There are a variety of activities for Biology. You can find some of our more commonly requested activities below the request forms on this page, or you can view our up-to-date list of all activities.
- Biology Middle School complete list
- Biology High School complete list
- Biology Scheduling Form for activities listed below
- Biology Feedback Form for activities listed below
New Activities for Biology
DNA Extraction from Strawberries
Students extract actual DNA from strawberries and can see and touch it (and take it home if they want).
DNA model kits
We have K’nex DNA model kits available to borrow.
Investigate Your Sense of Balance
This activity demonstrates that visual cues are important to the sense of balance. Students stand on a Vernier force plate and try to balance on one foot first with their eyes open, then with their eyes closed. The force plate measures how much they shift back and forth to keep their balance. Students then design a hypothesis to test, such as comparing dancers to non-dancers, etc.
Review / Test prep activities
We can design fun, unique review sessions for nearly any topic using our programmable Spheros. (No prior programming experience needed.) Ask us for suggestions for your next review session!
Sphero of Influence – Vaccines
Students use Spheros (programmable robots) that are programmed to spread a fake disease throughout the Sphero population. Students are given a budget, and make decisions about improving the vaccine efficacy and/or the number of Spheros who receive a vaccine to the fake disease. We then run the program to see which student plans work better than others in preventing the spread of this fake disease. (This activity does not need any prior programming experience.)
Survival of a Sea Turtle – a Sphero Activity
This activity models a sea turtle ecosystem and the challenges sea turtles face in surviving to reproductive age (predators, environmental factors, pollution). Students drive Spheros (programmable robots) and act as the various parts of this ecosystem. (This activity does not need any prior programming experience.)
Commonly Requested Activities for Biology
Students use our digital microscopes to view and identify the stages of the cell cycle in onion and whitefish cells
Students measure the cellular respiration of crickets, peas, and parsley using Vernier CO2 probes
Climate Change
There are five components to this activity – you can do any or all: CO2 levels, albedo, water vapor, cloud cover, sunlight intensity. Please see our full list of activities for further descriptions.
Students measure the rate of the catalase enzymatic activity using gas pressure sensor under various conditions (concentrations, pH, temperature)
Students learn about evolution by studying fossils, comparing the anatomy of different organisms, comparing the stages of embryonic development in mammalian species and chick embryos, comparing blood sera of different species, and comparing DNA sequences of primates
Students act as “eyewitnesses” and use a forensic art program to draw faces of suspects
Gel electrophoresis: An introduction using food coloring
Students pour their own gels, load the gels with food coloring solutions, run the gels, and analyze the results
Protein Identification through immunoassay
Students use an immunoassay to show how forensic scientists can determine if blood on a bumper is from a human or another animal
Students discover the plasticity of the brain in this activity. They use special goggles while attempting to pitch bean bags at a target to investigate how the brain adapts to changing sensory cues
Sherlock Bones
Students study properties of bones to determine sex, race, height and age
Student Data Sheet - Short Form
Spheros
Spheros are paired with a Kindle Fire (provided) through the SpheroEdu app. Beginners can draw a path for the Sphero robot to follow, intermediate users can drag and drop blocks of code, and advanced users can write text programs using JavaScript. Provide your own activities, or use one of the SpheroEdu prepared modules aligned to NGSS, CCSS, and various state standards.
Contact Science In Motion staff for more information.