Relevant material from MIT's introductory courses to support students as they study and educators as they teach the AP Biology curriculum.

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.

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.

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.

Artists are often particularly keen observers and precise recorders of the physical conditions of the natural world. As a result, paintings can be good resources for learning about ecology. Teachers can use this lesson to examine with students the interrelationship of geography, natural resources, and climate and their effects on daily life. It also addresses the roles students can take in caring for the environment. Students will look at paintings that represent cool temperate, warm temperate, and tropical climates.
In this lesson students will: Identify natural resources found in particular geographic areas; Discuss ways in which climate, natural resources, and geography affect daily life; Apply critical-thinking skills to consider the various choices artists have made in their representations of the natural world; Make personal connections to the theme by discussing ways they can be environmental stewards; Identify natural resources found in particular geographic areas; Discuss ways in which climate, natural resources, and geography affect daily life; Apply critical-thinking skills to consider the various choices artists have made in their representations of the natural world; Make personal connections to the theme by discussing ways they can be environmental stewards.

This site offers a searchable collection of answers to questions about global warming, ozone depletion, greenhouse gases, and other issues related to climate change. Students can also submit questions of their own and explore related links.

The Western landscape which George Catlin encountered on his travels was dominated by the great expanse of the tall and short grass prairies. Home to countless species of plant and animal life, the great prairies once spanned millions of acres across North America. Today less than ten percent of the complex ecosystem remains, largely under the protection of parks and nature preserves. In this lesson students will gain an understanding of the interdependence of living organisms on the prairie and the fragility of their existence by investigating life on the prairie and relating their findings to their own experience.

In this lesson students will compare and make distinctions among 5 alternative fuels. They will understand the impact of different types of fuel on: a. the environment b. lifestyle c. the economy/personal finances of car choices. They will also use critical thinking skills to support multi-step decision-making for buying a car.

This video segment from the Nevada Department of Wildlife looks at various species of bats and how they impact the environment.

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 USGS Canyonlands Research Station site features a series of web pages focusing on biological soil crusts. Biological soil crusts are the community of organisms living at the surface of desert soils. The site provides a menu of links to biological soil crust pages including Crusts 101: an introduction to biological soil crusts, an advanced page with a downloadable 90-page report on soil crusts, a gallery of biological soil crust images and figures, references, the Canyon Country Ecosystems Research Site (CCERS), and other related links.

Bridging the Watershed (BTW) is an outreach program of the Alice Ferguson Foundation, in partnership with the National Park Service and area schools, whose purpose is to provide personally meaningful, educational experiences that connect students to their place in the natural and cultural world. BTW offers 5 core modules, as well as a host of park-specific curriculum units, that offer classroom lessons to prepare students for their field studies, guidance for data analysis after a field study, and background information on the subjects covered in the module.

This 27-page educator guide is a NASA Quest resource about Microbial Ecology and related Astrobiology activities. Students will construct a Winogradsky Column to observe the growth of microbes in a column of mud. During this investigation students will develop a hypothesis, record their observations and results, and form conclusions. They will compare and contrast their methods during the investigation with those of the astrobiologists performing research in the field and the laboratory. It includes student handouts and assessment rubrics that may be duplicated without copyright restrictions.

This BioBulletin reports on how the citizens of one Wisconsin town rebuilt their community after a catastrophic flood. The article begins with the choice facing Soldiers Grove: rebuild their destroyed community behind new protective levees or relocate the town to higher ground.

Through a reading, demonstration stations, and completion of a puzzle, students will recognize how respiration and photosynthesis move carbon through the earth system, how fossil fuels were formed, and how human activities have altered this movement on a global scale.

Through this unit, students identify how alternatively fueled cars of tomorrow can be used in their community. The unit contains an introductory activity that helps students determine which energy and transportation issues are important to them and their communities, and three research sections about alternative fueled vehicles that address availability and distribution; emissions and health; and operation, maintenance, and refueling. With each lesson, students discover another social, scientific, or technical aspect of cutting-edge automotive technologies and fuels. PDF file.

This collection of Climate Change Graphics is from Earth: Inside and Out, part of the Museum's Seminars on Science series. These distance-learning courses are designed to help educators meet the new national science standards.