Explores the changing roles, ethical conflicts, and public perceptions of science and scientists in American society from World War II to the present. Studies specific historical episodes focusing on debates between scientists and the contextual factors influencing their opinions and decisions. Topics include the atomic bomb project, environmental controversies, the Challenger disaster, biomedical research, genetic engineering, (mis)use of human subjects, scientific misconduct and whistleblowing.

Think you can tell a yam from a yak? Examine these still images of typical plant and animal cells from Biology by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine. What similarities and differences can you find?

This collection of videos, animations and documents comes from the NCSSM AP chemistry online course. Chapter four provides practice and demonstrations related to nuclear chemistry.

Nuclear energy has not always been viewed with the caution that this useful but potentially disastrous power source deserves. In the early 1980s, especially in the U.S.S.R., citizens were led to believe that nuclear power offered the ultimate in safety, cleanliness, and reliability. As this text excerpted from Richard Rhodes' book, Nuclear Renewal and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site explains, such beliefs led to the complacency responsible for the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, the worst accident of its kind in history. Grades 6-12

Students evaluate various everyday energy conversion devices and draw block flow diagrams to show the forms and states of energy into and out of the device. They also identify the forms of energy that are useful and the desired output of the device as well as the forms that are not useful for the intended use of the item. This can be used to lead into the law of conservation of energy and efficiency. The student activity is preceded by a demonstration of a more complicated system to convert chemical energy to heat energy to mechanical energy. Drawing the block energy conversion diagram for this system models the activity that the students then do themselves for other simpler systems.

The students participate in many demonstrations during the first day of this lesson to learn basic concepts related to the forms and states of energy. This knowledge is then applied the second day as they assess various everyday objects to determine what forms of energy are transformed to accomplish the object's intended task. The students use block diagrams to illustrate the form and state of energy flowing into and out of the process.

Several activities are included to teach and research the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources and various energy resources. The students work with a quantitative, but simple model of energy resources to show how rapidly a finite, non-renewable energy sources can be depleted, whereas renewable resources continue to be available. The students then complete a homework assignment or a longer, in-depth research project to learn about how various technologies that capture energy resources for human uses and their pros and cons. Fact sheets are included to help students get started on their investigation of their assigned energy source.

Fact sheets are provided for several different energy resources as a starting point for students to conduct literature research on the way these systems work and their various pros and cons. Students complete a worksheet for homework or take more time in class for research and presentation of their findings to the class. This approach requires students to learn for themselves and to teach each other rather than having a teacher lecture about the various sources and systems.

Posters are provided for several different energy conversion systems. The students are provided with cards that give the name and a description of each of the components in the energy system. They have to match these with the figures on the diagram. Since the groups look at different systems, they must also describe their results with the class to share their knowledge.

Demonstrations are used to explain the concepts of energy forms (sound, chemical, radiant (light), electrical, atomic (nuclear), mechanical, thermal (heat)) and states (potential, kinetic)

Junior Lab consists of two undergraduate courses in experimental physics. The courses are offered by the MIT Physics Department, and are usually taken by Juniors (hence the name). Officially, the courses are called Experimental Physics I and II and are numbered 8.13 for the first half, given in the fall semester, and 8.14 for the second half, given in the spring.The purposes of Junior Lab are to give students hands-on experience with some of the experimental basis of modern physics and, in the process, to deepen their understanding of the relations between experiment and theory, mostly in atomic and nuclear physics. Each term, students choose 5 different experiments from a list of 21 total labs.

Nuclear physicist, Dr. Charles Till, answers questions about nuclear power in this interview from the FRONTLINE Web site.

" During development, the genetic content of each cell remains, with a few exceptions, identical to that of the zygote. Most differentiated cells therefore retain all of the genetic information necessary to generate an entire organism. It was through pioneering technology of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) that this concept was experimentally proven. Only 10 years ago the sheep Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult organism, demonstrating that the differentiated state of a mammalian cell can be fully reversible to a pluripotent embryonic state. A key conclusion from these experiments was that the difference between pluripotent cells such as embryonic stem (ES) cells and unipotent differentiated cells is solely a consequence of reversible changes. These changes, which have proved to involve reversible alterations to both DNA and to proteins that bind DNA, are known as epigenetic, to distinguish them from genetic alterations to DNA sequence. In this course we will explore such epigenetic changes and study different approaches that can return a differentiated cell to an embryonic state in a process referred to as epigenetic reprogramming, which will ultimately allow generation of patient-specific stem cells and application to regenerative therapy. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching."

Students are given a history of electricity and its development into the modern age lifeline upon which we so depend. The methods of power generation are introduced, and further discussion of each technology's pros and cons follows.

Learn how scientists regulate a nuclear reactor in this animation-enhanced essay from the FRONTLINE Web site.

This course is an introduction to the consideration of technology as the outcome of particular technical, historical, cultural, and political efforts, especially in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include industrialization of production and consumption, development of engineering professions, the emergence of management and its role in shaping technological forms, the technological construction of gender roles, and the relationship between humans and machines.

This film briefly considers the nature of atoms as an introduction to an educational unit on the health effects of ionizing radiation (radioactivity). Educational concepts include atoms, nucleus, proton, neutron, electron, element, isotope, electrical charges, and ions. This instructional film is from Kansas State University's web-based course, GENAG 711, Occupational and Agricultural Health. Copyright 2011, Mitch Ricketts.

This film examines the process of radioactive decay as part of an educational unit on the health effects of ionizing radiation (radioactivity). Educational concepts include radioisotope, radioactive decay, alpha radiation, beta radiation, gamma radiation, x-radiation, decay chain, and half-life. This instructional film is from Kansas State University's web-based course, GENAG 711, Occupational and Agricultural Health. Copyright 2011, Mitch Ricketts.

Web page for the dissemination of information about nuclear data