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This lesson is about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution through natural selection. Students will explore the theory of evolution using anecdotal imagery (evolution of technology - pagers/phones, cars, computers, watches) that will help them understand how fossil evidence in biological systems is vital to mapping out the origin and development of life through time.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a complex text reading lesson dealing with continental drift and plate tectonics.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will discover the importance of peer review and peer critique in the development of scientific proof.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students manipulate sealed "mystery" boxes and attempt to determine the inner structure of the boxes which contain a moving ball and a fixed barrier or two. The nature and sources of uncertainty inherent in the process of problem-solving are experienced. The uncertainty of the conclusions is reduced by student collaboration. The students are asked to relate this activity to how to learn about "mystery boxes" in nature (interior of the earth, the atom, etc).

Type: Lesson Plan

Explore how scientists have used scientific thinking and methods to develop hypotheses about the development of life on Earth. Throughout this interactive tutorial, you'll see how learning through science requires retesting data, reconsidering evidence, and debate between scientists.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

A simulated crime scene is presented for teams of students to solve, using clues received piecemeal, adjusting hypotheses as more clues are found and discussed. The elements of science are recognized through discussion of the crime solution metaphor. Also clearly shows how science is used effectively to reveal unwitnessed events of the past (by weighing the evidence), much as we do in paleontology, geology, evolution and astronomy.

Type: Teaching Idea

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes an exciting series of experiments aimed at determining whether complex life could exist in the extremely harsh Antarctic environment of Lake Vostok. Researchers found some evidence of complex life from DNA analysis, but confirming such extraordinary findings would require substantial additional data and repeated confirmation. The text offers a great overview of the complex nature of the scientific process and what it takes to truly confirm an experimental finding.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses current thinking and popular hypotheses for the function of zebra stripes. A recent study indicates that zebra stripes may protect the animals from fly bites, which are both a nuisance to the animals and a means of spreading infectious fatal diseases.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In this article, scientists explore the fossil of a dead fish whose cells were perfectly preserved from 100 million years ago. The remains led to further studies of decay and fossilization. Taphonomy, the study of what happens after plants and animals die, is discussed in detail, showing how studying fossilized animals can tell us about how they evolved.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the discovery of mega-plumes of plasma within the sun. These long-lasting, larger than Earth heat elevators may be the reason the latitudes of the sun rotate at different speeds. Two different scientists have analyzed data that support this possible explanation.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how an algae species previously thought to be invasive is actually a "hidden" native species that blooms when environmental conditions change. It describes those conditions as well as the algae's ecological impact on other populations. The article concludes by connecting that human impact—climate change—is causing algae blooms to become more and more common.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientists have found that Native Americans have ancestral roots in Asia using DNA evidence from a 12,600 year old toddler skeleton from the Clovis culture in Montana.

Type: Text Resource