Community Resources for Science
A Whole New World of DNA and Proteins
Lead your young scientists into an exciting world as they participate in a role play and experiment focused on proteins and DNA. After researching the Central Dogma of Biology, individuals or groups participate in a classroom slide...
Virginia Department of Education
DNA Extraction from Strawberries
Has your class ever been astounded by the complexity of DNA analysis? Have they ever asked why genetic engineering has become so important to our daily lives? Young scientists perform DNA extraction on strawberries and explore how the...
Personal Genetics Education Project
DNA, Crime and Law Enforcement
Civil rights meets biotechnology in a instructional activity that scrutinizes the collection of DNA of citizens who have been arrested, but not yet convicted of a crime. Real-life cases are examined in which the DNA of a relative was...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Got Lactase? The Co-Evolution of Genes and Culture
Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes
Adaptations must be made as environments change. This fabulous presentation features Icelandic icefish, a transparent, scaleless specimen that even has colorless blood. Genetics and adaptations concepts are explored as scientists study...
Curated OER
High-Tech Food: Science in Your Shopping Cart
Kids are given a lot to think about, as they delve into the world of high-tech foods. They discuss GMOs, biotechnology, food enhancements and domestication. They view videos, engage in class discussions, complete worksheets, and learn...
Curated OER
Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2009
Emerging ecologists need a full understanding of life, from the inner workings of a cell to the complex relationships among organisms. This examination is meant to assess high schoolers after an entire year course on the living...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2003
The living environment, from the interior of a cell to the complex relationships among populations, are queried in this final examination. Learners look at air pollution maps, diagrams of cells, population graphs, and drawing of cells....
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2005
The 2005 version of the Regents High School Examination in the area of ecology is as comprehensive as previous years' exams. It consists of 40 multiple choice questions on everything from the structure of DNA to the interactions within...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2007
Environmental science enthusiasts show what they know at the end of the year by taking this full-fledged final exam. They answer multiple choice, graph interpretation, and essay analysys questions, 73 of them in all. Topics range from...
Curated OER
Regents High School Exam: Living Environment 2008
Tne New York Regents High School Examinations are comprehensive and include various styles of questions, includingmultiple choice and the analysis of graphs. This particular version, the 2008 Living Environment exam surveys a variety of...
Curated OER
Pharmaceuticals and Treatments
Students perform an experiment involving reverse transcriptase-polymerized chain reaction HIV replication to better examine the biotechnology used by scientists in pharmaceutical research of infections diseases like HIV. Students examine...
Curated OER
Variation and Heredity
Junior geneticists tally eye color and height in their lab groups. They examine certain traits in soybean and corn seedlings. For each activity, they gather data and learn about continuous and discontinuous genetic variation. In another...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Microarrays and Stem Cells
Background reading is available in the first two pages of this worksheet, along with reading comprehension questions and a laboratory activity in which students use mircroarray technology to identify genes used in cell differentiation....
Curated OER
The Watson-Crick Model of DNA Structure
Junior geneticists construct models of DNA to discover sequencing and pairing of nucleotides. They use the models to simulate protein synthesis and then translate the codes into physical traits. Finally, they use the traits to create a...
Curated OER
Regents High School Examination: Living Environment 2010
This exam touches upon every topic within the typical first year biology course.. A broad variety of question styles give high schoolers every opportunity to show what they know. Why start from scratch when a comprehensive final exam is...
Curated OER
Nucleic Acids
A lively presentation presents general facts and history of nucleic acids in a note-taking format. Every slide contains colorful photos or graphics to illuminate and engage. Biology aces learn about the function and structure of these...
Curated OER
The Human Genotype
Six different chromosome activites introduce biology aces to heredity, chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked traits, and the human genome. The hands-on activites are fairly simple for the teacher to prepare and will prove to be both...
Curated OER
Tracing Genetic Ancestry Using DNA Microarrays
High school learners read and discuss an article about genetic ancestry and genetic ancestry testing. They complete a paper and pencil activity that mimics the function of a DNA microarray and consider the ethics of genetic testing in...
Curated OER
Producing a Strain of E. coli that Glows in the Dark
Students observe the experimental process called bacterial transformation and demonstrate phenotype changes in bacteria that have been transformed with an antibiotic-resistance gene and a metabolic marker. They create a luminescent...
Curated OER
The Great Cafeteria Caper
Students extract DNA from their own hair roots. They run an electrophoresis gel to examine patterns of their DNA along with standard DNA. The experiment is based on a crime scene scenario.
Curated OER
Determining Cutting Site Locations
Students explore DNA restriction mapping. They cut pieces of paper into lengths representing those produced when specific enzymes are used to cut a strand of DNA.
Curated OER
String Cells
Use this resource to have your class learn about the cell. This resource walks learners through the construction of a model of a cell. This project is completed in a cooperative learning group, and reinforces the higher-order thinking...