NGSS DCI: HS-LS2
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Redwood Resilience: Analyzing Tree Rings and Wildfire Recovery
Teach what influences redwood forest recovery after wildfires and how tree rings provide historical climate data, helping scientists understand past droughts, fires, and growth conditions.
Designing Solutions for Healthy Forests
Students explore climate change impacts on global forests and apply the fundamentals of CRISPR gene editing to design conservation solutions.
Rewriting Survival: Genetics and the Future of Coral Reefs
Investigate coral bleaching through hands-on experimental design, data analysis, and a bioethical debate on using CRISPR for conservation.
Life After Wildfires: Observing and Predicting Forest Recovery
1-period video activity exploring forest succession, observation practices, and science identity with elementary and middle school worksheets.
Genetic Engineering and Conservation
Should We Use Biotechnology to Save Endangered and Extinct Species?
The Basis of a Good Hypothesis
Free Nature of Science lesson plan for grades 6-10. Includes a hands-on hypothesis cube activity and a video on indigenous knowledge and nitrogen cycling.
