In this interactive game, students work in three ���zone response teams��� to solve community challenges that arise during the course of a wildfire event by using available individual and community resources.

This activity encourages students to collect data to answer questions, explore the roles of individual macroinvertebrates in aquatic ecosystems, and think about the health of aquatic ecosystems relative to the macroinvertebrates found.

This is an extension of an activity that uses socrative question to discuss whether or not viruses are alive. I extended the activity by including an easy way to introduce the characteristics of life to precede the virus discussion.

Original resource: https://goopenva.org/courses/are-viruses-alive-sample-socratic-questions/view

Students read about and explain the process of transgenic manipulation to produce crops resistant to herbicides and pests. Afterwards students evaluate the pros and cons. Next, students read various pro/neutral/con articles about genetically modified foods and evaluate the perspective of the author. Finally, students use evidence from the reading to write a CER stating their opinion on GMOs.

Ever seen a Mooselope? How about a Bighorn Bison? See what kinds of strange creatures you can make.It's good fun for everyone.

This two-minute clip captures the behaviour of cytotoxic T cells – the body’s ‘serial killers’ – as they hunt down and eliminate cancer cells before moving on to their next target. Transcription of the video is included.

Transcript added from YouTube subtitles. You can use this to write your own worksheet or quiz.

This lab safety quiz is in the form of a powerpoint presentation so it can be given to the whole class at once. I use the at the beginning of the very next class after we have gone over the lab safety agreement. There are 5 true/false questions and 5 short answer. Students can use their own lined paper to take the quiz. The first 10 slides contain the questions only. After students have finished the questions, have them trade papers for grading and then the last 10 slides contain the answers so you can grade together as a class.

Carbon and other elements play a key role in determining the structure and function of macromolecules needed to sustain life processes. Life processes include growth and repair, reproduction, gas exchange, metabolism, and response.  Cells make a variety of macromolecules needed for life processes from a relatively small set of monomers. These macromolecules include carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. This module was developed by Kristin Scheible as part of a Virginia Commonwealth University STEM initiative sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education.

Biology students often struggle to understand how it can be that the same two parents will produce genetically different offspring. This lab exercise is a very visual way to demonstrate the "making of a monster" one gene at a time. The resources include a full sheet of vocabulary and instructions, plus a data table to record the crosses. For advanced students, you can take the activity further with a sheet of follow up questions.

Insert channels in a membrane and see what happens. See how different types of channels allow particles to move through the membrane.

Discover what controls how fast tiny molecular motors in our body pull through a single strand of DNA. How hard can the motor pull in a tug of war with the optical tweezers? Discover what helps it pull harder. Do all molecular motors behave the same?

Video Description:  In this close-up video, Dr. Egle Cekanaviciute, Space Biologist, shares how she studies radiation and its effect on human brain cells. Dr. Cekanaviciute stresses the importance of balancing work with other interests.  Video length:  3:10.NASA eClips Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert videos are professionally developed to capture a glimpse of NASA SME's personal interests and career journeys. Each can be used to spark student interest and broaden their ideas of the STEM workforce. Additional videos in this series can be found by searching GoOpenVA using "NASA eClips Ask SME". 

Video Description:  Have you ever wondered what living in space would do to your body? In this Real World video, learn how NASA scientists study cells on Earth to learn how to protect astronauts from radiation during space flights. Dr. Egle Cekanaviciute describes changes in cells and cell organelles. She also compares quantitative and qualitative data and demonstrates how to calculate the percentage of mutated cells.  Video length: 6:35.NASA eClipsTM is a suite of online student-centered, standards-based resources that support instruction by increasing STEM literacy in formal and nonformal settings.  These free digital and downloadable resources inform and engage students through NASA-inspired, real-world connections.NASA eClips Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

Did you ever imagine that you can use light to move a microscopic plastic bead? Explore the forces on the bead or slow time to see the interaction with the laser's electric field. Use the optical tweezers to manipulate a single strand of DNA and explore the physics of tiny molecular motors. Can you get the DNA completely straight or stop the molecular motor?

Computer Abstraction seems to be a difficult concept along with Translating mRNA into Proteins. Why not use one to help explain the other and how important both are in our everyday life, and in living.  This lesson comes with a Slide Deck and a worksheet that will help students understand both topics and has options hands-on kits and extension activities to drive the points home.

Living things must move materials into, out of, and within the cell. Substances can move across the cell membrane passively (i.e., osmosis and diffusion) or actively (i.e., active transport). This module focuses on the two types of cellular transport and assumes knowledge of cell membrane (components and functions, ie. Fluid Mosaic Model) has already been addressed. This module was developed by Teresa Ballou as part of a Virginia Commonwealth University STEM initiative sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education.

Sustaining life processes requires substantial energy and matter inputs. The complex structural organization of organisms accommodates the capture, transformation, and elimination of the matter and energy needed to sustain life. Photosynthesis is an important metabolic activity within living cells important in the transfer and transformation of energy for life processes.  This module focuses on photosynthesis and the energy molecule ATP.This module was developed by Teresa Ballou as part of a Virginia Commonwealth University STEM initiative sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education. 

This lesson is focused on the short-term cycling of carbon and is designed to put the processes of photosynthesis and respiration within a global perspective.

"The Prairie Preacher" follows Dr. Dwayne Estes, a botanist who earned his nickname for his passionate advocacy of grassland conservation. Once a child who found solace in nature, Estes now dedicates his life to saving America’s most endangered ecosystem—Southeastern grasslands. Through the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI), he works tirelessly to protect and restore these vital landscapes.

Students apply their knowledge of the water cycle to investigate how annual precipitation patterns are related to geography and biology.