Students use their senses to describe what the weather is doing and predict what it might do next. After gaining a basic understanding of weather patterns, students act as state park engineers and design/build "backyard weather stations" to gather data to make actual weather forecasts.

Students are introduced to the concept of engineering biological organisms and studying their growth to be able to identify periods of fast and slow growth. They learn that bacteria are found everywhere, including on the surfaces of our hands. Student groups study three different conditions under which bacteria are found and compare the growth of the individual bacteria from each source. In addition to monitoring the quantity of bacteria from differ conditions, they record the growth of bacteria over time, which is an excellent tool to study binary fission and the reproduction of unicellular organisms.

Yogurt is the byproduct of hungry bacteria that digest the lactose in milk. You can make more yogurt just by feeding the bacteria more milk.

Try your hand at assembling the following bacteria jigsaw puzzle created with a Streptococcus image from CELLS alive! This puzzle is 32 pieces and generally takes a few minutes to solve.

Students construct paper recombinant plasmids to simulate the methods genetic engineers use to create modified bacteria. They learn what role enzymes, DNA and genes play in the modification of organisms. For the particular model they work on, they isolate a mammal insulin gene and combine it with a bacteria's gene sequence (plasmid DNA) for production of the protein insulin.

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) prepared this online handbook on foodborne pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and parasites) and natural toxins. Chapters are arranged under the following headings: Pathogenic Bacteria, Enterovirulent Escherichia Coli Group, Parasitic Protozoa and Worms, Viruses, Natural Toxins, Other Pathogenic Agents, and Appendices. The intent of each chapter is to provide basic facts regarding these organisms and toxins including their characteristics, habitat or source, associated foods, infective dose, characteristic disease symptoms, complications, recent and/or major outbreaks, and any susceptible populations. The chapters also contain minimal information on the analytical methods used to detect, isolate, and/or identify the pathogens or natural toxins.

True love has the right ratio. In this humorous animation, the number of words spoken by each partner predicts whether a date goes well or horribly. What do you do when someone asks if you listen to country music backwards, but won't let you get a word in edgewise?

Poster is text only. Text continues: The National Organising Committee for War Savings appeals against extravagance in women's dress. ... It is essential, not only that money should be saved, but that labour employed in the clothing trades should be set free. Published by the National Organising Committee for War Savings, 18 & 19, Abingdon Street, Westminster, S.W. Poster no. 4. Title from item.

The artist predicts a decisive Whig victory in the presidential election of 1848, with Whig candidate Zachary Taylor "bagging" all of the states in an electoral sweep. (Taylor actually carried only fifteen of the thirty states.) A kneeling Taylor (left) gathers fallen pigeons, each bearing a state's name, into a bag. Holding up the New York bird he muses, "My purpose would be suited without this fellow, however I'll take him: the more the merrier for the 4th of March next." Taylor's strength in New York was considered questionable before the election. Standing to the right is Lewis Cass with a musket at his side. Looking over at Taylor, he marvels, "What an all devouring appetite the fellow has: I expect he'll bag me in the bargain!" In the background Martin Van Buren is caught by the seat of his trousers on the nails of a fence. Holding a rooster labeled "Proviso" he cries, "Cass, come and help an old crony won't you!" Peering over from behind the fence is Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot, author of the Wilmot Proviso, who threatens Van Buren with a switch, "I'll teach you to come ta robbing my barn!" Van Buren and the Barnburner Democrats adopted the proviso, which barred slavery in American territory gained in the Mexican War, as the main plank in their 1848 campaign platform.|Probably drawn by E.F. Durang.|Pubd. by Able [i.e., Peter E. Abel] & Durang. Philada.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 97.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1848-46.

The purpose of this task is to help students develop fluency in their understanding of the relationship between fractions and ratios. It provides an opportunity to translate from fractions to ratios and then back again to fractions.

Case study of a K-12 learner illustrating the impact of accessible educational materials and technologies.

This series of word problems requires students to apply the concepts of factors and common factors in a context.

In this video, NOAA's Deke Arndt, Chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center, recaps the temperature and precipitation data for the continental US in summer 2012. It describes how these conditions have led to drought and reduced crop yields.

This lecture/activity on force will further a students' understanding of forces on an object, as well as the difference between a balanced and unbalanced forces.

How do we find out whether the forces acting on an object are balanced or unbalanced? Learn in this video from the "Forces and Motion" chapter of the Virtual School GCSE / K12 Physics.

Are you a passionate teacher who would like to reach tens of thousands of learners?
Get in touch: vsteam@fusion-universal.com
Find out more: http://www.thevirtualschool.com
Follow us: http://www.youtube.com/virtualschooluk
Friend us: http://www.facebook.com/virtualschooluk

Teach the world.

This video is distributed under a Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND

This webpage from Exploratorium provides an activity that demonstrates the Bernoulli principle with readily available materials. In this activity a table tennis ball is levitated in a stream of air from a vacuum cleaner. The site provides an explanation of what happens, asks questions about the activity, and also describes applications to flight. This activity is part of Exploratorium's Science Snacks series.

In this quick and simple activity, learners explore how the distribution of the mass of an object determines the position of its center of gravity, its angular momentum, and your ability to balance it. Learners discover it is easier to balance a wooden dowel on the tip of their fingers when a lump of clay is near the top of the stick. Use this activity to introduce learners to rotational inertia.

Learn about the checks and balances system of the three branches of the U.S. government.