Meiosis is the process by which gametes (eggs and sperm) are made. Gametes have only one set of chromosomes. Therefore, meiosis involves a reduction in the amount of genetic material. Each gamete has only half the chromosomes of the original germ cell. Explore meiosis with a computer model of dragons. Run meiosis, inspect the chromosomes, then choose gametes to fertilize. Predict the results of the dragon offspring and try to make a dragon without legs. Learn why all siblings do not look alike.

This site shows what blood is, what happens when the immune system goes awry, what are stem cells are, and more. See videos exploring cell structure and function, cell development and motility, plankton, plants, and protozoa. Learn how the sea urchin helps us understand genes, reproduction, and cancer.

This mitosis crossword puzzle uses vocabulary from CELLS alive! If you have trouble and need a hint, you can use the "Search this Site" engine in the lefthand menu.

This lesson intends to support learning about family makeup & how it impacts our lives. Relatedness or connection can take many forms when talking about family – it’s not one size fits or makes sense to all.In this lesson, participants will discuss their understanding of their family, identify/curate their family circles of connection, and how these circles impact their lives and decision-making. Understanding relationships, values, and what resonates as important is a part of practicing and engaging critical thinking skills.

In this problem-based learning module, students will examine how natural selection is involved in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.  They will evaluate methods to preventing antibiotic resistant bacteria from developing.  Finally students will synthesize a plan to educate community members on preventing the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The koala is an iconic Australian species. Unfortunately, some wild populations are at risk of extinction. Captive breeding programs aiming to manage endangered populations face high mortality rates of pouch-dwelling koala young. Recently, researchers investigated infant koala mortality rates associated with bacterial infection by analyzing the microbiome of koala pouches. Gene sequencing showed that the pouch microbiomes of successfully bred female koalas were dominated by Muribaculaceae bacteria early in lactation, while mother koalas who lost their young had Enterobacteriaceae-dominated pouch microbiomes. The bacterial species associated with poor reproductive outcomes were shown to be resistant to antibiotics commonly administered to captive koalas. This work could help reduce mortality rates of infant koalas in captive breeding programs, assess medication regimens used to treat captive koalas, and support general studies of at-risk wild koala populations..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

 Students will learn about what constitutes various aspects of identity, including gender identity, sexual orientation, and explore how experiences of identity can shift across different cultures. We will discuss why acknowledging gender diversity is important, ways to respect each other, and more. 

Learners will be able to explain the process of pollination and sexual reproduction of flowering plants

This site helps students see how plants and animals interact to accomplish pollination. Students (Grades 3-8) identify plant and animal parts involved in pollination, connections between pollination and food production, relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, and ways flowers have adapted to encourage pollination.

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

This demonstration will help you to discover the changes that take place during puberty and understand the science behind these changes.

 In this lesson, teachers will describe how puberty prepares human bodies for the potential to reproduce as well as the process of human reproduction with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation. Teachers should review information learned last class while going through slides and questioning the students on what they recall. Teachers explain to students that all of the changes they experience during puberty are due to a new surge of hormones that both females and males experience, often differently. Teachers will also discuss the process of human reproduction by describing the steps needed to conceive a baby. The last activity has students create a diagram of the steps of conception in the right order for teachers to assess what they have retained from the lesson. All mistakes should be reviewed and corrected by the teacher, and then end the lesson with an open-discussion for question.

Queerness, Race, and Reproduction: Exploring the Politics of Childcare Through and Beyond Lee Edelman and José Muñoz
This open-access education resource explores the political, social, and theoretical issues surrounding children, childcare, and reproduction. It begins with a personal reflection on how my queer friends and I would speculate about the possibility of having children as undergraduate students. I observe that our queerness made these questions so salient to us as we recognized the unique challenges that we had as queer children. I then explore a tension within queer theory between scholars Lee Edelman, who characterizes childrearing as a necessarily heteronormative endeavor, and José Muñoz, who critiques Edelman’s argument for ignoring the fact that society does not value Black and brown children in the same way as it does white children. Despite Muñoz’s influential critique, I caution against assuming that critiques of the imperative to reproduce necessarily exclude racial analysis by drawing on the work of Black studies scholar Christina Sharpe, who calls attention to the ways that racist institutions have forced Black people to reproduce in certain contexts. By putting these scholars in conversation, the audio reflects on the wide-reaching practical and theoretical consequences of reproductive politics.

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.

This lesson explains reproduction to students using a PowerPoint presentation and includes a teacher’s resource with sample definitions and language that can be used. Students then receive cards and try to arrange themselves in the correct order of a 28-day menstrual cycle showing where sperm would need to be present in order for a pregnancy to occur as well as how methods of contraception can prevent pregnancy. The homework is watching a short video about pregnancy myths and answering questions on a worksheet.

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 seminar, we will explore the significance of struggles over reproductive rights in the United States. Throughout the course, we will ask such questions as: What is reproductive freedom and why has attaining it been so central to women’s liberation movements? Why have attempts to regulate reproduction been so prevalent in American politics?

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