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Annenberg Learner on content literacy; 10 step interactive website. 1) what is disciplinary literacy 2) Big Ideas 3) Reading 4) Writing 5) Content Specific Big Ideas in Literacy 6) Reading in Content Area (Science) 7) Writing in Sciene 8) Bringing it all together 

Taxonomy, the practice of classifying biodiversity, has a venerable history. Although early natural historians did not recognize that the similarities and differences among organisms were consequences of evolutionary mechanisms, they still sought a means to organize biological diversity.

Data rich simulation where students adjust parameters and run simulator for 100 iterations and see how 1) two plant species compete for a niche or 2) how composition of a food web changes over time Links to online textbook, videos, visuals, scientists.

Simulators which display cummulative generation graphs for variables.  Very cool data rich resource!  Includes Carbon cycle, demographis (human populations), Disease transmission, ecology, and energy simulations.

webpages with check for understanding

webpage tutorials with check for understanding

This lab will let you explore various diseases: Kold, a caricature of the common cold; Impfluenza, which resembles influenza; Neasles, with the high transmission rate of measles; and Red Death, a fast-spreading epidemic with a high mortality rate. What factors come into play in the spread of these diseases? And what can we do to counter them?

Each person in the United States generates five or more pounds (2.3 kilograms) of waste a day: about the weight of a medium bag of sugar. More than half of that garbage is buried and stored in landfills. Increasingly, however, cities are promoting recycling programs, often getting schools involved so students can learn about recycling and follow these practices at home. A person in a Scandinavian country (such as Sweden, Denmark, or Norway) generates about the same amount of waste as an American. People in developing countries generate less waste than Americans or Europeans; for example, a person in India generates about three-fourths of a pound (0.34 kilograms) per day. Still, every country must find a way to process the garbage that each of its residents generates every day, month, and year.

For at least 10,000 years, humans have been cultivating plants and selectively breeding them for fast growth, pest resistance, long-term survival in storage, and bigger and better fruit. We've been domesticating animals for just as long, selecting for traits that suited our needs, such as size, appearance, or even personality. For a few decades, we've also had genetic engineering methods for getting the characteristics we want in plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Human and animal disease are often caused by viruses or bacteria. Over the past two hundred or so years, vaccines have eradicated some of these diseases. Others have returned to haunt humans with new and ever-mutating strains. Communicable diseases may spread in different ways: through blood, air, feces/urine, food, or water. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) keep constant watch over the most potentially dangerous diseases and the most likely threats to various world populations.

"Designing drugs" sounds trendy, but it accurately describes how some remarkably effective drugs are developed. In this case study we'll follow the steps of drug design, from initial research on the targeted disease, to the drug's use in humans. Gleevec (STI-571) is our example.

Evolutionary biologists have developed many techniques to analyze how male and female mating preferences have co-evolved. These studies combine animal behavior, sensory biology, phylogenetics, and neurobiology to observe the effects of male trait biases based on female receiver systems; that is, the "attractiveness" of the male trait to potential female mating partners.

Before civilization began to impact the human life cycle approximately 10,000 years ago, human beings had high birth and death rates. Today the world is in the midst of a demographic transition - a transition to low birth and death rates - as the ability to control both disease and reproduction increases. Along the way, between these extremes, populations go through an intermediate period of continued high birth rates, combined with low death rates, resulting in a population explosion.

In this case study, we'll follow the process of developing an edible vaccine for the hepatitis B virus and explore practical details of genetic engineering techniques. 

As you learned in Unit 4, ecosystems are a complex and delicate balancing game. The addition or removal of one species affects many other species with which it might compete for, or provide food. In this lab you will get a chance to "build your own" ecosystem, and explore the effects of these interrelationships.

Climate change and the human contribution to this change is sometimes denied or depicted as an uncertainty. However, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (see References and Further Reading), climate change is not controversial: 97 percent of climate scientists are certain that human-caused climate change is occurring. Climate research is continuing, with scientists and engineers working to predict the consequences of climate change and finding ways to overcome its negative impact.

DNA is an interactive Web site where students can learn about DNA and its structure and function, the scientific history of its discovery and its development into a powerful tool in biology, technology, and medicine, and about the Human Genome Project, genetic engineering, and some of the implications and ethical issues surrounding genetic technology.