Educator’s Corner

Educator’s
Corner

Welcome to the Biomedical Beat Educator’s Corner! This free resource is designed for educators to build on the existing NIH STEM content, like topics from our Pathways collaboration with Scholastic and other basic science areas, through the integration of supplemental material in Biomedical Beat blog posts. The Educator’s Corner is intended to give you additional tools to use in your lesson plans.

Below you’ll find a carefully curated list of blog posts from NIGMS that connect topically to STEM categories. We also provide suggestions for how to use the posts as educational supplements.

A researcher wearing a lab coat and goggles and looking at test tubes in a rack.
Four brightly colored double helices.
A cartoon graphic of a scientist wearing a lab coat and safety glasses and holding a test tube. A DNA double helix, medicine pills and bottles, and other experimental equipment surround the scientist.
A radiating barrier keeping colorful, cartoon microbes from reaching a shield with a plus sign on it.
Colorful background with text: Coloring Pages.
A cartoon of a researcher holding a DNA double helix and standing in front of a life-sized chemistry flask, a large prescription pill bottle, and pills on the ground.
The Brain and Anesthesia Issue cover
The Imaging Issue cover
Superbugs cover
The Circadian Rhythms Issue cover
The Regeneration Issue cover
Basic Science Careers cover

Genetics

What Is Genetics?

A strand of DNA resembling a twisted ladder where each rung is half one color and half another.
ABOUT THE POST

The first post in our miniseries on genetics introduces the study of genes and how they're passed from parents to children. Genes are segments of DNA—the blueprints for our bodies—that provide instructions for making important molecules. The vast majority of DNA is the same among all people, but small differences affect appearance and health.

ACTIVITY

Print one copy per student of the DNA origami worksheet [PDF] from the National Human Genome Research Institute. After students have read the blog post, distribute the worksheets and scissors, and have students follow the directions to create a 3D DNA molecule. You may find it helpful to show this step-by-step instructional video.

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How Are Physical Features and Health Conditions Inherited?

RNA polymerase shown as an irregularly shaped purple structure wrapped around a long, orange DNA double helix to produce a green messenger RNA molecule.
ABOUT THE POST

Family members often share some traits but not others. The combination of similarities and differences largely results from how people inherit and express genes. This post discusses how DNA passes from parents to children and how the instructions in genes lead to observable traits, such as physical features and health conditions.

ACTIVITY

After students read this post, divide them into small groups and assign each group one of the questions about genetics and human traits. Allow each group to read their assigned selection and then report back to the larger class with the answer. Some of the questions don’t have direct “yes” or “no” answers, but students should try to explain the answer provided in the reading selection.

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How Do Scientists Study Genes?

A round green enzyme, part of the CRISPR gene-editing tool, wrapping around and removing a section of DNA that’s a long, twisting rope of blue and purple.
ABOUT THE POST

Researchers learn about human genes through a variety of tools and techniques, such as DNA sequencing and genome editing. In addition to investigating human DNA, scientists use these tools and techniques to study the DNA of other organisms. Thanks to similarities across the genomes of living things, this research has helped us to better understand human health and disease and to learn about unique traits of other organisms.

ACTIVITY

After students read the blog post, explain that scientists must extract DNA from cells to study it. Although DNA extraction may sound like a complicated process, your students can try a version of it themselves! Pass out instructions and materials for the strawberry DNA extraction activity from the National Human Genome Research Institute, and have students conduct the experiment independently or in small groups. (Be sure to gather the supplies beforehand for this experiment.)

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Quiz: Gauge Your Genetics Knowledge

Green circles and orange lines representing a DNA double helix with a magnifying glass zooming in on one section.
ABOUT THE POST

Our genetics miniseries covers the basics of the field—from how people inherit genes to how researchers study them. This quiz, the final post in the series, tests how much students have learned. Can they answer all six questions correctly?

ACTIVITY

After students read the three previous posts in the genetics miniseries, have them test their knowledge with this interactive quiz. They can receive and share their results by clicking the “Finish” button at the bottom of the quiz. Review the correct answers as a class.

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Basic Science Concepts

How Do Cells Recycle and Take Out the Trash?

