This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website features an NGSS-aligned Open Source Lesson Plan for Investigating Ecosystem Dynamics with Fast Plants. The featured lesson plan is available to be downloaded and edited as needed via Google Drive. The investigation challenges students to gather background information and design/implement an ecosystem experiment, modeling different growing environments with Fast Plants. The experiments provide evidence which students can use to develop claims about the effects of different environments on populations.

This blog post on the Wisconsin Fast Plants website features the recently released Wisconsin Fast Plants genetics simulations, powered by ExploreLearning Gizmos. Sign up for a free account on the Gizmo website (https://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=Controller.dspFreeAccount) for free access to two simulations that were collaboratively developed by the teams at Explore Learning and the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These simulations replace those previously available on our website that were developed nearly two decades ago and no longer function on modern operating systems. Fast Plants Gizmos were created as a collaboration between ExploreLearning and the Wisconsin Fast Plants Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They were designed to support many of the experiments that students can do using Fast Plants seeds and plants. By using these Gizmos in combination with firsthand experiences growing Fast Plants, students can compare simulated growth, development and reproduction with observations of living Fast Plants. In addition, the Gizmos genetic simulation makes it possible for students to gather data from a significantly larger plant population than is typically grown in classrooms. These Gizmos also stand alone, supporting topics both in plant life cycles and Mendelian genetics and can be used by any student. Simulation, Simulations, Genetics, Inheritance

This blog post from the Fast Plants Team addresses the question "Do Fast Plants need Vernalization to Flower?". This post describes the concept of vernalization (requiring a cold period to induce flowering) and its role in regulating the development of flower structures in flowering plants. Some Fast Plants relatives in the Brassica genus require vernalization to induce flowering" however, Fast Plants do not require vernalization and will flower at about 14 days after planting when grown in recommended conditions.

This blog post shared on the Wisconsin Fast Plants website is a guest post by Daniel Murphy, author of the weekly blog Awkward Botany. In this post, Daniel shares his firsthand account of his experiences growing plants and becoming "a bona fide plant nerd." This post is a great example of the value in letting learners know plants by growing them. Thank you Daniel for letting us share this story!

This blog post on the Fast Plants website shares content from podcaster, Matt Candeias, host of the In Defense of Plants podcast. In an interview with Mary Williams of the American Society of Plant Biologists, Matt discusses the important connection fostered between physical experiences and development of important mental skills.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants features open source educator resources, developed in 2023. These NGSS- and Ag-Standards aligned resources, named Investigating Brassicas Around the World with Fast Plants include a full lesson plan with supporting plant breeding activities, video about Brassica origins, and supplemental reading materials. This investigation is centered around the phenomenon question: "How is it that so many plants classified as Brassica look and taste different?". In this investigation, students are guided to gather evidence and develop claims to answer the phenomenon question. This post is primarily a point of reference, giving background information about the Investigating Brassicas Around the World lesson and providing links to free downloadable resources for teaching this lesson in your classroom.

This blog post from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin Fast Plants, describes an investigation that educators can implement in the classroom to facilitate students' learning about variation and natural selection through firsthand observations and hands-on data collection in a very short time. The post offers an abbreviated example of how to conduct a classroom investigation with the Fast Plants Polycot seed variety. It covers topics like the benefits of using the Polycot seed variety in the classroom (easy to notice trait variations, large sample populations in a small classroom space), selecting traits for students to experiment with and observe, designing a selection investigation, observing and recording polycot generations data, and analyzing data.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website is a guest post by classroom teacher, Julie LaConte, of Rossman School in Creve Coeur, MO. In this post, Julie describes her experiences researching, preparing for, and teaching with Fast Plants in her classroom. Thank you for sharing your experiences, Julie!

This blog post by the Fast Plants Team provides a materials list and instructions for a Do-It-Yourself, LED Grow Light that is ideal for Fast Plants growth. This grow light uses cost-effective materials that can be obtained online and from a local hardware store. The light is easy to construct, powerful, and height adjustable, which helps simplify the goal of keeping your grow light close to your developing Fast Plants. This post also explains what it means to provide optimal lighting for seedlings and describes why it is important to understand light intensity and its effect on growing plants.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website describes the value of using Fast Plants as a model organism for biological and environmental investigations. This post is primarily an index of Fast Plants resources, providing prompts for teaching goals and suggesting Fast Plants kits (distributed by Carolina Biological) that can be used to accomplish these teaching goals.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website provides an overview and list of resources for teaching about heredity and inheritance patterns with Fast Plants seed varieties. This blog is primarily a point of reference for other Fast Plants teaching resources, but includes specific detail about monohybrid seed varieties with punnet squares. Further, links are included to video walkthroughs for Monohybrid (in soil), Monohybrid Seed Disks, and Dihybrid (in soil) investigations.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website provides an overview and list of resources for teaching life science topics with Wisconsin Fast Plants. This blog is primarily a point of reference for other Fast Plants teaching resources.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website provides an overview and list of resources for teaching about observable variation and measuring selection (focusing on leaf hairs/trichomes). This blog is primarily a point of reference for other Fast Plants teaching resources.

Read this blog post for background information about the relationship between the physical environment and life processes and systems in Fast Plants. Growing healthy Fast Plants is easy if you understand how the environment can affect growth and development. Three broad categories of environmental factors influence how an individual plant matures through its life cycle:  1) the physical environment, 2) the chemical environment, 3) the biological environment. Based on this information about standard conditions for optimal Fast Plants growth, one could easily design a wide variety of controlled experiments. Questions naturally arise while reading about optimal conditions that could be investigated by designing an experiment to how varying one condition affects growth, development and/or reproduction. This blog post is part of a series explaining how key environmental factors "physical, chemical, and biological" can impact the growth of Wisconsin Fast Plants.

This blog post on the Fast Plants website discusses the concept of plant blindness (the inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment) and the importance of ending plant blindness and supporting plant vision. Fast Plants are an effective introduction to growing and noticing plants: to know a plant, grow a plant! This blog post includes links to preservice teacher lesson plans that support plant vision and a botanically-inclined future.

This blog post from the Fast Plants team provides detailed advice and instructions on the ideal timing for harvesting Fast Plants seeds. It is important to harvest at the correct time, to ensure maximum seed viability for planting the next generation. This post addresses several frequently asked questions relating to seed harvest and provides close up pictures of seeds in seedpods to aid in determining the correct time to harvest your plants. Additional content includes details about pollination and biological processes related to fertilization of a flower.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants website describes the value of using Fast Plants as a model organism to teach plant life cycles at multiple grade levels. Content includes an overview of plant growth stages (including videos) and links to resources and activities that can enrich teaching and learning about the plant life cycle as your Fast Plants grow and develop.

This blog post from the Wisconsin Fast Plants Team describes three ways to optimize your growing environment to grow healthy Fast Plants. Tips for growing healthy plants are focused around the following three concepts, with descriptions of ideal environmental conditions for each: 1. Not enough light for healthy Fast Plants 2. Temperature too cold or too hot for healthy Fast Plants 3. Healthy Fast Plants need healthy roots

The Blood Brain Barrier refers to the mechanisms in place around the microvasculature of the brain to ensure optimal neural functioning. Endothelial cells are the structural basis of the blood brain barrier and are joined by tight cellular junctions formed by the transmembrane proteins the occludins and the claudins.

Blood cells develop in the bone marrow from a common stem cell in the process known as haematopoiesis. Once mature, cells are divided into groups that reflect their morphological and functional characteristics including the erythrocytes, or red blood cells, the granulocytes, the agranulocytes and the megakaryocytes.