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By studying fossils, scientists have nailed down the evolutionary connection between birds and dinosaurs. Students will consider how changes to the way some species are now classified highlight the evolutionary relationship between birds and dinosaurs. This guide also will discuss evidence for this relationship using an example fossil.

Alcohol-related deaths have increased yearly over the last 20 years. From 2019 to 2020, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the death rate from alcohol use rose sharply — at a much greater rate than in recent years.

Have students explore ecological relationships among organisms through a case study on a newly identified fungus named after biologist Sir David Attenborough that zombifies spiders — taking over their bodies before killing them. Students will compare and contrast commensalism, mutualism, parasitism and predation and then use the definitions to identify examples.

Scientists have had a rough draft of the human genome for some 20 years. They hoped to use it for precision medicine, treatments based on an individual’s DNA. But an understanding of the differences between different people’s DNA has been hampered by a lack of diversity in genetic studies known as genome-wide association studies.

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.