Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate the claims of chiropractic by observing the articulation of chicken vertebrae to see how they are adapted for support and protection. Critique practitioners' claims of a chiropractic connection to curing ailments.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Consumer Health.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Model endoscopic surgery by constructing and operating a tool that extends a person's grasping ability, explore dexterity skills using a basic electric circuit and then design and create an improved remote tool.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Medicine. Design & Invention. Engineering.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) as a breathing support strategy. Construct a working lung model that simulates the mechanics of breathing.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Design & Invention. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate biotechnology design by creating a model of a one-way valve from plastic tubing. Describe the mechanical action of the valve.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Disease. Design & Invention. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate medical uses for otherwise deadly poisons. Experiment with cultured bacteria to explore what it needs to survive and travel.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Medicine. Microbiology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the characteristics of binaural hearing and discover how two ears are utilized in determining the direction of a sound's origin. Produce auditory illusions by reversing and extending the detection site for each ear.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Sound.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate the brain and its connections - the number of possible routes along which a brain message might travel - by solving and creating geometric progressions. Conduct an experiment to learn about stimulus and response.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Math
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Patterns and Algebraic Thinking. Functions and Algebra.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Build nerve cell models in cooperative groups, and articulate the structure and function of nerve cells to explore the nervous system. Describe specific elements of human physiology by "advertising" the nervous system in nerve cell "infomercials."
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the communications system based upon a pattern of raised dots called Braille, and design a method of inquiry that uses the scientific method to compare the effectiveness of reading dot cells against reading raised alphabet characters.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Chronic Conditions. Design & Invention.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Learn about some of Earth's extreme environments and possible dangers they present. Identify ways to deal with potential dangers in extreme environments.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Geology & Natural Disasters.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Sound And Fury
Identify beliefs, values and attitudes of deaf culture. Explore the causes and special communication needs of deafness, research the role that American Sign Language plays in forging a sense of community and create your own "sign name".
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Reading & Language Arts
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Social Skills. Vocabulary.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore possible explanations of salmon's homing instincts. Record a path based upon olfactory cues, discriminating between and following specific scents placed at critical junctures along the designated path.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Animals: Fish. Genetics.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: WPSU: Energy Education for the 21st Century
Discover how different physical activities burn food energy at different rates and how different appliances use electrical energy at different rates. Use an "Energy Calculator" to explore the consumption of energy in humans and appliances.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Nutrition. Energy.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the science of sound and the human ear, and explain how this applies to the operation of cochlear implants for the deaf. Observe how structures can be "tuned" to respond to different frequencies.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Chronic Conditions. Sound.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the physical problems associated with Williams Syndrome and explain the role of elastin in body structure and function. Investigate the relationship between blood vessel diameter and hypertension and take a person's blood pressure.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Chronic Conditions.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the cognitive development of deception and devise a game or mock trial in which one determines who is lying and who is telling the truth. Research brain activity and make a working model of neural divergences using a set of dominoes.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Psychology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate whether it is possible to tickle yourself, and explain how spoken and tactile directions may interfere with the tickle sensation.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Psychology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Determine your sensitivity to taste by examining your tongue for the number of papillae, or taste buds, per centimeter. Investigate how capsaicin, the component that gives peppers their heat, can also be used as an anesthetic and pain reliever.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Medicine.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Make inferences about the structure and function of human hands. Investigate the relationship between hand actions and recorded points of contact by exploring hand grasps of a pencil and a broom handle.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Investigate the effect of exercise on pulse rate, and determine your own heartbeat recovery time by measuring your pulse at rest and after exercise. Construct and interpret a graph displaying your heartbeat's recovery time.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Fitness.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Understand how humans can focus on familiar voices and language over other sounds, by experimenting with what classmates hear when conversations are taking place simultaneously.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Sound.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Understand how the sense of smell has strong connection to the limbic region of the brain and experience how the brain associates smells with memories and emotions.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Investigate the ways that the senses of touch and smell combine with the sense of taste.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Nutrition. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Explore how nerve endings determine our sense of touch, find out which parts of the body are most sensitive to touch and test the skin's range of sensitivity.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Understand how our brain identifies an object, view six optical illusions and explain why the visual system might interpret them the way it does.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Research the array of sophisticated technologies scientists use to look closely at the brain. Diagram the major lobes of the brain and explore the functions of the frontal lobe to learn about how dyslexic individuals process information.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Psychology. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that may play a role in a person's risk for heart disease. Analyze the fat content in several food items and identify food items that contain one day's worth of heart-healthy fat calories.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Disease. Genetics.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Identify the developmental stages for fish, chick, pig, calf and human embryos, match drawings of embroyos with the animals they represent and determine which embryonic characteristics are similar and which are different among the animals.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Genetics. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore how the brain infers the position of a moving target. Conduct an experiment using a "look-ahead" window to target a moving object.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate innovations that assist baseball umpires in making calls. Examine the accuracy of a "line call" when compared to a taped record of a ball's exact impact location.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Design & Invention. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Research color awareness in animals. Design a set of experiments to determine if animals see colors by using a computer-based paint program to create specific color characteristics, based on their "gray values".
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Animals: Birds. Animals: Mammals.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Analyze caloric intake vs. caloric expenditure, understand the nutritional value of the explorer's meals, describe the trend in diet changes the explorers experienced and explain the physiological consequences these changes caused.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Math
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Nutrition. Measurement. Numbers and Operations.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate scientists' use of models to understand more about an object, concept or relationship. Explore the difference between a healthy eye and an eye affected by macular degeneration by building two models.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Chronic Conditions. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate a unique project that uses brain waves to operate machines, and perform biofeedback experiments to control physiological processes. Control hiccups and regulate your body temperature with your mind.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Psychology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the composition and physiology of bones, describe how humans lose bone mass and explain how this becomes a challenge for extended space flight. Compare and contrast the decalcifying properties of several liquids.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Atmosphere & Space Science. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate how the brain can be fooled into incorrectly processing sensory information. Conduct an experiment to fool someone into thinking you've touched his or her hand.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Psychology. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Identify the physiology of how a placebo affects the brain through "ritual expectations." Perform an experiment to explore how the manner in which a ritual is presented may affect the outcome of its success.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Psychology. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: It's My Life
Describe different types of eating disorders, and evaluate effects of eating disorders on the body and emotions. Explain how and why one should help someone with an eating disorder.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Nutrition.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the migration behavior of various animals, and investigate the sense of smell as a tracking device for these migrations. Emulate salmons by following and scented path, and construct a map of the "river" as you head "upstream."
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Social Studies
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Geography.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the physiological effects of stress, and investigate the techniques of Tibetan monks to regulate their body temperature. Attach a thermistor to your fingertip to see if relaxation techniques can produce changes in body temperature.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Mental/Emotional Health. Psychology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Take and interpret blood pressure, and explore how thinking about a stressful situation may elevate these parameters.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Science & Tech
Topics: Body Systems & Senses. Chronic Conditions. Human Biology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
