Learners research the effects of melting sea ice in the Bering Sea …
Learners research the effects of melting sea ice in the Bering Sea Ecosystem. They create research proposals to earn a place on the scientific research vessel Healy and present their findings and proposals to a Research Board committee.
Working with data, students develop 3-D understandings of Earth structures using inference …
Working with data, students develop 3-D understandings of Earth structures using inference to construct a block diagram from a collection of 2-D information.
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X-ray diffraction is a quick and valuable tool for identifying minerals. Minerals …
X-ray diffraction is a quick and valuable tool for identifying minerals. Minerals are an integral portion of our everyday life, in addition to composing our planet! They help bring electricity into our homes and remove our bathtub rings. In this lab, students analyze the X-ray diffraction patterns of three household cleansers, Ajax, White Magic, and Soft Scrub, in order to identify the abrasive minerals in each.
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This activity features a problem set designed to make students think carefully …
This activity features a problem set designed to make students think carefully about the link between phase diagrams and textures.
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In this activity students work through a binary eutectic phase diagram in …
In this activity students work through a binary eutectic phase diagram in small groups and try to determine a set of generalizations that explain the behavior of such systems (e.g., "the first liquid produced upon heating is always the eutectic composition").
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Students act as if they are biological engineers following the steps of …
Students act as if they are biological engineers following the steps of the engineering design process to design and create protein models to replace the defective proteins in a child’s body. Jumping off from a basic understanding of DNA and its transcription and translation processes, students learn about the many different proteins types and what happens if protein mutations occur. Then they focus on structural, transport and defense proteins during three challenges posed by the R&D; bio-engineering hypothetical scenario. Using common classroom supplies such as paper, tape and craft sticks, student pairs design, sketch, build, test and improve their own protein models to meet specific functional requirements: to strengthen bones (collagen), to capture oxygen molecules (hemoglobin) and to capture bacteria (antibody). By designing and testing physical models to accomplish certain functional requirements, students come to understand the relationship between protein structure and function. They graph and analyze the class data, then share and compare results across all teams to determine which models were the most successful. Includes a quiz, three worksheets and a reference sheet.
Students explore the biosphere's environments and ecosystems, learning along the way about …
Students explore the biosphere's environments and ecosystems, learning along the way about the plants, animals, resources and natural cycles of our planet. Over the course of lessons 2-6, students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems - exploring energy and nutrient flows, basic needs of plants and animals, and decomposers. Students learn about food chains and food webs. They are introduced to the roles of the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles. They test the effects of photosynthesis and transpiration. Students are introduced to animal classifications and interactions, including carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, predator and prey. They learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of new products. As everyday applications are interwoven into the lessons, students consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence within ecosystems can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities.
This exercise contains two interrelated modules that introduce students to modern biological …
This exercise contains two interrelated modules that introduce students to modern biological techniques in the area of Bioinformatics, which is the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. The need for Bioinformatics has arisen from the recent explosion of publicly available genomic information, such as that resulting from the Human Genome Project.
Biology is the science that studies life, but what exactly is life? …
Biology is the science that studies life, but what exactly is life? This may sound like a silly question with an obvious response, but it is not always easy to define life. For example, a branch of biology called virology studies viruses, which exhibit some of the characteristics of living entities but lack others. It turns out that although viruses can attack living organisms, cause diseases, and even reproduce, they do not meet the criteria that biologists use to define life. Consequently, virologists are not biologists, strictly speaking. Similarly, some biologists study the early molecular evolution that gave rise to life; since the events that preceded life are not biological events, these scientists are also excluded from biology in the strict sense of the term. From its earliest beginnings, biology has restled with these questions: What are the shared properties that make something “alive”? And once we know something is alive, how do we find meaningful levels of organization in its structure?
It has always seemed to me that the many parts that make …
It has always seemed to me that the many parts that make up the subject of biology are related to each other more like the nodes of a web than as a linear collection of independent topics. So I believe that the power of hypertext will be better suited to learning about biology than is the linear structure of a printed textbook. Another disadvantage of printed textbooks is the inevitable delay between the time that new advances in biology are reported and the time that they can become incorporated in a printed book (often several years). Material here can be updated promptly. So although some of this information has been drawn from the sixth edition of the author's text Biology published in 1994 by Wm. C. Brown, every effort has been made to adapt the material to the opportunities provided by an online text.
Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of …
Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts.
An introduction to biology intended for non-science majors. Focus areas include chemical …
An introduction to biology intended for non-science majors. Focus areas include chemical foundations, cell structure and division, genetics, and evolution.
This template course was developed from generally available open educational resources (OER) …
This template course was developed from generally available open educational resources (OER) in use at multiple institutions, drawing mostly from a primary work published by OpenStax College Concepts of Biology, but also including additional open works from various sources as noted in attributions on each page of materials.
This set of Biology II lab assignments ensures students have the opportunity …
This set of Biology II lab assignments ensures students have the opportunity to apply the concepts and information they learn as they work through Biology II course content. Content includes lab assignments for students, as well as Instructor Materials Preparation for each lab with detailed lists of what faculty members need for each lab. The materials required are broken down by student (or groups of students).
These lab materials were developed by faculty at Tidewater Community College.
This set of Biology I lab assignments ensures students have the opportunity …
This set of Biology I lab assignments ensures students have the opportunity to apply the concepts and information they learn as they work through Biology I course content. Content includes lab assignments for students, as well as Instructor Materials Preparation for each lab with detailed lists of what faculty members need for each lab. The materials required are broken down by student (or groups of students).
These lab materials were developed by faculty at College of the Redwoods and Tidewater Community College.
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