Students develop their understanding of the exponential and logistic population growth models by analyzing food poisoning and the recovery of endangered species. Then, students analyze examples where the trends in population size do not match the predictions of the exponential or logistic population growth models because the simplifying assumptions for these models are not true for the population studied. In the final section, students analyze trends in human population size and some factors that have affected and will affect these trends. This activity helps students meet the Next Generation Science Standards.

This video segment explores the role of touch in the development of young animals, including humans. Footage from NOVA: "Mystery of the Senses: Touch."

In this video adapted from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, learn about the prairie dog, the importance of its role in its ecosystem, and how it is affected by an ever-growing human population.

In this unit, students examine the question: How does access to a specific diet (nutrition) impact human rights? As students explore biological information on how the human body uses food as a source of energy, they will explore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) document, to examine the crucial question of how access to a proper diet is related to a person’s rights.

In this video segment from NatureScene, observe dragonflies and mayflies near Cedar Creek at Congaree Swamp National Park.

After heuristically deriving Stirling's approximation in the first video segment, we outline a simple example of the central limit theorem for the case of the binomial distribution. In the final segment, we explain how the central limit theorem is used to suggest that physical experiments are characterized by normally-distributed (Gaussian) fluctuations while fluctuations in biological experiments are said to fill out log-normal distributions.

In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, follow two scientists and their Nobel Prize-winning efforts to cure bacterial infections using penicillin.

In this media-rich, self-paced lesson, students explore some of the technologies designed to detect and treat inherited diseases and the ethical debate surrounding them.

We use eigenvector-eigenvalue analysis to walk through a simple quasispecies model described in Bull, Meyers, and Lachmann, "Quasispecies made simple," PLoS Comp Biol, 1(6):e61 (2005). The dominance of a genotype depends, not merely on its ability to breed quickly (i.e. the rudimentary concept of survival of the fittest), but also on its ability to breed "true."

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. The site opens by telling kids that people have learned to change the food we eat. The first comic strip looks at a farmer who works to produce a larger, redder, tastier tomato. The second comic strip tells kids about genetic modification and imagines a scientist putting the flounder's "anti-freeze" gene inside the DNA of a tomato. Food for Thought presents kids with two scenarios about genetically modified food, asking them if they think they're good ideas.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about RNAi's potential to treat a wide range of genetic and infectious diseases.

This video segment from Nature features ravens, the most intelligent birds in the crow family.

Thanks to the Disney/Pixar movie "Finding Nemo", virtually everyone has heard of the clownfish. In this video, Jonathan travels the Pacific to investigate the behavior of real clownfish. Even though they don't actually talk in real life, they are beautiful and fascinating fish to observe. Please see the accompanying lesson plan for educational objectives, discussion points and classroom activities.

This video segment from NatureScene describes the characteristics of redwood trees at Redwood National Park.

Students learn how to measure heart rate accurately. Then students design and carry out an experiment to test the effects of an activity or stimulus on heart rate, analyze and interpret the data, and present their experiments in a poster session. In this activity students learn about both cardiac physiology and experimental method.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the two basic forms of reproduction for the living things that practice them.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn about the critical role of flowers in seed plant reproductive biology.

In this video segment from NatureScene, discover some reptiles in the swamp forest ecosystem at Congaree Swamp National Park.

This annotated compilation of some of the best resources for teaching and learning about evolution includes activities, videos and articles. In the attached file, the first section provides general and introductory resources and the second section provides resources for understanding and analyzing the evidence.

This article, part of Biodiversity Counts, examines how to responsibly collect and keep specimens. The article discusses the reasons why collecting specimens is important and the behaviors and attitudes that define responsible collecting for both scientists and students.