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This is a lesson plan all about DNA. The students will use a banana and extract DNA from it and observe it under a microscope. I think that this is a cool and fun, interactive way for students to obtain a better understanding of DNA.

DNA is so abstract that I think it would be better recommended for 6-12 than K-12.

In this activity, Students will try extracting DNA from a banana by following the simple instructions and can take the activity further with the use of a microscope. It is a fun, interactive way to get the students thinking about structure. I would consider incorporating this activity into my classroom because it involves very little cost (1 banana would provide enough DNA for a classroom-wide experiment). Also, the experiment is totally sanitary--you are not working with human/animal DNA, you're working with food. Finally, anytime you bring food into a classroom, healthy or not, the students are interested. It's a win-win-win-win. This is a great lesson because it can be easily modified and adapted based upon the grade level and needs of the students. I believe this lesson would provide a nice introduction of DNA to a Middle School science classroom. However, if the instructor would like to increase difficulty for an older grade, it is easy to do. The students could compare and contrast DNA from different fruits, research in-depth, etc.

This field trip is a wonderful opportunity for students wishing to pursue a career in the medical field. Students will have the opportunity to see a cadaver used for medical research. This would not be a field trip for general science classes, but more geared toward AP or human anatomy classes.

Also look at the descriptions of distance learning and dissection options hosted at the university instead of in your own classroom, if you don't have the facilities to conduct dissections yourself.

Introduction Diigo is a powerful information capturing, storing, recalling and sharing tool. Here are just a few of the possibilities with Diigo: Save important websites and access them on any computer. Categorize websites by titles, notes, keyword tags, lists and groups. Search through bookmarks to quickly find desired information.

The website is a great resource for any elementary school teacher. It is broken down into sections such as organization, search engines, games, activities, etc. While I obviously didn't look at all 100, the ones I did look at seemed like they had great potential. The organization section seemed especially promising because I struggle with keeping things organized. It has websites similar to diigo to provide you with more ideas and inspiration. I think this will be a great starting point for any new lesson that I decide to try. Picking any of the 100 sites is sure to bring up something helpful. It includes free audiobooks, body maps, worksheets, electronic field-trips, etc.

I found several of the links to be faulty--leading to old sites no longer functioning, or to sites that looked questionable. However, I did also find Climate Zone, which allows you to use a clickable map to select a region of the world, and then a country, for which the site then provides latitude, longitude, and climate information about the location. This would be a good resource for students researching regions of the world or biomes.

This experiment uses a plastic bag, string, scissors and a small action figure. As you might have guested you are going to make a parachute. After you construct the parachute you will drop it as slow as you can. This shows air resistance. This is a great start to a lesson, an experiment, and even an example of a fair test! I would use this to start a lesson on air resistance ( or maybe even gravity). I would first drop my parachute in the class and ask students what happened. I might even drop both an action figure by himself, and an action figure on a parachute to farther demonstrate the air resistance. I might ask questions such as "why did this action figure fall more slowly? What was stopping him? Why/how? Then after a discussion I would get out materials for the whole class. I would ask students "What could we test using what we now know to create different parachutes and find out which one will work the best?" We would talk about how larger surface area creates more resistance and will make a parachute fall more slowly. In the aspects of a fair test I would try to guide the idea towards testing out maybe 5 different parachutes. The controlled aspect would be using the same material, and same size parachute. What would change would be how many holes we would put in the top of it. Holes in the top cause air to go through the parachute not around it, this causes the parachute to fall more straight. (This is something we might have found out through research.) The goal would be to make a parachute that falls as slow and straight as possible. The challenge would be where to place the holes and how big the holes should be.

In the 1950's three new whale species were discovered, Waharoa ruwhenus, Tokarahia Kauaeroa, and Tokarahia Iophocephalus. Through the study of their fossils scientists have concluded that these three species of whales are part of a new family (species) of whale, Emysticetids. Emysticetids hold an important position on the evolutionary tree between primitive baleen whales and modern baleen whales. These marine creatures lived roughly 25-30 million years ago when the continent of New Zealand, Zealandia, was reduced to low islands and shallow seas. The article goes into great depth about these three new whale species. From their skeletal structure (elongated snout), size (adults were estimated to be 5-6 meters long), and even migratory patterns (continental shelf waters), it is all covered.

This article can be incorporated into a lesson about marine biology and evolutionary trees. It's a little too much for elementary students to grasp but I think it would be an interesting addition to a 6-8 or a 9-12 grade science classroom.

This is super cool! It is an interactive encyclopedia. Students can choose different categories in science as well as different sub categories. Once in a subcategory students will find: vocabulary words, a slide show, related topics and a test.This again is beneficial as a study tool as well as a research resource.

This lesson allows students to investigate which way is best to clean up oil and researching how oil spills affect the environment. The students will try three different ways to remove oil from a tub of water, then they will determine which way is the most effective. Afterwards, the students will present their findings to the class. I like that this lesson is engaging and it can easily be related to real world oil spills. I would tell my students that they were a team that was hired to find out how to get rid of the oil after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This way the students feel that they are doing something realistic.

The Students will create an undersea environment in their classroom while researching interesting facts about their favorite sea creatures. Materials may be used such as crayons, colored pencils, markers, crepe paper (blue, green, red, yellow, pink), paper plates, construction paper, index cards, or books/magazines with pictures or illustrations of fish. Throughout the following week the class will all work together to turn their classroom into an undersea environment, and teach one another more about the creatures that live in the sea. I chose this source because it is an exciting way to jump into a unit about the ocean wildlife, and by choosing their favorite creature the students will get a chance to use creativity. Ocean animals are exciting to learn about because they are often unseen to the human eye, and decorating the classroom is a fun way to bring the underground waters to life. In the classroom I would use this lesson at the beginning of a biology unit to get the class excited, and allow them to work on something fun throughout the week. Displaying their work in the classroom will make the atmosphere bright and cheery!