JoinAll Book Chapters
Book Chapter
Classifying Birds in the United States
The purpose of the activity, in this chapter, is to help students understand (1) what counts as a species in the field of biology, (2) some of the various definitions for species that can be used by biologists, and (3) the challenges associated with ...
Book Chapter
Characteristics of Viruses (Characteristics of Life)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand how biologists distinguish between living and nonliving objects. It can also be used to introduce cell theory. This activity will help students learn how to engage in practices such as const...
Book Chapter
Spontaneous Generation (Cell Theory)
The purpose of this activity, in this chapter, is to help students understand that all life on Earth arises only through the reproduction of preexisting life and not from nonliving materials. This “life from life” principle is called biogenesis....
Book Chapter
Movement of Molecules In or Out of Cells (Osmosis and Diffusion)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand the process of osmosis and to understand how a cell membrane acts as a selective barrier. This activity also helps students learn how to engage in practices such as using planning and carryi...
Book Chapter
Liver And Hydrogen Peroxide (Chemical Reactions and Catalysts)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand that most cell functions involve chemical reactions and many reactions (including decomposition and synthesis) are made possible by enzymes. This activity also helps students learn how to en...
Book Chapter
Cell Size And Diffusion (Diffusion)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand passive transport in cells (i.e., diffusion and osmosis) and how the size of a cell can impact the time it takes for important molecules to diffuse through a cell. This activity also helps s...
Book Chapter
Environmental Influence on Genotypes and Phenotypes (Genetics)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand Mendelian genetics and how the environment can influence the phenotypes of organisms. This activity also helps students learn how to engage in practices such as using mathematics and computa...
Book Chapter
Hominid Evolution (Macroevolution)
The purpose of the activity, in this chapter, is to help students understand hominid evolution and to recognize the challenges of identifying evolutionary relationships between hominid species using fossils. This activity also helps students learn ho...
Book Chapter
Plants and Energy (Respiration and Photosynthesis)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand how plants use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into sugar and then use cellular respiration to convert the sugar into a useable form of energy. This activity also helps students lea...
Book Chapter
Healthy Diet And Weight (Human Health)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand the relationship between diet, exercise, weight, and body mass index. This activity also helps students learn how to engage in scientific practices such as using planning and carrying out in...
Book Chapter
Color Variation In Venezuelan Guppies (Mechanisms of Evolution)
The purpose of the activity, in this chapter, is to help students understand how natural selection, sexual selection, and the interplay between these two mechanisms can shape the traits of a population found in different habitats over time. This acti...
Book Chapter
Termite Trails (Animal Behavior)
The purpose of this activity is to help students understand that some organisms, such as termites, have instinctive inherited behaviors. These inherited instinctive behaviors, which evolved over time through the process of natural selection, had a po...
Book Chapter
Misconception About Theories and Laws (Nature of Science)
The purpose of the activity, in this chapter, is to help students understand that theories do not become laws in science and that there is no hierarchal relationship between these two types of scientific knowledge. This activity is also designed to a...
Book Chapter
Misconception About the Nature of Scientific Knowledge (Nature of Science)
Many people believe that scientific knowledge is absolute. They think of it as something that has been proven true and as a result, it cannot or will not change. The purpose of this activity is to help students understand that scientific knowledge is...
Book Chapter
Misconception About the Work of Scientists (Nature of Science)
Many people think that the work of scientists is procedural in nature. They think that scientists use the same techniques to collect or analyze data or follow the same routine for all investigations. The purpose of the activity, in this chapter, is t...