Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Create a laboratory exercise in which students examine a series of histology slides under a microscope. Look at individual cells under the microscope. Discuss the composition and biological purpose of a cell. Teach students the difference between unicellular and multicellular organisms.
Dissect an organism, such as a frog or fetal pig, to teach students about the different levels of organization. Discuss how cells form tissues, tissues make up organs and organs work together in organ systems. Show students relevant examples of tissues and organs from the dissected organism.
Teach students the difference between autotrophic organisms, which produce their own energy, and heterotrophic organisms, which consume food for energy. Classify plants, humans, fungi, bacteria and protozoa as autotrophs or heterotrophs. Discuss the ways in which autotrophic animals obtain energy from sunlight or inorganic chemicals.
Demonstrate the growth of organisms by tracking the progress of a human growing from an egg and sperm into an adult. Show diagrams illustrating the fusion of gametes, beginning of cell division, organ development, birth and development into adulthood.
Keep a plant in your science classroom. Place it near a window or other natural light source. Show your students how the plant begins to grow toward the light source over time. This demonstrates the characteristic of living things responding to the environment. Change the light source and note how the plant adapts to its new environment by orienting itself toward the new light source.
Perform an experiment using plants to demonstrate the characteristic of reproduction. Plant bean seeds. Watch the seeds germinate, flower and produce seeds. Plant the new seeds to show students the complete reproductive cycle. Tie this demonstration to a discussion of the reproductive structure of plants.