A red mass with a blue mass attached to its long red tail (a ubiquinated protein), held on a multicolored blob (a proteasome).
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You know the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” to save the planet? Our cells take that to heart to care for our bodies: Their efficiency reduces waste, their enzymes are reusable, and they recycle as much of their garbage as possible. But while our cells are excellent stewards of our bodies, sometimes they do have trash. They have systems in place to ensure they get the most out of their trash, but sometimes these systems go awry and cause diseases like Alzheimer's.

ACTIVITY

After reading the post to learn how cells reduce, reuse, and recycle, explore the site from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) with different ways you can practice the 3 Rs of waste management. Have a class discussion about implementing some these techniques either as a class at school or individually at home. For a more advanced activity, check out NIEHS’ Climate Change and Human Health lesson plans, or other environment and human health curriculum materials found on our STEM teaching resources website.

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What Is CRISPR?

A pink double helix filling a break in an orange double helix.
ABOUT THE POST

In the 1980s, researchers discovered odd, repeating sequences in the genomes of certain bacterial species, later named CRISPR sequences. Now, scientists use the CRISPR-Cas9 system in the laboratory as a gene-editing tool to improve our understanding of human biology, and medical doctors can use it to treat some diseases, like sickle cell disease.

ACTIVITY

Have students independently read the blog post either in class or for homework the night before. Afterward, lead the class through the "What Is CRISPR?" Kahoot! quiz from the National Institutes of Health (grades 9-12). Discuss the correct and incorrect answers as a class.

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How Many Ounces Are in a Cup—and Other Measurement Morsels

Various chemistry glassware filled with differently colored liquids.
ABOUT THE POST

Do you find yourself frustrated when trying to convert between measuring units while baking? Find out how many ounces are in a cup and other measurement morsels—like what baking soda does to your chocolate chip cookies and why you (and scientists in the lab) need to be accurate in your measurements.

ACTIVITY

Have students have read the post about the importance of accurate measurements, both in the kitchen and the chemistry lab. Then, assign categories from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's “How Do You Measure It?” web series to either individual or pairs of students. Once they’ve read about how to measure the age of a tree, the “heat” of a pepper, the acidity of the ocean, the age of fossils, or any of the other measurement topics, have them report back to the class.

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What Is a Neurotransmitter?

Neurotransmitter molecules from one nerve cell crossing a synapse toward another nerve cell.
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Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry messages from one nerve cell to another and sometimes to muscles or glands. These chemicals help our bodies perform vital functions, such as breathing, sleeping, feeling pain and emotions, moving our limbs, and many others. This post describes how neurotransmitters work and how changes in their levels can contribute to, or help treat, disease.

ACTIVITY

Download the “Connect the Neurons!” teacher guide from BrainU, found on our STEM teaching resources website. After students read the blog post, have them complete the activities from the guide. Students will pretend to be neurons and transfer cotton ball "neurotransmitters" among themselves to model communication between nerve cells. (Note: The activities in this guide are designed for grades 5–8. For lower or higher grades, you may consider modifying the activities or selecting one of the other BrainU lesson plans.)

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Science Snippet: The Significance of Symbiotic Relationships

An orange and white striped fish surrounded by many short, pale tentacles of a sea anemone.
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Symbiotic relationships are everywhere in nature and help species survive through interactions with one another. This post describes the different types of symbiosis and how symbiotic relationships can affect human health.

ACTIVITY

After students read the blog post, ask them to draw an example found in nature or in the human body for one of the types of symbiotic relationships: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. You can divide the class into thirds and assign each relationship or allow the students to choose which one they investigate. They may need to do some research online to find examples beyond those described in the post. Instruct them to identify which species benefit from or are harmed by the relationship.

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Quiz: Can You Solve These RNA Riddles?

An orange question mark with shadows in the background that resemble an RNA strand.
ABOUT THE POST

RNA is an essential molecule for life. It helps translate the instructions of DNA into proteins. Researchers study RNA, looking for ways to use it to develop medicines, vaccines, and tests for certain diseases. This post tests RNA knowledge.

