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For decades, scientists have struggled to identify or measure joy in animals. Better measurement of creatures’ positive emotions would allow scientists to make strides in studying the causes of happiness and how animals communicate it. So a team of researchers is trying to develop a “joy-o-meter,” a set of metrics to help understand animal emotions.

The relationship between speed and size has long stumped scientists. A study that surveyed how speed tracks with body size found that the make-or-break factor was the time it takes animals to achieve their theoretical top speed.

Learn how researchers use the scientific method to study a beloved landmark — Chicago’s “Rat Hole.” Practice designing your own experiment and creating a hypothesis. Learn to draw conclusions from data, all while using your investigative spirit to study the nuances of this mysterious impression, then make your own observations.

In this lesson, students will compare asexual and sexual reproduction while analyzing the rate that offspring are created. Then, they’ll explore how the elm zigzag sawfly is spreading across North America, the threat this poses, why this case is different from other insect invasions and what concerned citizens can do.

Swoop aside, vampire bats. The grisly-eater prize may go to Europe’s greater noctule bats. Discuss how various measurements can combine to increase our understanding of a complex predator-prey behavior, all while interpreting graphs and discussing how other forms of evidence could improve the current model.

Many people fear sharks even though it’s more likely for someone to be struck by lightning than bitten by a shark. People should instead fear for sharks, many of which are threatened. Researchers are working to convince people that sharks, which are vital to maintaining the ocean’s health, are more valuable alive than dead.

In a research study about group coordination and cooperation, researchers tasked both humans and ants to solve the same sort of puzzle individually and in groups. Students will describe what they learn about the study’s experimental design, first after watching videos of the ant trials, then after watching videos of the human trials, and finally after reading a comic that summarizes the research study.

Inspired by nature’s greatest acrobats, roboticists have made engineering leaps — creating and upgrading an agile, jumping robot that can grasp branches like a squirrel. Learn how scientists use biomimicry to launch new approaches to old engineering challenges. At the same time, explore concepts of momentum in daily life, then answer questions about possible applications for squirrely robots of the future.

Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Analyze This that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Analyze This article. Each Analyze This article includes a graph or data visualization that is paired with questions for students to answer and a short story that provides context.

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice the KWL strategy. This note-taking strategy helps students organize their thoughts and reflect on their knowledge around a particular reading.

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast observational studies with experimental studies and practice identifying the study types from provided examples. Then, they will apply that knowledge to two studies outlined in Science News articles. As an optional assignment, students will be asked to create an example of a possible study.

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.