Biology Activities for High School and Middle School
Since biology is the study of life, it stands to reason that the static, inanimate pages of a text book can’t quite do it justice. Here we present a variety of classroom activities that help biology come to life for your high school or middle school students.
Organic Compounds
In this bio project from Serendip Studio, students solve a mystery by examining the essence of organic compounds, testing for triglycerides, glucose, starch and protein. The activity, called “Who Took Jerell's iPod? – An Organic Compound Mystery,” enhances the understanding of various compounds’ biological functions, and their relationship to common foods. On the Serendip website you’ll find both student and teacher handouts, with complete instructions, background information, student question sheets, tables to fill out, etc.
The activity introduction sets the scene – the crime scene, if you will. Our biology hero, Jerell, is a 10th grade student with a part-time job at McDonald’s. While on break, Jerell was studying for his biology test and listening to his iPod. Four co- workers were with him in the breakroom, eating lunch. When Jerell‘s girlfriend stopped by, he rushed out to see her, leaving his iPod and biology book behind. Suddenly remembering his abandoned possessions, he hurried back and found only his biology book, with food particles splattered across it. His iPod was gone! An uneducated kid might have freaked out, but Jerell knew he could use his knowledge of organic compounds to figure out which of his coworkers spilled food on his biology book when they swiped his iPod.
In this exercise, your students will take Jerell’s place and solve the mystery of the stolen iPod, by figuring out which coworker's lunch had the same organic compounds as the evidence Jerell found at the crime scene. They’ll start by forming hypotheses about the various organic compounds, and then performing a series of experiments to collect scientific data. They’ll investigate the nature of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, and test a variety of food substances such as sugar, vegetable oil and powdered egg whites. Ultimately they’ll be able to determine if the iPod thief was the kid who ate pretzels, yogurt, toast with butter and jelly, or a bean burrito.
We think students will love this creative, relatable approach to biology. Serendip offers a long list of activities like this one, covering topics such as cell structure, photosynthesis, genetics, molecular biology, ecology, human physiology, etc. Many of their activities are explicitly aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. They’re designed to accommodate limited budgets, requiring very little expenditure for equipment or supplies.
We’d like to note, however, that the Jerell mystery activity does require glucose strips, and the link presented in the materials no longer works. You can purchase a pack of 50 glucose strips on Amazon for $14.68.
Down in the Dirt
Our next activity idea comes courtesy of NGSS Life Science, and their wide assortment of free biology lesson plans, labs and experiments. NGSS offers DNA experiments, enzyme experiments, microscope labs, scientific method experiments, ecology labs, Mendelian genetics experiments, molecular biology labs, animal science labs and more.
As an example, we chose the Earthworm and Soil Fertilization lab for middle school students. Students get hands-on with both the worms and the soil the worms transform, observing the aeration of the soil, the improvement of its water-holding capacity, etc. Although this activity is categorized for high school, we feel its simplicity may be better suited for middle school.
The Ghost in Your Genes
We also love the biology lessons from PBS.org, like this one, in which NOVA explores how the epigenome – the chemical network that controls gene expression – plays a role in human biological destiny. In this activity, students explore DNA microarrays, which scientists use to determine levels of gene expression in breast cancer patients (and thus determine appropriate treatment plans). All the lesson plans from NOVA include detailed teacher instructions and material lists, as well as informational hand-outs for students, with illustrations, diagrams and accompanying videos.
Biology in the Wild
Wilderness Classroom.com offers another engaging approach to teaching biology, as students go online to follow the activities of actual science and adventure expeditions throughout the world. Through these wilderness activities, your students can interact with the adventurers and scientists in the field, learning about the ecosystems they encounter and helping them solve problems. The scientists post photos, videos, scientific data, journal entries, podcasts and interactive polls, every Monday through Friday throughout each learning adventure. The educational resources available to teachers include lesson plans aligned to Common Core Standards, curriculum guides, etc.
In 2008-2009, Wilderness Classroom’s adventures were in the Amazon Rainforest, and Marine Biology in the Bahamas. Although these expeditions are now over, the fascinating material remains online for your students to explore, reliving the scientists’ travels and discoveries. In 2015-2016, Dave and Amy Freeman are spending a year in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota. Nat Geo named them adventurers of the year for a similar educational expedition, in which they spent three years kayaking, canoeing, dogsledding, and backpacking 11,700 miles across the Northwest Territories, through the Great Lakes, and down the East Coast of the U.S.
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