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Use scientists’ latest findings about marsupial moles to have students explore natural selection. Students will use figures that depict evolutionary relationships among organisms — phylogenetic trees and cladograms — to trace ancestry and common characteristics. Then they will apply this knowledge by investigating common characteristics of different taxonomic groups associated with the marsupial mole, illustrating why this animal has been particularly hard to categorize and study.

New discoveries about the natural world can inspire the design of human-made objects. In this activity, students will learn about how the overlapping feathers on birds’ wings prompted engineers to reimagine the design of aircraft wings. Students will explain how this is an example of bioinspired design and then create their own bioinspired designs.

Use this activity to have your students collect, graph and analyze anonymous class data about where different emotional responses are felt in their bodies. Then compare the class data with the findings of two recent studies, one collecting modern data and the other drawing on ancient data. To better understand why people experience emotions in different areas of the body, have students explore the physiological chains of emotional responses.

Ocean explorers just uncovered a treasure trove. A newly discovered undersea mountain may be home to 20 new species. Explore these life forms while answering questions about the value of such discoveries in a time of rapid climate change.

Climate scientists are continuing to develop new methods to sequester atmospheric carbon to help curb climate change. In this activity, students will learn about how carbon can be sequestered through the burial of organic material and review the carbon cycle. Students will practice using percent by mass concepts and dimensional analysis to calculate how much wood would need to be buried to achieve climate targets by the year 2060. As an optional extension, students may then develop a plan to mitigate greenhouse gas production that utilizes biomass burying techniques.

Students will review the components of respiration and photosynthesis reactions to illustrate how the two are complementary. Then students will investigate what impact megafire smoke may have had on photosynthesis for California nut trees. Then students will apply their knowledge by predicting the outcome for photosynthesis and respiration in several scenarios.

Scientists have discovered that Dicyrtomina minuta, a species of globular springtail, can perform the fastest backflip of any animal on Earth. Use this discussion to have students review how the research team studied springtail backflips by analyzing high-speed footage.

Then, in this related activity by DataClassroom, have students analyze graphs of the springtail research data to learn about the linear velocity, angular velocity, linear acceleration and rotational acceleration of springtail flips using this Stacked Graphs and Biophysics with Spring-Loaded Arthropods activity. Create a free account to view the student-facing dataset and activity within the DataClassroom web application. View the teacher answer key here.

Learn how scientists use vampire bats' unusual locomotion to investigate mysteries of their blood-based metabolism. Then, answer questions about this study’s experimental design and discuss how chemical analysis data can support conclusions and answer scientific questions.

Students will learn how their bodies help protect them from bacteria, viruses and other foreign invaders. Have students review the major components of the immune system and investigate the life cycles of a few prevalent pathogens of polar bears, focusing on the mode of transmission and effects of being infected by the pathogen. Students will then infer why polar bears are being exposed to these pathogens more regularly.

A carnivorous plant enzyme and an enzyme from a symbiotic fungal friend expedite digestion of ants. Use this as an example of enzymes, to introduce catalysts to your students. Then have students investigate how enzymes relate to catalysts, create their own catalyst metaphor and find another example of a catalyst or enzyme. Have students share examples and, as a class, discuss why scientists are interested in learning more about enzymes or other catalysts and potential applications of catalysts.

To survive, creatures need to be able to sense many aspects of their environment, including food options. Scientists have recently discovered that the northern sea robin, an oceanic fish, has legs used for walking and also for tasting, to find buried meals. Begin a unit on natural selection/evolution by reviewing what these terms mean. Then, provide example organisms to explore their different types of adaptations (structural, physiological and behavioral). Finally, have students create their own species with adaptations specific to unique human- or natural disaster-influenced habitats.

Biologists didn't design their experiments looking for glow-in-the-dark feet, but sometimes scientific failures yield surprising discoveries. If glowing toes sound batty to you, learn how scientists illuminate the secrets of a flighty mammal while answering questions about the scientific process.