. View »
Two Quick, Easy Ways to Collect Insects for Diversity Studies Get your students outside and engaged with the world around them. In this activity, we’ll look at 2 techniques that make collecting insects in the field quick and easy. Use one or both to collect insects from microenvironments around your school and then examine diversity using Shannon’s or Simpson’s diversity index. View »
Experiencing Air Pollution Through Inquiry Inquiring minds want to know: how does air pollution effect plants? With this activity your students can learn about the acute effects caused by common urban pollutants. View »
End the Year with an Outdoor Classroom Everything’s better in the great outdoors. Celebrate the warmer weather and engage your students during the final stretch of the school year with these fun activities. View »
Muscular Typogram Flex your skills with this muscleman typogram by artist Aaron Kuehn. It offers a unique and creative way to learn the names and locations of muscles. View »
Water Pollution Awareness Demonstration This demonstration is an engagement activity that increases students’ awareness of the current state of global water quality. View »
Reading Green Science Notebook Notebook pages for Reading Green. View »
In a Fog? Cloud Formation Use this activity to explore the reasons for cloud formation. View »
The Psychic Professor Problem: Introducing the Chi-Square Test Through Inquiry Adapted from a creative statistics lesson taught by master science educator Mark Krotec, this pre-lab investigation introduces the value of statistics, the inherent qualities of uncertainty, and data interpretation. View »
Restriction Enzyme Road Trip: Enduring Understandings in DNA Biotechnology Employing an entertaining road trip analogy, students will model restriction enzyme digestion and demonstrate their learning by modeling the separation of the resulting “DNA” fragments by gel electrophoresis. View »
Evaluating a Scientific Claim: Evaluating Lemonade as a Buffer Students can use this graphic organizer to evaluate a scientific claim about adding buffers to medicines. View »
Making a Scientific Claim: Ocean Acidification Students can use this graphic organizer to write an argument for decreasing atmospheric CO2. View »
Making a Scientific Claim: The Origin of Life Students can use this graphic organizer to construct a scientific claim about the origin of life. View »
Making and Evaluating a Scientific Claim Students can use these 2 graphic organizers to make and evaluate scientific claims. View »
Analyzing and Evaluating Data: Engaging in Argument from Evidence Cover best practices for engaging in scientific argumentation with this resource. Includes links to relevant graphic organizers. View »
Debunking Science Misconceptions True or false? Humans only use about 10% of their brains. Teach students how to refute or disprove purported facts or beliefs with the help of this activity. View »
Human Body: Endocrine System Review Review information about the endocrine system with this graphic organizer. View »
AP® Biology: Scientific and Technical Writing A good method for honing writing skills is to edit another’s work. This activity includes 2 AP® test question responses for students to rewrite. View »
AP® Chemistry: Scientific and Technical Writing A good method for honing writing skills is to edit another’s work. This activity includes 2 AP® test question responses for students to rewrite. View »
AP® Environmental Science: Scientific and Technical Writing A good method for honing writing skills is to edit another’s work. This activity includes 2 AP® test question responses for students to rewrite. View »
The Nuts and Bolts of Good Scientific and Technical Writing Use this article to review with students the basics of good scientific and technical writing. Includes exercises and links to writing resources. View »
Urban Stream Syndrome Urban streams often suffer from urban stream syndrome, which is characterized by changes in nutrient levels, hydrology, biodiversity, and other factors. In this activity, students learn how to identify streams that suffer from urban stream syndrome based on visual evidence. View »
Using Algae Beads as a Model for Photosynthesis Introduce students to photosynthesis with fresh water algae. By creating algae beads (made of algae and sodium alginate solution), they indirectly observe the change in concentration of oxygen in beads that are exposed to different amounts of light. View »
Wisconsin Fast Plants® Monohybrid Crosses Inquiry In this scientific inquiry activity, students germinate F2 generation Wisconsin Fast Plants® seeds and identify the phenotypes and possible genotypes of the F2 generation plants. View »
Which Leaf Shape Can Hold the Most Butterfly Eggs? In this elementary-level activity, students investigate the relationship between leaf shape and the number of butterfly eggs that can be laid on a leaf (grades K–5). View »
Comparative Metamorphosis In this investigation, students observe development of 3 different insects from the larva or nymph stage through the adult stage. They also complete a comparative development study of metamorphosis, observing complete and incomplete metamorphosis. View »
Water Quality Awareness Use this engaging activity to increase student awareness of the current state of global water quality and availability. View »
Sense of Smell and Olfactory Fatigue In this introductory activity, students use fragrant oils to determine the time of olfactory fatigue for both of their nostrils and examine the link between smell and memories. View »
Chicken Wing Musculature Explore the structures and functions of muscle tissue and practice dissection techniques with this activity. View »
Amazing Bugs® Beetle Races: Observation Sheet Students can record their observations of the darkling beetle on this sheet. View »
Amazing Bugs® Beetle Races: Performance Standards Summary Review this summary for details on how the Amazing Bugs® Beetle Races kit helps students achieve performance standards. View »
Amazing Bugs® Beetle Races: Pre/Post Questions Guide inquiry and assess student learning with these questions. Students answer the questions before and after the activities in the Amazing Bugs® kit. View »
Human Body: Integumentary System Review Review the structure and function of the integumentary system with this graphic organizer. View »
Cutaneous 2-Point Discrimination Explore the density of receptors in the skin on the hand with this activity. View »
Elephant Toothpaste This demonstration showing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, catalyzed by iodide ions, provides students with visual evidence of a chemical reaction. View »