Students will identfiy necessary resources in a habitat, understand the factors that influence normal population size and carrying capacity, describe limiting fcators, and compare natural population fluctuations and unnatural declines.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This brief video lesson describes the miraculous journey of infant sea turtles as these tiny animals run the gauntlet of predators and harsh conditions. Then, in numbers, see how human behavior has made their tough lives even more challenging. Discussion/assessment questions and suggested supplemental resources are also included.
Material Type: Lecture, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Presentation
In this lesson, students demonstrate energy transfer and connections between plants and animals.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
The goal of this chapter is to help students understand the science concepts involved in immune response and in new technologies for manufacturing vaccines, as well as the exciting career opportunities available in this field. This chapter also is intended to provide a snapshot of some of the leading vaccine research and manufacturing efforts in North Carolina.
Material Type: Unit of Study
This encyclopedia entry is for the term "food chain." A food chain describes who eats whom in the wild. Text for this entry is appropriate for the upper elementary, middle and high school grade levels.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Lesson, Reading, Reference Material
Students investigate the energy sources used in students' communities.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This set of graphs from the Web site for the NOVA/FRONTLINE Special Report: "What's Up with the Weather?" reveals how atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides from the burning of fossil fuels have climbed over time. The graphs show data collected during the study of ice core samples and are featured in the article "Stories in the Ice." Supplemental resources, including a background essay and discussion questions, are also provided.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading
Students explore the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources for generating electricity. A particular focus is given to natural gas extracted from shale formations through the hydraulic fracturing process. At the end of the module, students will be able to compare the relative costs and benefits (abundance, ecological impacts, etc.) of different sources used for generating electricity.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students analyze energy use, cost, and source patterns from household to regional scales and relate these patterns to CO2 emissions.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
Students research and assess past, present, and future decisions related to energy shortages, using the California energy crisis as a case study.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Students view a slideshow presentation with imbedded videos and images of the skeletal evolution of humans and chimpanzees. The fossil skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus is compared with the skeletons of humans and chimpanzees to better understand the branching that took place during evolution.
Material Type: Interactive
This encyclopedia entry is for the term "Fossils." Fossils are the preserved remains, or traces of remains, of ancient animals and plants. Text for this entry is appropriate for the middle and high school grade levels.
Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Lesson, Reading, Reference Material
Students are introduced to natural selection, specifically how it unfolds from generation to generation.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This resource explains why those with sickle cell anemia will not contract malaria.
Material Type: Reading
With this resource, students will use what they know about atoms and molecules to decide whether an example is an atom or a molecule.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This app for iPad devices is a fully interactive atomistic simulation that shows the motions of atoms as they attract, repel, and collide with one another. With the tap or swipe of a finger, students can add, delete, or highlight molecules, as well as increase/decrease temperature, pressure, or volume and explore the states of matter. An associated simulation, Salts, allows students to manipulate atoms and ions to join to form crystals.
Material Type: Interactive
Students examine a variety of materials and classify them as mixtures or solutions.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Students learn that the properties of matter help to organize elements on the periodic table.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
With this resource, students will play 20 questions using the periodic table and a list of common molecules.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Students will construct 3-dimensional representations of each known element of the periodic table using cereal-sized boxes as their mediums. By creating these models, students will gain an in-depth understanding of their chosen element's discovery, history, unique properties, and place on the Modern Periodic Table. Students will also be able to identify and describe basic periodic trends.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
