Students learn about the form and function of the human heart through lecture, research and dissection. They brainstorm ideas that pertain to various heart conditions and organize these ideas into categories that help them research possible solutions. An expert in the field of cardiac valve research was interviewed for this lesson and shares his ideas with the class. Students conclude by researching various possible heart defects.

A main concern of shoe engineers is creating shoes that provide the right amount of arch support to prevent (or fix) common gait misalignments that lead to injury. During this activity, students look at their own footprints and determine whether they have either of the two most prominent gait misalignments: overpronation (collapsing arches) or supination (high arches). Knowing the shape of a person's foot, and their natural arch movement is necessary to design shoes to fix these gain alignments.

This activity provides an excellent example of an active debate within the scientific community regarding a relatively recent human fossil find, Homo floresiensis. The activity highlights the ways in which scientists can interpret scientific evidence in different ways, how scientists build arguments to support their claims, and how assumptions can influence interpretation. Students watch part of a NOVA program on the fossil find, and take notes on the evidence discussed. They then discuss in small groups and then as a large group which argument they consider more convincing and why.

Learn how a cow eats and digests food in this video segment from Nature.

In this activity, the students will use wax paper shaped as leaves and kite string to build a shelter to protect them from the rain. The students will then test the shelters for durability and water resistance.

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, explores reasons why Homo sapiens had an advantage over Neanderthals in the pursuit of territory and natural resources.

In this video from Outdoor Nevada, learn about the habitat, diet, and defense mechanisms of horned lizards.

Students are introduced to a challenge question. Towards answering the question, they generate ideas for what they need to know about medicines and how they move through our bodies, watch a few short videos to gain multiple perspectives, and then learn lecture material to obtain a basic understanding of how antibiotics kill bacteria in the human body. They learn why different forms of medicine (pill, liquid or shot) get into the blood stream at different speeds.

In this classic hands-on activity, learners estimate the length of a molecule by floating a fatty acid (oleic acid) on water. This lab asks learners to record measurements and make calculations related to volume, diameter, area, and height. Learners also convert meters into nanometers. Includes teacher and student worksheets but lacks in depth procedure information. The author suggests educators search the web for more complete lab instructions.

In this lesson about cosmic rays, students will describe why cosmic rays are dangerous to astronauts. Includes information about student preconceptions. This is activity 3 of 4 from "The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER)."

This narrated animation from Interactive NOVA: "The Secret of Life" illustrates DNA replication.

This video segment adapted from NOVA describes the emergence of life on the islands of Hawaii from a barren volcanic platform under the ocean waves to the rich explosion of life that covers the many climate zones of the islands today.

Every living thing must be able to reproduce and make offspring. Most of us are familiar with how humans and mammals make babies, but do all creatures reproduce in the same way? Do insects, like the beetle, give birth to little insects? Also in: French | Spanish

This article discusses the physical and behavioral adaptations that allow birds to survive in cold climates such as the polar regions.

This classroom activity is an inquiry based lesson where students observe and measure temperature changes in order to determine which fabrics are best at keeping in heat.

This inquiry lab activity involves students working to observe and describe to how worms will interact/adapt with their environment.

Aaron and Justin investigate which sunscreen best keeps out harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun, in this video from DragonflyTV.

This activity is a lab investigation in which students design and conduct experiments using pineapple juice containing the enzyme bromelain and its affect on the substrate gelatin found in Jell-O. The focus of student driven investigations are on enzyme specificity, activity and the impact of environmental factors on enzyme functioning. Based on the original activities from School Improvement in Maryland; "Pineapple/Jell-O Lab," Access Excellence Activities Exchange; "Enzyme Labs Using Jell-O" by Anne McDonald and Michael O'Hare, and AP & Regents Biology; "Lab 8: Pineapple Enzymes and Jell-O Molds" by Kim B. Foglia.

This is an activity where students learn about inquiry by designing an experiment on bean plants with the goal of growing the tallest plant. Students work in groups to plan the growing conditions of the control and three experimental plants. Students collect data for about three weeks and analyze their data to see if their hypothesis is correct or not. The end product can be a report presented in a number of ways.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, follow novice runners as they train for a marathon, and discover how quickly the body responds to regular aerobic exercise.