Life Sciences Resources
from programs supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
These resources were developed through partnerships of scientists and science teachers. They meet local and national standards and they reflect science as science is done.

CityLab, HutchLab, University of Arizona, University of Colorado

Resources are listed according to the DC Content Standard strands for Life Science

A number of these links are to downoadable PDF files. Get the free acrobat reader here

Structure and Function in Living Systems

Cells are the units of life, the units of health and of disease. By studying diseases, scientists have discovered that we can sometimes figure out how a cell SHOULD function when it is healthy. The relationships of structure and function in a cell impact structure and function in our organs, organ systems, and our body.

Studying Cells
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/tutorials/cells/cells.html

Cell Biology and Cancer
Cell structure and function in health and disease. NIH Curriculum Supplement
http://science-education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/HSCancer

Common Diseases

Animal Behavior

Molecular genetics of mating behavior
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/pdfs/bio_mating.pdf

Populations and Ecosystems

How do plants get their way? Study allelopathy, how plants inhibit the growth of other plants. This can be used in chemistry classes, for the process demonstrates chemical ecology.
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12activities/chem_ecology.html

Reproduction and Heredity

Human Reproduction
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/human_bio/problem_sets/Human_Reproduction/human_reproduction.html

Mutations and Disease
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12activities/cysticfibrosis.html

Bacterial Transformation
http://www.fhcrc.org/education/sep/info_teach/transformation.html

Biotechnology
A collection of lessons and activities that apply the basic knowledge of inheritance and DNA to issues from crime scene forensics through conservation biology
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12activities/biotechnology.html

Changes Over Time, Diversity and Adaptation

Evolution
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/k12activities/evolution.html

Plight of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
http://www.colorado.edu/Outreach/BSI/pdfs/bio_congenetics.pdf

 

Raw links

http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/precollege/camp.html middle school medical camp, Indiana, HHMI

http://www.hhmi.org/grants/precollege/profiles/challenges.jsp