NASA
Atoms, Elements, and Isotopes
Rings and golden nuggets contain the element gold, but how small can you break it down before it is no longer considered gold? A helpful presentation explains the basics about atoms, elements, and isotopes through a presentation.
NASA
Development of a Model: Analyzing Elemental Abundance
How do scientists identify which elements originate from meteorites? Scholars learn about a sample of material found in a remote location, analyzing the sample to determine if it might be from Earth or not. They study elements, isotopes,...
Biology in Motion
Urine Concentration in 3 Easy Steps
The color, density, and smell of urine all relate to kidney function. Pupils observe the kidney controlling the concentration of water through three different steps. It mentions how each function might change the appearance and scent of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
BCR-ABL: Cancer Protein Structure and Function
How do scientists discover treatments for cancer? A presentation and accompanying worksheet explain how one cancer spreads and a theory of how to stop it. It details the trials and relapses after using the medication. Scholars learn...
Physics Classroom
Name That Energy
Many upper level tests require pupils to interpret written descriptions of scientific principles. Scholars practice the skill by working through three levels of difficulty. Each question covers kinetic energy, gravitational potential...
Biology in Motion
The Cardiovascular System
When resting, blood goes from the heart to the lungs and back in about six seconds. An animation of the heart starts simply by showing blood flow through the two halves. It builds in complexity slowly over the course of five slides,...
Biology in Motion
Thyroid Gland and Negative Feedback
Many glands work together to control hormone levels in the body. The interactive focuses on the thyroid gland, pituitary gland, and the hypothalamus. It demonstrates the interconnections and feedback loops present in the endocrine system.
Biology in Motion
Organize-It
Many pupils struggle to categorize and organize related content. Multiple quizzes on a variety of topics offer practice for these specific skills. Scholars move items around until they think each is placed in the proper position....
Biology in Motion
Evolution Lab
Evolution occurs though change over time, but can it go any faster? Scholars speed up the process of evolution and observe a simulation of 20 blue organisms fighting for survival. A graph displays the changes in phenotype over time. By...
Biology in Motion
ATP and Energy Storage
Young children often appear to have endless amounts of energy. The interactive describes where energy comes from and how bodies turn food into a usable energy source. The comparison of ATP to a rechargeable battery helps pupils remember...
Biology in Motion
Fat Digestion and Bile
Understand the role of bile in fat digestion with the help of a simple animation. The short interactive explains why fats are difficult to break down and how bile assists lipase in maintaining a healthy system.
PBS
Data Plots of Exoplanet Orbital Properties
Scientists discovered the first exoplanet in 1995 and by early 2018, they confirmed the existence of more than 3,700—that's a lot of data! As part of the PBS 9-12 Space series, scholars interpret data about exoplanets. They compare...
PBS
Analyzing Light Curves of Transiting Exoplanets
Scientists detected exoplanets by measuring how the brightness of stars changed over time. Young astronomers interpret and analyze the same data that led to exoplanet discoveries. They learn to apply light curve graphs and connect the...
PBS
Student Helioviewer Data Tool
Scholars use current satellite data to view solar events, solar features, and so much more. It allows them to make videos over time to observe patterns and visually understand the sun at a much higher level using the interactive that is...
PBS
Light Curves of Kepler's First Five Discoveries
The Kepler missions discovered and confirmed more than 2,650 exoplanets to date. A video shares the data from the first five discoveries. It provides graphs and diagrams to put each discovery in perspective to help scholars discuss the...
PBS
Exoplanets through Kepler’s Laws
The majority of all confirmed exoplanets relied on Kepler's laws to discover their locations. Scholars learn how to apply Kepler's laws and then practice using data to discover exoplanets. They benefit from NASA video footage, NOVA...
Kenan Fellows
Unit 4: The Brain
Drugs interact with the brain to alter moods, emotions, and behaviors by changing the brain's chemistry, perceptions, and interactions. The final lesson in the Pharmacology unit shows scholars experiments, has them complete four labs,...
Kenan Fellows
Unit 3: How Drugs Enter/Exit the Body
The third of a four-part series on Pharmacology teaches scholars how drugs enter and exit the body, how they act inside the body, how they affect the brain, and more. Over the course of the unit, groups complete two labs and one...
Kenan Fellows
Unit 2: Chemistry Review
What exactly goes into the medications people take every day? Scholars learn about the chemistry of medications in the second of a four-part series on Pharmacology. Over the course of two weeks, class members complete seven experiments,...
Kenan Fellows
Unit 1: Introduction to Pharmacology
Learn about the study of medications, including those found in nature and those made synthetically. The first of four lessons in a series on pharmacology includes lectures, hands-on experiments, research, and more.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Virochip DNA Microarray
Virochips detect and identify viruses at a higher rate than other tests. Show young scientists how Virochips work to identify existing viruses. They analyze results demonstrating mutations or the evolution of viruses and view videos...
Mascil Project
Water Quality
How do you prevent the spread of water-borne illness in large public swimming areas? Scholars discover the challenges to identifying safe water through an inquiry experiment. They then produce posters sharing their understanding of water...
Serendip
Food, Energy and Body Weight
High schoolers learn why humans need calories, how they control weight with food choices, and the impact of exercise on energy. Scholars then apply their understanding to a case study of lunch choices and exercise.
Serendip
Where Does a Plant's Mass Come From?
Where does the mass for a growing tree come from? Scholars consider a few different hypotheses and guess which is correct. They then analyze data from different experiments to understand which concepts science supports.