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Explore the cycling of carbon among carbon reservoirs! Then discover the importance of nitrogen, essential for amino acids and nucleotides, and learn about the nitrogen cycle! Vocabulary discussed includes ammonification and denitrification.

The cellular life cycle, also called the cell cycle, includes many processes necessary for successful self-replication. Beyond carrying out the tasks of routine metabolism, the cell must duplicate its components - most importantly, its genome - so that it can physically split into two complete daughter cells. The cell must also pass through a series of checkpoints that ensure conditions are favorable for division.

With increasing U.S. government support for biofuel production in the late 2000s came increased pressure to convert more land to cornfields for ethanol. To make way for more corn, millions of acres of prairie grassland were plowed under, destroying an extremely diverse wildlife habitat that also served as a large carbon reservoir. This case study focuses on the reasons for and consequences of large carbon losses when prairie grasslands are converted to agricultural lands. Many students are challenged when faced with linking together energy flows, decomposition, and nutrient cycles.  This case gives students the opportunity to consider different pools in the carbon cycle and the fluxes between them in order to model (on paper) an integrated picture of why carbon is lost when prairie grasslands are plowed and planted to cornfields.  Students also consider ways that carbon loss from land conversion due to ethanol production might be avoided via government incentive programs or mitigated via changes to farming practices. This case study was developed for an introductory ecology, environmental science, soil science, or agriculture course.

This interactive activity adapted from the University of Alberta illustrates how, through a process called fixation, nitrogen flows from the atmosphere, into the soil, through various organisms, and back to the atmosphere in a continuous cycle.

4:17 video malaria life cycle

4min video What exactly is the carbon cycle? Nathaniel Manning provides a basic look into the cyclical relationship of carbon, humans and the environment.

5:37 video A hearty bowl of cereal gives you the energy to start your day, but how exactly did that energy make its way into your bowl? It all begins with photosynthesis, the process that converts the air we breathe into energizing glucose. Cathy Symington details the highly efficient second phase of photosynthesis -- called the Calvin cycle -- which converts carbon dioxide into sugar with some clever mix-and-match math.

7:37 video Join us as we explain virus structure, the lytic cycle, and the lysogenic cycle! Music Credit: Adrian Holovaty, OverClocked ReMix (http://ocremix.org) Teachers, we have a handout that matches this video available for free on our website: http://www.amoebasisters.weebly.com/h...

In this activity, we will work with the two groups of genes that control the cell cycle, proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. We will also add a new group of genes that are in charge of the maintenance of our DNA, the DNA repair system.

Animation and self quiz on cell cycle

This 8-minute video is derived from the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science. In it, Dr. Charles Sawyers explains the difference between proto-oncogenes, oncogenes, and tumor suppressor genes, and how mutations in these genes drive cancer development. "Cancer genes" can affect several cellular processes that he groups into three categories: cell growth and survival (i.e., genes involved in the cell cycle, cell fate (i.e., genes involved in cell differentiation), and genome maintenance (i.e, genes involved in DNA repair.)

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.

Welcome to the interactive model of leaf decomposition (I*MOLD). The goal of this project is to explain leaf decomposition and how it relates to the Earth's carbon cycle and climate. This website contains a series of animated lessons about decomposition, an interactive model that lets you predict how different types of leaves will decompose in different climates, and classroom activities about decomposition for teachers.

Nitrogen is one of the primary nutrients critical for the survival of all living organisms. Although nitrogen is very abundant in the atmosphere, it is largely inaccessible in this form to most organisms. This article explores how nitrogen becomes available to organisms and what changes in nitrogen levels as a result of human activity means to local and global ecosystems.

JoAnn Burkholder and her associates at North Carolina State University were the pioneer investigators in the Pfiesteria research, which our group of Old Dominion colleagues has since pursued. Burkholder was the first scientist to link the 1991 fish deaths to Pfiesteria, based on her team's on-site investigations and controlled laboratory studies. In addition, she observed a complicated life cycle in the organism, including numerous morphological forms such as motile flagellated cells, amoebae and cysts that are able to survive in the sediment of estuaries until activated by the presence of fish to produce toxic motile cells. 

This flipped case study begins with a video in which a student reveals a family member's diagnosis with breast cancer and then considers the whirlwind of questions that arise in such a situation. Students are asked to relate to the main character and identify what questions they would have and what resources they could consult to seek information.  This sets the context for students to use websites and videos to investigate the nature of cancer, its causes, and progression. Students then learn about the major methods of cancer treatment (surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy), how they work, and the limitations and side effects of each. The case concludes by addressing the claim of one of the characters that there is a conspiracy to hide a cure for cancer. The case would be implemented near the middle of a high school, non-majors, or introductory biology course after discussion of basic cell biology and the cell cycle.

From single-celled organisms to giant redwoods, Life Science explores all of Earth's life forms. Use interactive, animated activities to identify the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem, design a Venn diagram to compare the migrations of monarch butterflies and red knot shorebirds, and take a virtual field trip to a solar farm. Resources in Life Science gives you a wide range of topics, including the cell cycle, genetic disorders, and bioethics.

In order to develop complex scientific explanations, students need to have many opportunities to grapple with a concept, look at it from various points of view, and analyze data representing different relationships. I plan the sequence and flow of my AP Environmental Science course strategically to ensure I am making these connections using a concept called "curriculum spiraling."

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the chloroplast in plants harnesses power from the Sun to form high energy molecules like glucose. The structure of a chloroplast as well as a brief discussion of the light reaction and Calvin cycle are included.

Because the gene-enzyme system forms a closed loop, it presents us with a classic chicken or egg conundrum: Which came first, genes or the protein enzymes they code for? While the details are still not fully worked out, discoveries over the past few decades have lead researchers to a surprising possible solution: What really came first? Genes that act as enzymes! The RNA World Hypothesis is the idea that before living cells, the genetic code, and the gene/protein cycle ever existed, chains of a chemical called RNA were forming naturally. Once formed, some of these chains were able to function as enzymes, and were even able to evolve by making copies of themselves with slight, accidental modifications.