Welcome to Chemistry Applications: Pharmacology, Biotechnology and Forensics, a high school curriculum. Included in this curriculum are many lesson plans that are aligned with the North Carolina Chemistry and Biology Standards, in addition to the National Science Standard. Students will learn to be critically thinking, problem solving individuals who will relate science to the real world.

This is a pre assessment to a lesson on E-Cigarattes. My goal is two fold. First is to  find out what they already know and understand about e-cigaretts as well as their ability to evaluate media (the standards is about being able to evaluate healthcare products and services) This goal is challenging to assess with a short discussion but the article they use to support thier thinking will give me insiight on where I need to start.Learning Target/Objective:I can begin to evaluate products and services that may affect my health.Assignment Directions1. Please watch the videos below2. Post your reply to the questions belowWhat do the old time commercials tell you we use to think about smoking cigaretts?Do you think history will repeat itself with e-cigaretts? In other words, do you think we will eventually learn that E-Cigarettes/JUUL are more harmful then we know now?If you need more information avout e-cigaretts (vaping) I posted a second video below.Why or Why not?Your "why or why not" explanation should include at least 1 link to an article that supports your thinking.TEENS REACT TO CIGARETTE COMMERCIALS Smoking vs Vaping 

In this activity, students play the roles of "time travel agents" creating an advertisement for a geologic time period which has been assigned to them. They will use the Earth Science Reference Tables (available on the internet) to learn some basic facts about their assigned period. A rubric for assessing student understanding is provided.

This lesson discusses the interior structure of the earth as defined by research on the behavior of seismic waves as they move through the layers inside of the planet. The lesson details both compositional layers as well as mechanical layers.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes El Niño, how it forms, and the chain reaction of consequences it triggers around the globe.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains how hurricanes develop and why there are fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in strong El Niño years.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.

This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the reasons for the seasons. Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during particular seasons.

This video segment adapted from NOVA tells the tragic story of two Japanese seismologists who disagreed about the threat of earthquakes in the early twentieth century. Today, seismologists in California offer residents a probability of risk that an earthquake might occur.

This lesson on earthquakes is based on naturalist John Muir's experiences with two significant earthquakes, the 1872 earthquake on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Students will learn to explain that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults, and list the major geologic events including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and mountain building, which are the result of crustal plate motions. A downloadable, printable version (PDF) of the lesson plan is available.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, animations are used to show how the hills around Los Angeles were formed by earthquakes at small thrust faults that extend outward from the larger San Andreas fault.

The history of earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay area is plotted on a digital map and analyzed in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a geologist digs a trench along the San Andreas Fault to reveal three thousand years of earthquake history. Information from the layers of sediment may help geologists to predict earthquakes.

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses historical illustrations, photographs, and animations to explain how seismographs work, the difference between P and S waves, and the Richter scale.

This activity uses the free software 'Seismic Eruption' to visualize seismicity and volcanic activity in space and time and to explore the relationship of earthquakes and volcanic activiy to plate tectonics. Students run simulations on the Pacific coasts of South America and California and the mid-oceanic ridge in the Atlantic Ocean, answer questions, and construct a cross-section. A link to download the software is provided.

This module explores the composition of the earth's atmosphere, how temperature and pressure vary in the atmosphere, and the scientific developments that led to an understanding of these basic concepts.

To gain an understanding of mixtures and the concept of separation of mixtures, students use strong magnets to find the element of iron in iron-fortified breakfast cereal flakes. Through this activity, they see how the iron component of this heterogeneous mixture (cereal) retains its properties and can thus be separated by physical means.

Students make edible models of algal cells as a way to tangibly understand the parts of algae that are used to make biofuels. The molecular gastronomy techniques used in this activity blend chemistry, biology and food for a memorable student experience. The models use sodium alginate, which forms a gel matrix when in contact with calcium or moderate acid, to represent the complex-carbohydrate-composed cell walls of algae. Cell walls protect the algal cell contents and can be used to make biofuels, although they are more difficult to use than the starch and oils that accumulate in algal cells. The liquid juice interior of the algal models represents the starch and oils of algae, which are easily converted into biofuels.