Adaptations to Arid Climates (Age 11-14)
In this ARKive resource, students learn about how different animals and plants are adapted to surviving in arid habitats. Working in groups, students design and carry out an experiment aimed at testing the effectiveness of different adaptations in reducing water loss. Using a worksheet as guidance, students also compare species…
Invasive Species (Age 11-14)
This resource from Arkive allows students to investigate the impacts that invasive species have on the environment, the effects that they have on native species and habitats, and the characteristics that make certain species good invaders. The activity looks at the different ways in which invasive species can potentially be controlled…
A Century of Crystallography
This poster, from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, celebrates 100 years since two scientists in the UK pioneered a technique for crystallography. Crystallography uses x-rays to create a diffraction pattern to examine the atomic structure of crystals. The poster explains Bragg’s Law, which allows the calculation…
How Does Nature Sense?
Adelheid Fischer, Biomimicry Fellow and Coordinator of InnovationSpace at Arizona State University, explains how she finds inspiration in the star-nosed mole. The mole does not use its unusual nose for smell, but as a touch sensing organ. The mole can also smell under water by sending out bubbles to catch odour molecules, and then…
How Does Nature Cool?
In this video from The Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, Sherry Ritter describes how the red kangaroo stays cool in temperatures of up to 45°C. The kangaroo licks its wrists, where there are a large number of blood vessels close to the surface, and this cools through evaporation. Sherry asks whether we could learn from this cooling technique…
How Does Nature Convert Energy?
In this video Janine Benyus, co-founder of The Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, describes a surprising adaptation of the pistol shrimp. The pistol shrimp has a very large claw and uses this to fire a bubble and stun its prey. The shrimp can close its claw so quickly that a vacuum is created behind the bubble. The vacuum collapses and for…
4/5- Publication year: 2010 to date
- Video
Hunting and Gathering for Ideas
This resource describes an outdoor activity which can be used to introduce students to the concept of biomimicry. Janine Benyus, founder of the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, explains how systematically observing nature and then emulating it can lead to innovative and sustainable technologies and designs. She describes how to conduct…
Dye-sensitized Solar Energy
The activity, from the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, provides an illustration of biomimetic technology. Students explore how to produce electricity by constructing a dye-sensitised solar cell at ambient temperatures, using a few simple materials. In the manufacturing of most solar cells, silica must be heated to separate the silicon…
Concrete Without Quarries
This practical activity, from the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, allows students to explore how nature creates calcium carbonate, a compound needed to manufacture cement, at ambient temperatures and using abundant, readily available raw materials. The cement used in concrete is manufactured from calcium carbonate, which is extracted from…
Colour Mixing
This video from the Royal Institution describes how colour mixing works. Colours of light cannot be mixed in physics but different cones in your eyes are sensitive to different colours. The brain interprets a mixture between the two as a colour somewhere between the two. In the case of magenta, your brain invents this colour…
Cloud Chamber
This video from the Royal Institution shows tracks within a cloud chamber. A supersaturated layer of alcohol vapour exists just above the floor of the chamber and the ionisation radiation causes vapour to condense along the path of the radiation. An Americium source is introduced into the chamber so that tracks from alpha radiation…
ARKive School Museum (Age 11-14)
Produced by ARKive, this series of activities teaches students about endangered species through the creation of an interactive museum. The ARKive School Museum presentation looks at examples of endangered species and explains the concept of an ARKive School Museum. Students then research an endangered species using the ARKive…
Newly Discovered Species (Age 11-14)
Produced by ARKive, this resource teaches Key Stage Three children about biodiversity and classification whilst developing skills in independent research, collaboration and scientific thinking. It also gets students thinking about how scientists plan expeditions and surveys. A presentation introduces biodiversity and explores…
Opposable Thumbs (Age 11-14)
In this resource, produced by ARKive, students explore the role of the opposable thumb in primates and look at how this adaptation helps many different species in accomplishing tasks essential for survival. A presentation introduces the definition of an opposable thumb and looks at species that have this adaptation and the purposes…
Battle of the Beaks
This practical activity explores beak adaptations in bird populations and looks at the way in which variation in beak shape is related to the available food sources within an environment. Students simulate bird feeding by using a ‘beak’ to collect food and place it into a stomach. There are four different beak shapes…
Introducing Stem Cells
