Constructing Phylogenetic Trees: The Whippo Story part of Merlot Biology Pedagogic Collection:Interactive Lectures:Examples
Scott Cooper, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
An interactive lecture in which students use data on feeding habits and habitat, skeletons, and DNA sequences to draw phylogenetic trees. -

Phylogenetics problems part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Coached Problem Solving:Examples
Sarah Deel, Carleton College; Debby Walser-Kuntz, Carleton College
Students receive information about cladistics and apply this phylogenetic approach to two problems, collecting data, determining whether traits are ancestral or derived, and using this information to select the most parsimonious tree.

RNA processing and northern blot technique problem part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Coached Problem Solving:Examples
Debby Walser-Kuntz, Carleton College; Sarah Deel, Carleton College
Students are given a figure from a journal article of a northern blot, and are asked to interpret the results, demonstrating an understanding of both the northern blot technique and RNA processing in eukaryotic cells.

Scientific Observations: A Schoolyard BioBlitz part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Joanne Michet
This activity is a classroom and field activity where students learn about and practice scientific observations in the classroom and then complete a field activity by making and recording scientific observations on school grounds.

Investigating simple plants part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Claire Torrey
Students will observe simple plants, develop an investigable question, and form an investigation. They will document their investigation in their science notebooks.

Investigation a food web: producers, consumers, and decomposers part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Sandra Ahlberg Prairie Elementary Worthington, Minnesota
This activity is a field investigation where students list plants and animals they observe. Students will organize their data as producers, consumers, or decomposers and create a food web showing how they affect each other. They will predict what will happen if the food web becomes imbalanced by extinction or over population.

Save an Animal Board Game - Impact of Human Activity or Natural Disasters part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Ginger Baldwin Bert Raney Elementary Granite Falls, MN Based on an activity from: Bosak, Susan V. (1991). Science Is... (2nd ed.). Ontario, Canada: Scholastic Canada LTD & The Communication Project.
This student activity engages the students' thinking by listening to a story, brainstorming ideas in small groups about how human activity or natural disasters could possibly impact an animal's environment, and then reinforcing that thinking using a board game called Save an Animal.

Gene expression during development: Experimental design problem part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Coached Problem Solving:Examples
Sarah Deel, Carleton College; Debby Walser-Kuntz, Carleton College
This problem challenges students to design experiments using techniques measuring gene expression (reverse transcriptase PCR, microarrays, in situ hybridization).

Eagles in the Ecosystem Classroom Jigsaw Activity part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Jessie Bahe, Delano High School, Delano, MN, based on an original activity titled "Bald Eagle Population Graphing" from The Raptor Center, University of Minnesota http://www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/prod/groups/cvm/@pub/@cvm/documents/asset/cvm_66866.pdf
In this jigsaw, students will graph various Bald Eagle population numbers and determine the impact humans have had on the eagle. Specifically, they will investigate why the Bald Eagle was listed as endangered, the affects of DDT on eagles, and the affects of lead.

Tulip Growth and the Parts of the Flower part of MnSTEP Teaching Activity Collection:MnSTEP Activity Mini-collection
Kari Johnsrud, Madison Elementary School, Winona, MN
This is a field and classroom activity in which students will observe tulip growth and identify and describe the parts of the tulip flower.