With a continued focus on the Sonoran Desert, students are introduced to the concepts of biomes, limiting factors (resources), carrying capacity and growth curves through a PowerPoint® presentation. Abiotic factors (temperature, annual precipitation, seasons, etc.) determine the biome landscape. The vegetative component, as producers, determines the types of consumers that form its various communities. Students learn how the type and quantity of available resources defines how many organisms can be supported within the community, as well as its particular resident species. Students use mathematical models of natural relationships (in this case, sigmoid and exponential growth curves) to analyze population information and build upon it. With this understanding, students are able to explain how carrying capacity is determined by the limiting factors within the community and feeding relationships. By studying these ecological relationships, students see the connection between ecological relationships of organisms and the fundamentals of engineering design, adding to their base of knowledge towards solving the grand challenge posed in this unit.

Students learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of innovative new products. They demonstrate their knowledge of biomimicry by practicing brainstorming and designing a new product based on what they know about animals and nature.

Students are introduced to the concepts of biomimicry and sustainable design. Countless examples illustrate the wisdom of nature in how organisms are adapted for survival, such as in body style, physiological processes, water conservation, thermal radiation and mutualistic relationships, to assure species perpetuation. Students learn from articles and videos, building a framework of evidence substantiating the indisputable fact that organisms operate "smarter" and thus provide humans with inspiration in how to improve products, systems and cities. As students focus on applying the ecological principles of the previous lessons to the future design of our human-centered world, they also learn that often our practices are incapable of replicating the precision in which nature completes certain functions, as evidenced by our dependence on bees as pollinators of the human food supply. The message of biomimicry is one of respect: study to improve human practices and ultimately protect natural systems. This heightened appreciation helps students to grasp the value of industry and urban mimetic designs to assure protection of global resources, minimize human impact and conserve nonrenewable resources. All of these issues aid students in creating a viable guest resort in the Sonoran Desert.

Biomimicry in Youth Education: A Resource Toolkit for K-12 Educators is a digital flipbook indexing over 80 biomimicry education resources, selected to assist teachers working with students from kindergarten through high school.

The collection includes quality lesson plans, curricular units, digital media, and more, gleaned from a broad survey of available materials. For educators new to the subject of biomimicry, the toolkit also offers a thorough introductory section containing an orientation to biomimicry’s core concepts and suggested strategies for communicating those ideas to students.

Biomimicry is an approach to sustainable innovation that looks to living things for inspiration. In the classroom, biomimicry has helped improve student performance in STEM subjects, encourages appreciation for biodiversity, and cultivates a willingness to sustain the environment.

By studying key processes in the carbon cycle, such as photosynthesis, composting and anaerobic digestion, students learn how nature and engineers "biorecycle" carbon. Students are exposed to examples of how microbes play many roles in various systems to recycle organic materials and also learn how the carbon cycle can be used to make or release energy.

How can you tell if harmful bacteria are in your food or water that might make you sick? What you eat or drink can be contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins—pathogens that can be harmful or even fatal. Students learn which contaminants have the greatest health risks and how they enter the food supply. While food supply contaminants can be identified from cultures grown in labs, bioengineers are creating technologies to make the detection of contaminated food quicker, easier and more effective.

This lesson begins with a demonstration prompting students to consider how current generates a magnetic field and the direction of the field that is generated. Through formal lecture, students learn Biot-Savart's law in order to calculate, most simply, the magnetic field produced in the center of a circular current carrying loop. For applications, students find it is necessary to integrate the field produced over all small segments in an actual current carrying wire.

Biotechnology is a large scientific field that uses research tools from chemistry and biology to study or solve problems, including human disease. Biotechnologies may be used to study the genetic material of viruses and bacteria to determine whether a disease is caused by particular disease-producing agents. Its techniques are also used to understand how genetic factors contribute to human disease. The information gathered in research can be used to develop diagnostic tests that enable speedy detection and identification of a disease so that an appropriate treatment can be developed. It can also help doctors screen their patients' genomes (all of an organism's genes) for existing diseases or a predisposition for diseases such as cancer.The standards for the Biotechnology Research and Development Pathway and related courses apply to occupations and functions in biotechnology research and development that apply primarily to human health. The standards specify the knowledge and skills common to occupations in this pathway. Students participating in a strong, industy-driven Biotechnology program can expect to conduct research using bioinformatics theory and methods in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, biotechnology, computational biology, proteomics, computer information science, biology and medical informatics. Additionally, students may use extended technologies to design databases and develop algorithms for processing and analyzing genomic information, or other biological information pertinent to this field.

MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn. Deb Roy studies how children learn language, and designs machines that learn to communicate in human-like ways. On sabbatical from MIT Media Lab, he's working with the AI company Bluefin Labs. A quiz, thought provoking question, and links for further study are provided to create a lesson around the 20-minute video. Educators may use the platform to easily "Flip" or create their own lesson for use with their students of any age or level.

Describe a bivariate relationship's linearity, strength, and direction. In other words, plotting things that take two variables into consideration and trying to see whether there's a pattern with how they relate.

This edition of Kayak opens in new window, shares some amazing stories and examples of the ways Black Canadians built and shaped this country. You get great stories , as well as articles featuring people who have helped preserve and promote Black history, Black women’s organizations with long histories, and Canadians with Afro-Indigenous heritage.

The purpose of this Guide is to enhance your students' knowledge and appreciation of the Black Canadian experience, drawing from Lawrence Hill's award-winning historical fiction, The Book of Negroes, the remarkable journey of Aminata Diallo and the historic British document known as the "Book of Negroes." Structured around themes of journey, slavery, human rights, passage to Canada and contemporary culture, this Guide asks students to examine issues of identity, equality, community, and nation-building in both a historical and contemporary context.

Video Tutorial on what black out poetry is and how to do it.  Matt talks about using Google drawings, but you can also do this using PowerPoint.  Both templates are included.

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Budgeting is an important task for money managment. Using a spreadsheet can make this task much easier with tools that autocalculate totals. As well, the spreadsheet can be copied easily for each month or year. Categories can be easily tailored to the users' needs by adding items that are specifc to their financial situation.Budgets are used by non-profit groups, organizations, businesses, sports associations and volunteer groups for their cash flow management. Using a spreadsheet will make budgeting and decision making much easier and transparent for all users. Here is a variety of blank templates and examples that can be used for various budgeting purposes. 

Rockets need a lot of thrust to get into space. In this lesson, students learn how rocket thrust is generated with propellant. The two types of propellants are discussed and relation to their use on rockets is investigated. Students learn why engineers need to know the different properties of propellants.

3, 2, 1... Blast off! Students learn new vocabulary by taking a virtual field trip to the moon, read-alouds, creating a picture dictionary, and completing a final writing activity.

Students are introduced to our Sun as they explore its composition, what is happening inside it, its relationship to our planet (our energy source), and the ways engineers help us learn about it.

Students use a text set to increase understanding of content area material and demonstrate what they have learned by writing an original piece that blends together narrative and expository elements.

To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.