Group items tagged

An innovative new breeding simulation helps reveal genetic ratios in offspring. With the heredity level of the ConnectedBio Multi-Level Simulation (MLS), students breed pairs of mice with different fur colors and observe the phenotypic ratios in the resulting offspring. The goal of this activity is to demystify the science behind Punnett Squares and encourage students to explore data and statistical representations in genetics and heredity.

Life sciences focus on all things living, exploring the patterns, processes and relationships of organisms. The goal of life sciences is to demonstrate how unifying principles can help us to make sense of the natural world and solve problems in the world we live in. High school life sciences extend student knowledge of topics such as organisms, ecosystems, heredity and evolution, integrating a long history of scientific research from multiple fields. In high school, students will build on their conceptual understanding of life sciences by investigating and witnessing the relationships among structure and function, matter and energy, ecosystems and natural selection. Students should be able to effectively communicate facts and findings, as supported in the science literacy skills covered in the Common Core State Standards.

The life science/biology course is divided into 12 instructional segments grouped into four sections. In the first section, From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, students develop models of how molecules combine to build cells and organisms (IS1 [Structure and Function]; IS2 [Growth and Development of Organisms]; IS3 [Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms]). In the second section, Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics, students zoom out to the macroscopic scale to show how organisms interact (IS4 [Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems]; IS5 [Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems]; IS6 [Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience]; IS7 [Social Interactions and Group Behavior]). Students return to the role that DNA plays in inheritance during the third section, Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits (IS8 [Inheritance of Traits]; IS9 [Variation of Traits]). The class ends tying together interactions at all these scales by explaining evolution and natural selection in Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity (IS10 [Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity]; IS11 [Natural Selection]; IS12 [Adaptation and Biodiversity]). A vignette in IS12 illustrates the level of three-dimensional understanding students are expected to exhibit as a capstone of the course.

Teacher website with great worksheets and links

Variety of lesson resources

STEM PBL cases for purchase from Wake Forest School of Medicine.  HS topics tagged.

The projects you will find here have been curated by BIE and were gathered from online project libraries. These projects are meant to inspire your own ideas or may be adapted to fit the needs of your classroom.

These interactives are longer than one or two screens. They lead the student through a new experience.

Online activity: imagine you are an investigator looking for genes that influence niicotene addiction.  View video interviews, written surveys, and official records for the Marshall family and trace their pedigree.

Teachers: the files here are only a sampling of possible virtual lab assignments. You are welcome to use the simulations however you see fit for your classroom and students.