Category: Worksheets
-

Thymine Dimers & DNA Repair
Teaching DNA damage and repair can feel abstract for students, until they can clearly visualize and apply it. This classroom-ready activity helps students understand thymine dimers and nucleotide excision repair (NER) through diagram analysis, structured questions, and real-world connections. By focusing on how DNA is damaged by UV radiation and how cells fix that damage,…
-

The Six Kingdoms – Coloring and Graphic Organizer
Students often learn about biodiversity and taxonomy prior to learning the animal systems. We spend several days going over why animals need to be organized into groups. They learn about the taxonomic structure: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. To help remember the list, a helpful mnemonic is: “King Philip Came Over For Great…
-

Case Study – When Grasshoppers Become Locusts
What if your students could explore one of the most dramatic transformations in the natural world, where a harmless insect suddenly becomes part of a swarm capable of destroying entire ecosystems? The lesson opens with a vivid, story-driven scenario of a locust swarm descending on farmland, instantly pulling students into the phenomenon. Instead of starting…
-

The Case of the Finch Flair: A DNA Mystery
Looking for an engaging way to introduce students to DNA variation, inheritance, and genetic evidence? The Case of the Finch Flair is a classroom investigation that combines SNP analysis, pedigrees, and Punnett squares into a fun genetics mystery your students will enjoy solving. In this activity, students investigate whether a mysterious individual could be related…
-

Teaching Evolution: The Case of the Fanged Frog
Helping students understand evolution, gene flow, and speciation can be challenging because these processes often occur over long periods of time and involve complex genetic evidence. One effective way to make these concepts more engaging is to use real scientific research simplified for classroom use. The Fanged Frog Genomics Study activity introduces students to modern…
-

Who Ate the Cheese? A Gel Electrophoresis Simulation
If you’re teaching genetics, biotechnology, or forensic science this year, try 🧀 “Who Ate the Cheese?” This is a student-friendly way to model gel electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting without expensive lab equipment. This is great for freshman classes who are just learning about biotechnology (and maybe not ready to use expensive equipment.) This activity puts…
-

The Honey Badger Heist – Blood and Forensics
What happens when a honey badger goes missing and investigators find a mysterious blood sample at the scene? In this engaging, story-driven lab, students become forensic scientists tasked with solving the Honey Badger Kidnapping Case using simulated blood samples and ABO blood typing techniques. This hands-on investigation blends biology, critical thinking, and just the right…
-

Investigation – Root Growth and Cell Division
Understanding plant hormones becomes much clearer for students when they connect hormone function directly to visible growth patterns, especially in roots of actively dividing tissues. In this classroom activity, students explore how auxin promotes root initiation, then view the dividing cells with a microscope. The introductory text explains how plant hormones work to stimulate root…


