Students will use an online calculator to estimate their household's carbon footprint and explore various actions to reduce it.

In this biology lesson with math and ELA integration, students use real rock pocket mouse data to illustrate the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

In this activity, students review data from a study where scientists investigated whether there is a correlation between the number of AMY1 gene copies and the type of diet of a population. Students will analyze a graph and then answer a series of questions.

Students will explore how human population growth, air pollution, agriculture, mining, water use, and other human activities have impacted the environment and the mark they will leave in the fossil record.

This virtual lab will familiarize students with the techniques used to identify different types of bacteria based on their DNA sequences.

In this activity, students review a study where researchers tested whether bats change their behavior while hunting based on feedback from echolocation. Students will analyze spectograms and corresponding video snapshots which show the physical and acoustic behaviors of bats as they attempt to capture prey and then answer a series of questions based on the data.

In their study of the medium ground finches, evolutionary biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant were able to track the evolution of beak size twice in an amazingly short period of time due to two major droughts that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. This activity simulates the food availability during these droughts and demonstrates how rapidly natural selection can act when the environment changes. Students use two different types of tools to represent different beak types to see which is best adapted to collect and eat seeds of different sizes. Students collect and analyze data and draw conclusions about traits that offer a selective advantage under different environmental conditions. They have the option of using an Excel spreadsheet to calculate different descriptive statistics and interpret graphs.

In this advanced lesson, students use amino acids sequences from the rock pocket mouse genome to illustrate the different levels of protein structure and the relationship between a protein's structure and function.

Students use DNA profiling, or fingerprinting, to solve two cases of elephant poaching in this interactive. In the process they will learn about genetic markers, PCR, gel electrophoresis, allele frequencies, and population genetics.

This brief video clip describes and explains the chemical structure of a DNA molecule.

This animation illustrates how we hear sound. Sounds from the outside world pass as vibrations through tiny bones in our ear to the cochlea. Within the coiled tube of the cochlea, different regions of the basilar membrane sense different sound frequencies at specific. This animation demonstrates how high-frequency sounds penetrate only a short distance along the basilar membrane and how vibrations from low tones are sensed at the farthest end of the basilar membrane.

This activity serves as an extension to the HHMI short film The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation and a means of reinforcing the concepts of variation and natural selection. Students will examine 8 snapshot samples from rock pocket mouse populations (4 snapshots at each of 2 different locations). By counting the number of light and dark-colored mice present at each location, they will determine the correct order of the snapshots from oldest to most recent. They will then graph their results and write a scientific summary describing one of the mouse populations and how it has changed over time.

Students trace the evolutionary history of birds by comparing the shapes and structures of certain bones in a chicken to those of some of its extinct and living relatives in this interactive.

In this lesson, students watch a video of scientists finding, collecting, and dating fossils. They then answer questions about scientific processes and work with ratios and proportions to solve simple algebraic equations relating to fossil data. Recommended for middle school life/earch science, high school environmental science, or high school biology.

In this computer-based activity, students download, graph, and analyze authentic satellite temperature data for coral reef sites around the world. The activity includes a mapping component so the students work individually on one particular coral reef location and then the findings for the whole class are summarized on a set of world maps. After observing global trends in the data, students evaluate the threat to coral reefs from heat stress, which has been occurring with increased intensity and frequency in recent years.

This hands-on activity supports the HHMI short film The Guide and the 2015 Holiday Lectures on Science: Patterns and Processes in Ecology. Students will identify producers and consumers in the savanna ecosystem of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Using a set of “Gorongosa cards,” they create food chains to show the flow of energy in the system, introduce an ecological force or disturbance (e.g., fire), and predict how that force would impact animals in the chain. Lastly, students will construct a more complex model of the flow of energy by depicting multiple relationships in a food web and again make a prediction about the impact of introducing an ecological force.

This interactive resource explains how DNA sequences can be used to generate phylogenetic trees, and how to interpret them.

This multi-part lesson is designed to give students a firm understanding of genetic profiling using short tandem repeats (STRs), which is a process used by forensics labs around the world. In Part 1 of this lesson, students learn the basics of DNA profiling, including the structure and inheritance of STRs. In Part 2, students learn how DNA profiles are compiled with STRs that are typically used in forensic investigations. In Part 3, they work through a case study involving a robbery and build a DNA profile that can be compared to one constructed from a DNA sample left by a suspect at the scene of the crime. Throughout, analysis questions walk students through calculations on allele frequency and probability (using real data from national databases), providing opportunities for formative assessments on students’ understanding of DNA fingerprinting applications.

This brief video clip discusses how reactive molecules, such as free radicals, and solar radiation can lead to mutations in DNA.

This film traces the uncovering of key clues that led to the stunning discovery that an asteroid struck the Earth 66 million years ago, triggering a mass extinction of animals, plants, and even microorganisms. Each act illustrates the nature and power of the scientific method. Representing a rare instance in which many different disciplines (geology, physics, biology, chemistry, paleontology) contributed to a revolutionary theory, the film is intended for students in all science classes. Supporting materials are provided.