This informational text introduces students to the life cycle and migration of the sanderling, a bird that winters on beaches in the Southern United States and South America but breeds in the Arctic during the summer months. The text is written at a kindergarten through grade one reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.

The Science Core Guides are created to provide guidance for developing effective instruction aligned to the Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards. They are intended to support teachers, administrators, science specialists, instructional coaches, parents, and other stakeholders as they plan instruction at a local level.

The Core Guides are not intended to be read from cover to cover. They are meant as a resource document to be used, when needed, to support teacher professional learning and curriculum decisions. They are not meant to be used by students, and therefore they may not be written in student-friendly language. The Core Guides are meant to inform teachers and leaders as they make science curriculum decisions.

In this issue of the free online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, learn about the tools and technologies scientists use to study the land, ice, ocean, atmosphere, and living creatures of the polar regions. Students can also learn about the day-to-day life of a scientist working at the South Pole and plan their own research expedition.

This video from Thinkport introduces the seahorse, an unusual, endangered fish that has puzzled scientists who are attempting to save it.

In this video segment adapted from the College of Menominee Nation, tribal members share examples of how seasons are changing, and how these changes are affecting local plants.

One of Southern California’s few remaining tidal marshes—and the habitat it provides for marine life and endangered birds—is threatened by sea level rise. A collaborative effort is underway to help these wetlands stay above water.

In this lesson, based on the documentary Through My Eyes: The Charlie Kelman Story, students learn about the history and state-of-the-art of one of the world's most commonly performed surgical procedures--eye cataract removal and replacement.

This video segment adapted from Northwest Indian College reveals how Native American life and knowledge is connected to natural cycles.

In this Nature video, watch a battle between a loggerhead turtle and a shark.

In this video segment from Nature, see the value that sharks can have on the tourism industry in an area.

In this video excerpt from NOVA, learn about the advantages, disadvantages, and ethical implications of screening for genes associated with diseases, including those linked to breast and ovarian cancers.

Background image of normal disc-shaped red blood cells from the University of Utah. Inset shows sickled red blood cells, curved and rigid, from the Virginia Medical College.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn how animals' physical characteristics, such as jaw structure, are directly related to the function they perform when the animal interacts with its environment.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students study a disease outbreak and the investigation that followed to understand the role that public health workers play in protecting the communities they serve.

Many students are squeamish about spiders. But when you spray spider webs with a water mister, they are easy to see and gorgeous, and just about anyone can get caught up in exploring them! After this activity, students will probably notice and appreciate spider webs everywhere, including when they return home. They will also probably be more careful to avoid knocking webs down while walking around. In this activity, students notice spider webs as they walk. When students arrive at an exploration site, pairs search for different kinds of webs in the area, mist them with water, then regroup to discuss their observations and think about how different types of webs help spiders catch different kinds of prey. Students learn about different web types, then return to the field to use a key to identify different kinds of webs. They also make explanations about how the structures of the webs they find function to catch prey.

This activity is designed to be a follow-up to the Spider Exploration activity, and to be done with students who are excited about and interested in spider webs. It’s meant for instructors who want to help their students learn how to conduct a more formal and structured investigation. Students compare quantity of spider webs in two different plant communities. The basic structure of this investigation is pre-planned, but students discuss and plan how to make it a fair test with the least amount of bias as possible. Students also analyze their data, make explanations from their findings, discuss possible inaccuracies of their results, and reflect on science practices and investigation design.

In this video adapted from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska Native people of Chevak teach visitors about the beauty of Cup'ik culture and the spirit of the earth, sea, and animals.

In this video profile produced for Teachers' Domain, meet conservationist Steve MacLean, an Inupiaq from Barrow, Alaska, who works to preserve the health of the Bering Sea ecosystem.

Explore stretching just a single strand of DNA using optical tweezers or fluid flow. Experiment with the forces involved and measure the relationship between the stretched DNA length and the force required to keep it stretched. Is DNA more like a rope or like a spring?

Explore stretching just a single strand of DNA using optical tweezers or fluid flow. Experiment with the forces involved and measure the relationship between the stretched DNA length and the force required to keep it stretched. Is DNA more like a rope or like a spring?