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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.

New discoveries about the natural world can inspire the design of human-made objects. In this activity, students will learn about how the overlapping feathers on birds’ wings prompted engineers to reimagine the design of aircraft wings. Students will explain how this is an example of bioinspired design and then create their own bioinspired designs.

Take a seat, “angel hair” pasta. Scientists just fine-spun the world’s thinnest spaghetti. This nano-noodle recipe calls for modern electrospinning technology blended with creative culinary science — and, of course, a handful of pasta dough. Learn how electrospinning works by comparing the technique to the function of an old-fashioned spinning wheel, at the same time answering questions about polymers and connecting chemistry concepts to textile manufacturing.

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 have discovered that Dicyrtomina minuta, a species of globular springtail, can perform the fastest backflip of any animal on Earth. Use this discussion to have students review how the research team studied springtail backflips by analyzing high-speed footage.

Then, in this related activity by DataClassroom, have students analyze graphs of the springtail research data to learn about the linear velocity, angular velocity, linear acceleration and rotational acceleration of springtail flips using this Stacked Graphs and Biophysics with Spring-Loaded Arthropods activity. Create a free account to view the student-facing dataset and activity within the DataClassroom web application. View the teacher answer key here.

As global temperatures increase we’ll need to change how we design our buildings. Climate responsive architecture includes buildings that are designed with the regional climate in mind. In this activity, students will design a building that stays at a safe and comfortable temperature throughout the day. In their designs, students will have to consider the Sun’s movement in the sky and their buildings’ materials and shapes. Students will model and test their designs before learning about a new idea scientists have for climate responsive architecture.

Lightning crackles across roiling skies—a visible display of a thunderstorm's energy. However, these storms produce more energy than we can see. Scientists have now used new gamma-ray imaging techniques to reveal invisible energy streaming out of these natural light shows. Learn how gamma rays relate to the electromagnetic spectrum and explore the relationship between wavelength and energy, all while drawing connections to weather phenomena.

For astronomers, watching convective cells of gas move on the surface of a distant star was kind of like looking at a lava lamp. Begin a unit on energy transfer by having students discuss lava lamps and the process of convection at work in them. Then have students read about the first observation of convection on a distant star and its potential scientific importance. Finally, students will brainstorm and diagram other examples of devices or natural processes that involve convection.