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How can comic strips help teach experimental design of research studies? Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Wild Things that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. Wild Things use comic strips that tell the stories of research studies on animals’ biology and behavior. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Wild Things article.

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice the 3-2-1 strategy. This literacy strategy is a quick way to check students’ understanding of a concept, reading or lesson. It helps them summarize and organize their thoughts by listing three responses to one prompt, two responses to another prompt and one response to a final prompt.

Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Technically Fiction that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. Technically Fiction articles focus on a fictional phenomenon and explain whether it could be possible and the science it would take to make it a reality. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Technically Fiction article.

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice creating concept maps for any article. This literacy strategy boosts critical thinking and reading retention by having students organize information and connect important ideas, concepts and terms.

Use this lesson plan to learn about an article type called Explainers that is published by Science News Explores in print and online. You can also access a lesson plan template that can be used with any Explainer article. Explainer articles take a deep dive into a key scientific concept or process.

Use this lesson plan and the provided template to have your students practice the Cornell Note-taking System with any article. This literacy strategy organizes notes into two columns that provide structure for note-taking, analysis and review and that will help increase students’ learning, comprehension and retention.

Scientists studied ancient woolly mammoth DNA that had been freeze-dried in place, preserving it and retaining its shape. The researchers adapted a technique for studying the structures of chromosomes within a nucleus to determine which genes were turned on and off in the mammoth genome. In this activity, students will review what happens when genes are turned on by completing exercises that illustrate hypothetical DNA base pairing and simplified examples of transcription and translation.

Scientists have been able to study genetic activity in an ancient woolly mammoth’s DNA, thanks to a new method. Learn about the research study and the preservation of the DNA while thinking through the implications of having certain genes turned on or off.

Patients with a genetic disorder that increases the risk of severe heart disease took a gene editing medicine called VERVE-101 in a clinical trial. Have students answer a set of graphical analysis questions to learn more about the trial’s outcomes and the scientists’ proposed next steps.

Humans have modified organisms for millennia through selective breeding and other techniques. But only in the past few decades have people gained the ability to directly alter organisms’ DNA to create Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). GMOs can help advance fields such as medicine and agriculture. In this activity, students will learn more about GMOs and their uses before creating an awareness campaign to address GMO misconceptions.

Scientists are still chipping away at the challenge of completing the puzzle of human genetics. Draw diagrams of DNA, chromosomes, genes and other genetics terms to review their relationships before piecing together the new findings of recent studies that fully sequenced Y chromosomes for the first time.

Scientists thought the “love hormone” oxytocin was required to help animals form social bonds. In this Guide, students will learn how a study using a gene-editing tool called CRISPR is questioning that perspective — at least for prairie voles.