In this phenomenon-driven activity, students investigate how cells are signaled to make melanin and explain how mutations in melanin pathway proteins affect the coat color of various organisms.
In this activity, students engage with an example from the Serengeti ecosystem to illustrate the exchange of nutrients between plants, animals, and the environment.
This activity explores an image of tattoo ink particles inside cells, which serves as a phenomenon for learning about the structure and color of human skin.
This activity explores images of planarians regenerating missing body parts, which serve as phenomena for learning about cell division and differentiation.
This activity explores images of chalk formations and coccolithophores, which serve as phenomena for learning about the interactions between biological and geological processes.
This activity reinforces concepts presented in the short film The Making of a Theory. Using a map of the Malay Archipelago and information about the animals found on different islands, students discover the Wallace Line: a sharp boundary that separates distinct Asian and Australian fauna.
This activity supports concepts covered in the film The Day the Mesozoic Died. Students will analyze geological evidence from 10 different sites around the world to predict the location of the asteroid impact that caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.
This activity allows students to calculate the mass, size, and kinetic energy of an asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, based on the total abundance of iridium in a sediment layer. It supports concepts presented in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died.
This activity allows students to analyze the chemical data that led researchers to conclude that a layer of clay at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene rock layers (the K-Pg boundary) contained an extraordinary concentration of iridium. It supports concepts presented in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died.
This activity allows students to calculate how much iridium was released, and eventually deposited all over the Earth, by the impact of an asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago. It supports concepts presented in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died.