As you watch a butterfly navigate the flowers in your back yard, or a pesky fly avoid your flyswatter, keep in mind their vision is quite different than yours and mine.
In this video segment from Nature, learn about six different breeds of cattle.
In the first video, we present a biological circuit topology from Ma, Trusina, El-Samad, Lim, and Tang, "Defining network topologies that can achieve biochemical adaptation," Cell, 138: 760-773 (2009). This topology supports adaptation, which is not the absence of change in response to stimulation/stress, but, instead, the ability to produce delayed compensation for those changes. In the second video, we summarize the method of almost linear stability analysis used to solve for the dynamics of this example system.
To describe how oscillations are supported in systems of differential equations, we present a classic "Romeo and Juliet" picture of two-dimensional oscillations, and we analyze how trajectories change as nullclines are arranged at different angles in the phase plane. In addition to models based on traditional systems of differential equations, dynamical systems with time delays and dynamical systems with stochastic fluctuation (i.e. stochastic resonance) can also support oscillations.
The first video segment presents a canonical mathematical example from quantitative biology, in which mRNA is transcribed from a gene sequence, and protein is translated from mRNA. The second segment uses eigenvector-eigenvalue analysis to sketch the trajectories of the system in a phase portrait. Finally, the third segment generalizes the linear stability analysis used to study this example.
This lab activity is a paper fossil dig where students discover skeletal characteristics of humans, primates and hominids and are asked to make a short oral presentation to the class.
This article recounts the events on the day in 1990 when Dr. David Elliot, an Ohio State geologist, found a dinosaur fossil high in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica.
This expository article for elementary students describes the dinosaurs that lived in polar regions as well as the adaptations that helped them survive in the dark and cold environment. Modified versions for younger grades are available.
Students disassemble and analyze retractable pens. Through the process of "reverse engineering," they learn how the ink pens work.
This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey tells the story of researcher Sir Alexander Fleming, whose luck and scientific reasoning led to the groundbreaking discovery of penicillin.
In this video segment from NatureScene, observe some methods of plant identification with regards to the diversity of hardwoods at the Congaree Swamp.
This video segment from the Science and Technology Chat series focuses on dolphin pregnancy, birth, and care of the young, and features Atlantic bottlenose dolphins living in captivity at the Mirage Resort Dolphin Habitat.
Dr. Stephen O'Brien of the National Cancer Institute discovers a 700-year-old mutation that makes a person resistant to HIV infection. From Evolution: "Evolutionary Arms Race."
This video segment from Kentucky Life explains the differences between dragonflies and damselflies and explores their habitats.
This video segment from NOVA: "The Shape of Things" follows the growth of a duck embryo, from a single fertilized egg cell to a complex, hatching duckling.
In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet teacher Dustin Madden, an IŰ__óíupiaq who hopes to inspire students to take an active role in protecting the natural environment by giving them a foundation in math and science.
Biological systems (e.g. cells) can make stochastic transitions between phenotypes (e.g. states of relatively increased or decreased drug resistance). This means that an initially drug-sensitive population can generate relatively drug-resistant subpopulations. This video presents a metronomogram, which is a tool for understanding whether such stochastic transitions can provide an opportunity for therapeutic treatment. Citation: Liao D, Estevez-Salmeron L, and Tlsty TD (2012) "Conceptualizing a tool to optimize therapy based on dynamic heterogeneity," Phys. Biol. 9:065005.
In this jigsaw, students will graph various Bald Eagle population numbers and determine the impact humans have had on the eagle. Specifically, they will investigate why the Bald Eagle was listed as endangered, the affects of DDT on eagles, and the affects of lead. Based on an original activity titled "Bald Eagle Population Graphing" from The Raptor Center, University of Minnesota http://www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/prod/groups/cvm/@pub/@cvm/documents/asset/cvm_66866.pdf
This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes El Niño, how it forms, and the chain reaction of consequences it triggers around the globe.
This list of carefully selected books for grades K-5 highlights nonfiction about climate proxies, those preserved physical characteristics, such as fossils, that scientists use to reconstruct past climates. Also highlighted are a few books that provide information about two past climatic events -- the last ice age and the Dust Bowl. In each issue of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, the virtual bookshelf recommends books that accurately portray the theme drawn from the principles of climate sciences.