Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms

“Designing the Super Explore” is one of several life science lessons in the NSTA Press book Designing Meaningful STEM Lessons. This NSTA book “introduces a conceptual framework that keeps science front and center as engineering, tec ...

This is a three-lesson unit that is part of a nationwide effort to monitor bird nesting and reproductive success. This unit provides students with enough background to participate in citizen science and is connected with Cornell University Ornitholog ...

This phenomenon (images at http://www.negaresa.org/science/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/albino-animals.png) comes from the Science GSE Phenomena Bank of the Georgia Science Teachers Association. The images provided show a variety of species that are bo ...

“Beetle Battles” is one lesson from the Data Nuggets website. Data Nuggets are lessons that originated from a partnership of teachers and scientists to address both the needs of scientists to share their research broadly and improve their ...

This image shows the comparison of a normal cow and a genetically modified cow through selective breeding. Background: The genetic modification may be either through manipulation of genes (genetic engineering) or as a result of traditional anim ...

This is one activity out of the Project Learning Tree  Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide. Project Learning Tree® (PLT) is a program of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative that offers high-quality instructional materials for grad ...

This short (1:05 min) slow motion video shows a bat using echolocation to capture a moth.     This phenomenon could stimulate the following driving questions: How do bats locate their prey in the dark? How can bats t ...

  This news story describes a phenomenon that illustrates how traits are randomly passed from generation to generation. A photo in the story shows two young women whose physical traits are so different from one another that most people would ...

In this hands-on activity, students are investigating the phenomenon of human inheritance. They are seeking to explain why each person, except for identical twins, is unique in their appearance. The activity uses four differently shaped pasta to repr ...

The Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah created this website to be an informational resource to students learning about cloning technology. The website contains four informational sections and two interactive simulations. The re ...

This is one of 25 assessment probes from the book,” Uncovering Student Ideas in Life Science, Volume 1: 25 New Formative Assessment Probes”, by Page Keeley and co-authors. All assessment probes in this collection are aligned to a particul ...

This is one of 25 assessment probes from the book,” Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 2: 25 More Formative Assessment Probes”, by Page Keeley and co-authors. All assessment probes in this collection are aligned to a particular s ...

Lab 14 Variation in Traits: How Do Beetle Traits Vary Within and Across Species?  is one lab from the NSTA Press book, Argument-Driven Inquiry in Life Science. This lab introduces students to the variation that occurs within beetle species and a ...

In this activity, students will simulate how genes on chromosomes are passed from generation to generation while exploring color vision and its genetic history in humans and other primates. Students will explore the sex-linked trait of color vision a ...

This is one of many lessons provided by the California Academy of Sciences whose mission is to bring science to life in the classroom.In this activity, students learn about plant reproduction and use real data on flowers and the pollinators that visi ...

Lab 15. Mutations in Genes: How Do Different Types of Mutations in Genes Affect the Function of an Organism? is one lab from the NSTA Press book entitled Argument-Driven Inquiry in Life Science. This lab introduces students to the transfer of genetic ...

This activity allows students to simulate the processes of meiosis and fertilization as they investigate the inheritance of multiple genes. The simulation also allows the student to see the  cause and effect relationship of gene transmission fro ...

This activity demonstrates the effect of changes in the environment on the growth of plants. The plants are placed in environments such as high salinity, cold, heat, or drought and observe the different reactions (growth) of the plants to these condi ...

The Sesame Street Characters are used to: 1. Create a gene map for a particular Sesame Street character. 2. Move the resulting chromosomes through the steps of meiosis to produce the possible gametes of that individual character. 3. Choose a spouse a ...

In this activity, the learner explores various ways in which organisms reproduce. The learner discusses the role that reproduction plays in the cycle of life. By watching short videos and participating in follow-up discussion: 1. They observe ...

Students create and decode DNA for man’s best friend to observe how variations in DNA lead to the inheritance of different traits. Strips of paper that represent DNA are randomly selected and used to assemble the dog's DNA. Students read the DNA and ...

This online unit explores the theme of the National Zoo's Pollinarium exhibition: how plant and animal partners interact to accomplish pollination. It is a series of three lessons that allow the learner to explore and develop an understanding of ...

The learner will trace the family history of a horse named Junior as they explore why he has the characteristic traits that he does. The lesson includes an interview with a horse breeder and demonstrates how traits are passed from generation to gener ...

Students work in pairs to compare five aspects of an organism that reproduces sexually, asexually, or both sexually and asexually. The activity comes with a chart for the students to fill out and with information sheets on twelve organisms. As a clas ...

In this series of games, your students will learn about the behaviors animals use to raise their chances of reproducing. The Animal Reproduction Strategies learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement ...

In this series of games, your students will learn about the vehicles and processes of plant reproduction. The Plant Reproduction Strategies learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic per...

In this series of games, your students will learn about plants’ growth and development and the factors that affect it. The Plant Growth: Effect of Genes and Environment learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved studen...

In this series of games, your students will learn about the processes of sexual and asexual reproduction, and their pros and cons. The Reproduction and Gene Transfer learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student e...

In this series of games, your students will learn about DNA, mutations, and heredity. The Genes and Traits learning objective— based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as dem...

In this series of games, your students will learn about heredity, and how genetic traits show up in offspring. The Variation of Inherited Traits learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academi...

In this series of games, your students will learn how hereditary traits are passed down in the form of genes. The Sexual Reproduction and Genetic Variation learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement ...

In this series of games, your students will learn about the DNA protein coding process and the irregularities it can produce. The Gene Mutations learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academi...

In this series of games, your students will learn how humans can intentionally influence the traits of plants and animals. The Artificial Selection via Selective Breeding learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved stud...

From TeachEngineering - In this activity, students examine how to grow plants the most efficiently. They imagine that they are designing a biofuels production facility and need to know how to efficiently grow plants to use in this facility. As a mean...

NSTA 2018 Health in Our Hands PPT

Handouts and teacher notes for Rock Pocket and Mendel's Peas Storyline

Online interactive from Cornell's Bird Academy exploring how male birds use a variety of methods (including color, dance, and song) to attract mates.

Students use data from a heredity simulation (https://www.biologysimulations.com/heredity-i) to determine the dominant and recessive alleles for two genes.

This storyline introduces selective breeding, asexual reproduction, and the impact of the environment on phenotype. Espeth is experiencing a food shortage! Botanist Zed thinks that he has the answer: rapid-growing tuffets that can be planted and ha...

This storyline introduces heredity, alleles, genes, dominant traits, and recessive traits. Sasha’s panganog, Dashwood, has just had twin noglets. But who is the father? Players help Sasha find clues about the panganog who fathered the twins using he...