This is a series of stories about what scientists do at the Agricultural Research Service. It is geared to kids 8 to 13 years old.

The information presented in each ActionBioscience.org article has been correlated to the U.S. National Science Education Standards (NSES). Articles may be listed below in more than one category of the standards and educators may determine other curricular applications for the articles.

This exercise is a field study of the ecology of aquatic insects in a small stream. By using the inquiry technique, students discover how different animals have unique adaptations for being successful in particular habitats, especially at small spatial scales. Students also learn how these specializations establish essential ecological roles for the aquatic insects in stream ecosystems. Thus, students gain an appreciation of how biodiversity is not just a list of species in a particular environment; it also includes what they do in that environment.

Finches on the Galapagos Islands have evolved to exploit almost every possible niche. This diagram shows the range of food sources available on the island and the different beak shapes adapted to exploit each of them.

This pop-up book was designed for K-4 students to introduce them to remote sensing. By following Echo's journey through Arizona they become more familiar with map use and remote sensing images. After completing this book, children ages 5-6 should be able to distinguish between what a satellite sees and what Echo sees, be able to identify patterns and color in the satellite image and compare these to what Echo sees, and begin to extend the concept that texture is not only how something feels but is also how something looks. Older children (ages 7-9) should begin to describe what the satellite is seeing by just looking at the satellite view and they should also be able to describe the location of patterns and colors (i.e., square patterns of irrigated crops are near rivers and green forests are on top of mountains) and make more elaborate observations about texture in the satellite images. A set of activities reinforce the four basic themes or concepts fundamental to interpreting satellite imagery: perspective, shape and pattern, color, and texture.

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they see how DNA is used to solve crimes against animals. The activity starts with an introduction to George Amato, an AMNH scientist who sometimes helps the U.S. government solve mysteries. In a three-part online slide show, students see how Amato earned the title "DNA Detective" in 1993 when he helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service catch someone trying to sneak protected reptile skin into the United States. Then students are challenged to Crack the Code, an online game in which they play DNA detective and determine which of a collection of handbags, clothing, figurines, and other items are made from protected species.

The Soil Association has produced Mole's Dream, a short film to explore current issues around food and farming. It is suitable for KS1 and early KS2, and ideal to use on your interactive whiteboard.

This collection consists of approximately 4,500 photographs documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. Produced between 1891 and 1936 by a group of American botanists generally regarded as one of the most influential in the development of modern ecological studies, these photographs provide an overview of important representative natural landscapes across the nation. They demonstrate the character of a wide range of American topography, its forestation, aridity, shifting coastal dune complexes, and watercourses. Comparison of early photographs with later views highlights changes resulting from natural alterations of the landscape, disturbances from industry and development, and effective natural resource usage. The photographs were taken by Henry Chandler Cowles (1869-1939), George Damon Fuller (1869-1961), and other Chicago ecologists on field trips across the North American continent.

Among the natural features these images document are ecological settings such as dunes, bogs, forests, and deserts; individual plants from the Ponderosa pine and birch to grasses and mosses; landscape features like the Grand Canyon, Lake Superior, and the Sierra Nevada; and the consequences of natural and human changes to the environment ranging from erosion and floods to irrigation and lumbering. The collection also includes photographs of University of Chicago botanists as they conducted field research, led students on summer field classes, and traveled across the North American continent on tours including the International Phytogeographic Excursion of 1913.

" If the twentieth century was the century of physics, the twenty-first promises to be the century of biology. This subject examines the cultural, political, and economic dimensions of biology in the age of genomics, biotechnological enterprise, biodiversity conservation, pharmaceutical bioprospecting, and synthetic biology. Although we examine such social concerns as bioterrorism, genetic modification, and cloning, this is not a class in bioethics, but rather an anthropological inquiry into how the substances and explanations of biology — increasingly cellular, molecular, genetic, and informatic — are changing, and with them broader ideas about the relationship between "nature" and "culture." Looking at such cultural artifacts as cell lines, biodiversity databases, and artificial life models, and using primary sources in biology, social studies of the life sciences, and literary and cinematic materials, we rephrase Erwin Schrödinger's famous 1944 question, "What Is Life?" to ask, in the early 2000s, "What Is Life Becoming?""

Despite seemingly inhospitable conditions, the Arctic environment has a vibrant and diverse ecosystem. Explore the life that thrives in this region in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

First, students toss coins to determine what traits a set of mouse parents possess, such as fur color, body size, heat tolerance, and running speed. Next they use coin tossing to determine the traits a mouse pup born to these parents possesses. These physical features are then compared to features that would be most adaptive in several different environmental conditions. Finally, students consider what would happen to the mouse offspring if those environmental conditions were to change: which mice would be most likely to survive and produce the next generation?

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they take a look at the benefits of biodiversity on our planet.

This reference list has a dozen kid-friendly books on a wide range of biodiversity topics. For each title, the author, publisher, and publication date are included along with a brief description of the book.

Produced by the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, this guide summarizes the consequences of biodiversity loss for human health. The guide examines threats to global supplies of food and fresh water, exposure to formerly rare diseases and opportunistic infections, and loss of important sources of medicines.

This five-minute Quick Time video demonstrates how to build a Winogradsky Column. The video is published by NASA Quest and can be used as a teaching supplement to classroom activities including the Winogradsky Column. This video requires Quick Time player to view, which can be downloaded on site.

Have a go at encouraging biodiversity on a farm. Play on your own or against your classmates.
The Buzz game has been developed to simulate changes you can make to a field over three years. Choose your field margins, beetle banks and bird crop and away you go!
The BUZZ game is suitable for all ages.

In this video segment from NatureScene, explore Cartwheel Bay, a wetland in South Carolina, and learn about the variety of carnivorous plants native to this unique landform.

The research-based Arctic Climate Modeling Program (ACMP) is funded by NSF ITEST. Curriculum based resources were designed with input from 21 scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Resources include K-12 inquiry-based classroom lessons, a student network for observing arctic weather, digital lectures, and an interactive multimedia learning system (on DVD).

This video segment from Nature shows the destructiveness of the shark fin and shark cartilage industries.