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STEM initiatives EOC state list

The TEP Clearinghouse is an online compendium of science resources within targeted states. Laboratory-based programming at the state, national, and virtual level is highlighted, as well as public / private partnerships that are cost effective, replicable, scalable, and assessable. The Clearinghouse is available cost free to any teacher and all content listed is free to access and use in the classroom.  Over 1,200 resources have been identified to date.

Health care costs have been a hot button topic in recent years, and rightfully so. The United States spends an extraordinary amount of money on health care each year - $9,523 for every man, woman and child to be exact. This totals over 1 trillion dollars, accounting for roughly 17 percent of the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). The federal government spends 27 percent of its total budget on health care. Astonishingly more than it spends on the military, food and agriculture, education, transportation, and international affairs combined. So where is all the money going? Strangely enough, to combat just a few diseases.

The United States is now experiencing what promises to be one of the worst outbreaks of measles since the virus was declared eliminated from the country in 2000.  It began in early January at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and has since spread to 14 states and infected 84 people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Measles, caused by a paramyxovirus from the genus Morbillivirus, is one of the most contagious diseases in the world, infecting more than 90% of susceptible hosts that come in contact with an afflicted individual. In the absence of widespread vaccination, the average person with measles will infect an average of 12 to 18 other people; in contrast, Ebola is typically transmitted to 1.5 to 2.5 people.

By taking near-atomic, high-resolution X-ray images of proteins from primitive bacteria, investigators at Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University have extrapolated what the earliest version of photosynthesis might have looked like nearly 3.5 billion years ago.

It is now well known that non-native species have the potential to be harmful to an ecosystem, but that wasn't always the case, and getting rid of non-native invasive species is usually a difficult task. This brief, interrupted case study tells the story of kudzu's introduction into the United States in the late 1800s. It also examines (and even questions) how we define words like "native" versus "non-native" and "invasive" versus "non-invasive." Students will learn how invasive species impact ecosystems and why some non-native species never become established. They also will address questions related to eradicating non-native invasive species. For example, is it okay to attempt to get rid of a non-native species with another non-native species? As part of the activity, students also will have to decide whether or not kudzu should be considered "native" since it has been in the United States since 1876. Originally designed for a general biology course for majors, the case has also been used in a biology class for non-majors as well as an environmental biology class.

For this third episode of our video series with Vox's Future Perfect team, we went to North Carolina, a state that's been battling the public health and environmental impact of hog lagoons for decades. The issue is especially grave in this state due to the vulnerable populations who bear the brunt of this pollution, and because hog facilities are so concentrated in such a small area.

Create tables, graphs, and maps illustrating cancer rates at the state or county level.

What do you and a sack of batteries have in common? Today, Hank explains. -- Table of Contents: Ion Channels Regulate Electrochemistry to Create Action Potential 4:51 Resting State 3:22 Depolarization 6:09 Repolarization 7:35 Hyperpolarization 8:00

Avida-ED is an award-winning educational application developed at Michigan State University for undergraduate biology courses to help students learn about evolution and scientific method by allowing them to design and perform experiments to test hypotheses about evolutionary mechanisms using evolving digital organisms.

UCLA researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women, they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task.

The Weather Wiz weather prediction education site goal is to introduce teachers to the most successful school weather program in the United States and get the student involved in this fascinating science. The Program was designed by Jim Witt and honed via years of teaching and weather predictions.

A handful of scientists around the United States are trying to do something that some people find disturbing: make embryos that are part human, part animal. The researchers hope these embryos, known as chimeras, could eventually help save the lives of people with a wide range of diseases.

Massive vines that blanket the southern United States, climbing high as they uproot trees and swallow buildings. A ravenous snake that is capable of devouring an alligator. Rabbit populations that eat themselves into starvation. These aren't horror movie concepts - they're real stories. But how could such situations exist in nature? Jennifer Klos gives the facts on invasive species.

This case study explores the recent (2010 - 2016) outbreak of neural tube defects, specifically anencephaly, in a rural three-county region of Washington state, particularly Yakima, WA. The case study focuses on the biological aspects of teratogens that may cause birth defects as well as epidemiological investigations of disease outbreaks. By the end of the case, students will have explored how our environment may have severe biological consequences on the human body during pregnancy and will have evaluated governmental and scientific investigations of a rare outbreak of birth defects. This clicker case study was developed for a non-majors biology course entitled "Human Development: Conception to Birth," although it could be taught in any introductory biology course for majors or non-majors during a unit on human reproductive biology or developmental biology. The case assumes that students have no prior knowledge of developmental biology or birth defects. The case study could also be adapted for upper-division courses by getting more in-depth on the specifics of teratogen mechanisms, the developmental biology and physiology of neural tube defects, or more complex epidemiological analyses.

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the scientific evidence, as required by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), the FDA has determined that AquAdvantage Salmon meets the statutory requirements for safety and effectiveness under the FD&C Act. The salmon are safe to eat, the introduced DNA is safe for the fish itself, and the salmon meet the sponsor's claim about faster growth. Because the sponsor has met these requirements, the FDA must approve the application. The FDA has also analyzed the potential environmental impact that an approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon application would have on the quality of the human environment in the United States and has issued its final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

This interrupted case study introduces the topic of bacterial sporulation and cannibalism in Bacillus subtilis. The storyline follows Susan and her lab mates who are presenting research at a lab meeting when Susan falls asleep and dreams they are stranded on a deserted island. She makes connections between their fight for survival in the dream and the survival mechanisms of the bacteria they study in the lab. The benefits of sporulation under conditions of sustained stress are fairly obvious, but Susan's dream is used to examine the idea that sporulation may not always be beneficial and that bacteria would not want to commit to entering such a state in response to temporary stresses. Through the analysis of actual data from the scientific literature, students uncover a mechanism by which B. subtilis delays its commitment to sporulation by killing members of its own species to release nutrients (i.e., cannibalism). Originally developed for a general undergraduate microbiology course when discussing the structure and growth of prokaryotic cells, the case could also be used in an introductory biology course that emphasizes bacteria and data literacy.

Inflammation may help you fight off invading microbes, but it can also kill you, leading to insufficient blood flow and even organ failure. A new study shows that some cancer drugs may be able to quell the excessive inflammation that occurs in conditions such as sepsis, which is responsible for more than 250,000 deaths in the United States each year.

Penn State University anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski walks us through the evidence that the different shades of skin color among human populations arose as adaptations to the intensity of ultraviolet radiation in different parts of the world.

Peer review is one collaborative writing strategy that can assist students in achieving a number of the Common Core Standards, including the one stating that students will improve their writing by "revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach." Research has shown that peer review, done well, results in improved student writing and learning about writing.