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A peek inside

Students will learn about the openVertebrate project and how it is digitizing vertebrate anatomy using CT scans. Then they’ll explore the archive, form a scientific question about one of the specimens and consider how to research that question.

Analyze a clinical trial’s result

Patients with a genetic disorder that increases the risk of severe heart disease took a gene editing medicine called VERVE-101 in a clinical trial. Have students answer a set of graphical analysis questions to learn more about the trial’s outcomes and the scientists’ proposed next steps.

Observing and analyzing an image

Use this short bellringer to guide students through observing details of a scientific image taken from Science News or Science News Explores articles. Students will consider the scientific process or concept behind the image. Student questions are framed around the “What I See” and “What It Means” technique.

Shining light on photosynthesis

Ever wonder how soil and seeds transform into bushes and trees? And why do these plants have specific requirements for light and water? Are there conditions that push plants to the brink? Explore such questions by taking a deep dive into the chemical processes of photosynthesis. Create a series of comics to illustrate how green plants convert light energy into stored chemical energy. Then, investigate how changes to light, water and temperature can impact plants’ ability to photosynthesize and how plants can adapt when conditions aren’t ideal.

Planning a Garden Plot

Gardens have many functions ranging from vegetable and fruit production to flood mitigation and erosion control. Gardens also can be a haven for pollinators and a repository for native plants. Over the course of a year, students will design a garden for their school or a community organization using scientific concepts they learn in class.

Counting connections in a tiny brain

Students will answer questions about the online Science News article “Scientists have mapped an insect brain in greater detail than ever before,” which explains how researchers approached finding more than 500,000 neural connections in the larval fruit fly brain. A version of the article, “The fruit fly brain in exquisite detail,” appears in the April 22, 2023 issue of Science News.

Studying the brain 101

Students will be introduced to neuroscience by learning about nerve anatomy and physiology, and they will research different methods of studying the brain. Learning Outcomes: Develop an understanding of how scientists approach the study of the brain.

CRISPR Explained

Students will learn how CRISPR gene-editing technology works and discuss its applications and its importance to research. Learning Outcomes: Learning about CRISPR and why it is an important technology

Prairie voles can couple up even without the ‘love hormone

Students will answer questions about the online Science News article “Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin,” which explores how scientists upended a common understanding of the hormone by using CRISPR technology. A version of the article “Voles don’t need oxytocin to bond” appears in the February 25, 2023 issue of Science News.

Making sense of animal worlds

In this activity, students will discuss how literary devices can be used to convey scientific concepts, research how an animal of their choice senses the world and compose a piece of creative writing based on what they find.

Deep-sea ‘Octomoms’ Seek the Heat

In this guide, students will answer questions about how scientists discovered that octopuses laying eggs in warm waters near geothermal springs are speeding up hatching. Students will then define rates and their units of measurement for biological and chemical processes and discuss factors that affect rates.

Rates and what affects them

Students will define rates and their units of measurement for biological and chemical processes before discussing factors that affect rates.