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Taking notes and creating visual summaries
This activity asks students to practice two literacy skills: note-taking and summarizing. Note-taking helps students identify and remember important information, enhancing comprehension as they read. Creating a visual summary encourages students to consolidate and communicate key information.
Taking a bacterial census
Students will answer questions about the online Science News article “Here’s where bacteria live on your tongue cells,” which maps how bacteria build communities on human cells. A version of the story, “Where bacteria live on our tongues,” can be found in the April 25, 2020 issue of Science News.
Ecological relationship status
Students will use their knowledge of interspecific interactions to explore bacterial communities on human tongue cells. Then, students will apply those concepts to create metaphors for relationships in their own community.

A Tiny Dino and Iron Rain
In this guide, students will learn about the smallest-known Mesozoic dinosaur and use phase diagrams to explore meteorology on an exoplanet. In an activity, students will collect and analyze data in their own homes. Editor’s Note: A study included in this guide has been retracted. Please see the comprehension questions for more detail.
Sizing up a dinosaur
Students will answer questions about the Science News article “This ancient dinosaur was no bigger than a hummingbird,” which reports on a fossil of a many-toothed, Mesozoic predator.

Why Bat Viruses Are So Dangerous
This guide will help students understand how viruses in other animals can infect people, sometimes leading to epidemics or pandemics. In a group activity, students will imagine they are health officials developing action plans to prevent or stop an epidemic.
The truth about bats and viruses
Students will answer questions about the Science News article “Why bat viruses are so dangerous,” which explores how the animals’ immune defenses might lead to killer human pathogens.
Cats and Punnett squares
Scientists would like to breed cats that don’t trigger allergies in people. By constructing and analyzing a Punnett square for two low-allergen cats, students will review key concepts including patterns and probabilities of inheritance, genotype, phenotype, genes, alleles, chromosomes and mutations.

How to Lick Cat Allergies
This guide asks students to explore how scientists are combating cat allergies, apply problem-solving strategies to an allergen of their choice, review basic concepts in genetics and analyze Punnett squares.
The quest to fend off cat allergies
Students will answer questions about the Science News article “How to lick cat allergies,” which explores some potential solutions to prevent and calm allergic reactions.
Taking charge of allergies
Students will identify and categorize various approaches to fending off cat allergies. After discussing the approaches, students will apply similar problem-solving strategies to a new allergen.
What’s that smell?
Students will explore how our sense of smell helps us interpret the world around us, and how those interpretations may vary. Students will practice analyzing data and determine how temperature affects vapor pressure and thus the intensity of scents.