Enrichment Ideas for Organisms and
Their Needs
Expand the boundaries of your kit study. Encourage your
students' curiosity with these outlets for extending
engagement in research.
Journey
North
For several years, schools
have been participating in the Journey North program. In the
spring of 2000, over 4,500 schools participated,
representing more than 250,000 students, from all 50 U.S.
states and 7 Canadian provinces. These students tracked the
journeys of a dozen migratory species and they share their
own field observations with classrooms across the
Hemisphere. In addition, students are linked with scientists
who provide their expertise directly to the classroom. Take
a look at their amazing data.
Meet the Beetles!
The Carnegie Museum of
Natural History has created this site in which visitors can
click on one of the beetle images to learn more about them
and their special adaptations.
Microbes in the News
Divided into categories of
Heroic, Ancient, Dangerous, and Strange, this site offers
collections of news article about microbes.
Microbe Spy
This fun newsletter-style
page from The Exploratorium focuses on a scientist who
studies microbes and the fascinating ways they can sneak
into human hosts. It includes video footage of microbes
entering a cell and a root beer/microbe experiment.
Where Do Butterflies Come From?
This page provides
instructions to make an easy craft that really helps to
illustrate the butterfly's life cycle.
The Great Plant
Escape
Help Detective Le Plant
unlock the mysteries of plant life. Students learn about
plants' structures, needs, and characteristics as they wind
their way through the exploration. There's a lot of
information for kids here, as well as a teacher's
guide.
Chickscope
Your class may be able to
get involved with this project, which, through using
classroom computers with internet access, students and
teachers are able to access information about developing
chicken embryos using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Even if you don't get involved with the project, there are a
lot of great images and informational resources at your
disposal.
Hydroponic
University
In discussing with your
students about what plants need to survive, you might find
it interesting to introduce hydroponics, the science of
growing plants without soil. There's a lot of information,
and there's even a section where you can submit your own
questions.
The Curious Microbe
Read about fascinating
microbes that are only happy in extreme and unusual
conditions-microbes that can survive radiation, are
magnetic, live without light, and other amazing feats.
Mad Scientist: Inside an Onion Skin
Although you might be
examining onion skins as part of a kit, this experiment from
Mad Scientist walks you through another exploration as they
take a close look at a plant cell from inside an onion skin,
try to identify some of the major parts of the cell, and use
stains to help see the cell better.
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