This presentation and collection of short activities, from Eurostemcell, introduce basic stem cell concepts and include teacher’s notes with each slide and useful diagrams. The materials include: Presentation: Introducing stem cells • Stem cell biology basics: for post-16 students, or adult audiences with little…
Ready or Not? A Role Play on Taking Stem Cells to the Clinic
This role-play activity, from Eurostemcell, allows students to explore some of issues around stem cell research and its medical applications, enabling them to think about and develop their own views on this very exciting, controversial field. The role play has been designed to address the following issues: • Why use embryos…
Hope Beyond Hype
It is long journey from basic stem cell research to a reliable stem cell therapy. This comic book explores the role of stem cell researchers and the process they undertake as they try to move stem cell research on towards clinical trials and therapies. A selection of card games is provided which can be used to explore the ideas…
Cell Science Investigators
This lesson, from Eurostemcell, explores the potential medical applications of stem cell research, using multiple sclerosis as an example and illustrating some key aspects of scientific method. The lesson was originally designed for delivery by two scientists visiting a school but can be delivered by teachers. The lesson is guided…
All About Stem Cells
These activities, from Eurostemcell, introduce students to the science of stem cells and explore four basic themes in stem cell biology: 1. What is a stem cell? – what stem cells can do; types of stem cell 2. Where do embryonic stem cells come from? – the blastocyst; cell culture; IVF 3. Why bother with stem cells?…
Woodland Ecology
This resource provides a series of activities which can be carried out during a visit to woodland. Students observe, describe, compare and classify species. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work. The activities cover sampling in leaf litter, distribution, habitats, the…
Urban Ecology
The activities in this resource enable students to observe, describe, compare, contrast and classify environments. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work. The activities cover sampling, distribution, habitats, pollution and tree growth. Warwick Process Science was compiled…
Pond Studies
This resource provides ideas for looking at pond plant and animal life using a microscope to make observations and comparisons. Identification sheets are provided for students to identify what they find in pond water and mud. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work, and are ideal…
My Body
The practical activities in this resource provide an introduction to the human body through an investigative and problem solving approach. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work, and are ideal as part of a circus of activities around the classroom. The activities cover the…
Keeping Well
This resource provides activities which were designed to explore some health matters using an investigative approach. The first section of the booklet looks at disease and hygiene, and covers Typhoid Mary, antibiotics, disinfectants, immunisation, life in a bubble, Edward Jenner, threadworms and head lice. The second section…
Keeping Clean
The practical activities in this resource explore cleanliness through an investigative and problem solving approach. By using a variety of approaches, the activities were designed to encourage discussion about the sociological and environmental implications of keeping clean. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated…
Illusion and Perception
The range of activities suggested here provides an interesting introduction to the brain and central nervous system through an investigative and problem solving approach. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work, and are ideal as part of a circus of activities around the classroom. Warwick…
Growing Plants
The practical activities in this resource provide an introduction to plant growth through an investigative and problem solving approach. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work. The activities cover conditions for germination, types of soil, the structure of roots and shoots…
Food Additives
The range of activities suggested here provides an interesting introduction to food additives through an investigative and problem solving approach. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work, and are ideal as part of a circus of activities around the classroom. The activities…
Fitness
The practical activities in this resource provide an introduction to fitness through an investigative and problem solving approach. The experiments can be carried out in any order and integrated into an existing scheme of work, and are ideal as part of a circus of activities around the classroom. The activities can be developed for…
Sound Survey
Using the context of what it would be like for a child with hearing difficulties in school, children develop a set of survey questions to assess the noisiest places in school and work in small groups to survey the site and map their findings. The activity encourages children to reflect on the experiences, needs and feelings…
Make a Feelings Character
This activity looks at how to identify and draw facial expressions which are related to feelings. By exploring Treacher Collins Syndrome, a genetic disorder which affects the face, children can discuss how someone’s facial characteristics might affect their ability to communicate. They then draw or model a character, which…
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