ACTIVITY

Have students take the quiz in the post and share their results. For a more in-depth activity, have them choose one of the questions to investigate further by reading the blog post linked in its answer.

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What Is Metabolism?

Two cancer cells shown as irregular, oblong structures connected in two places. Each cell has a large blue circle in the center with small, scattered purple spots around it.
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Metabolism encompasses all the chemical reactions our bodies use to build up and break down molecules to keep us alive and healthy. Our cells must constantly balance many metabolic pathways. If these pathways are disrupted, serious diseases can occur.

ACTIVITY

Prepare for this activity that’s from our teaching resources website, which looks at how saliva helps digest the food we eat. You’ll need a few materials prepared beforehand, but most should be easy to get. Have students read the blog post. Discuss as a class how metabolism is an important function in our bodies. Ask students where they think metabolism begins, and then reveal that as soon as food touches our mouths, saliva begins metabolizing it. Follow the steps outlined in the activity to examine how saliva breaks down crackers. It’s metabolizing enzymes in saliva that begin the breakdown of the cracker!

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Science Snippet: Breaking Down Biodegradability

Planet Earth wrapped in three leaves shaped liked arrows, similar to the biodegradable logo.
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A common question in science is, “What can I do to keep our planet healthy?” Replacing traditional plastic with biodegradable plastic is one way to reduce the impact of plastic on the earth. Sometimes, plastic utensils or paper plates have a small logo indicating that they’re biodegradable. Materials that are biodegradable can be broken down into their building blocks by microorganisms such as bacteria, which extract the energy stored inside those small units.

ACTIVITY

Have students read the post and then take a careful look at the infographic at the bottom from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that shows 10 simple activities you can do to help protect the earth. As a class, talk through each of them and ask the students to choose one to focus on in their homes and daily lives. You could even choose one to focus on in the classroom.

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What Is the Microbiome?

Bacteria shaped as several brown, oblong ovals.
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A microbiome is the collection of all the microbes—including bacteria, viruses, and fungi—that live in a certain environment. Much of the human microbiome is made up of friendly microbes that we rely on to keep us healthy. Disruptions to the microbial communities in our bodies can cause disease.

ACTIVITY

After reading the post, dive deeper into the microbiome as a class using the lesson plan from the University of Washington Genome Sciences Education Outreach, found on our STEM teaching resources website. Students will learn about how a healthy microbiome is a diverse, complex ecosystem and how the foods they eat affect their microbiome—both positively and negatively.

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Immunology

What Is the Immune System?

A sphere with evenly spaced blue projections and a pink core.
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The first post in our miniseries on immunology introduces the immune system, which protects you from microbes that could cause infection. One important aspect of the immune system is its ability to remember the microbes it has seen before. This phenomenon, called immune memory, is a key part of vaccine science.

ACTIVITY

After students have read the post, compare and contrast the innate and adaptive immune systems together as a class.

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How Can the Immune System Go Awry?

A yellow orb (HIV) resting on a protruding tip of a gray mass (infected T-cell).
ABOUT THE POST

The second post in our immunology miniseries is all about diseases related to the immune system. The immune system’s job is to protect us from infectious intruders, but it sometimes gets confused and attacks the wrong cells, reacts to harmless substances, or fails to respond to intruders effectively.

ACTIVITY
After the students read the post, lead a class discussion about the different conditions discussed. Ask them to summarize the trigger and effect for each condition—you can use the simplified bulleted list below as your guide. For a more in-depth activity, have students choose an autoimmune or immunodeficiency disorder that isn’t discussed in the post and identify the part of the immune system that’s gone awry and how the body reacts. (The MedLinePlus links include examples.)

Immune System Conditions
  • Autoimmune Disorders
    • Trigger: Immune cells specific for self
    • Effect: Self-cells attacked
  • Immunodeficiency Disorders
    • Trigger: Missing or nonfunctional immune cells
    • Effect: Microbes not cleared from the body
  • Sepsis
    • Trigger: Infection or injury
    • Effect: Overwhelming immune response
  • Allergies
    • Trigger: Immune system sees unharmful substance as harmful
    • Effect: Whole-body immune response
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What Does an Immunologist Do?

A cartoon person wearing a blue cape and holding a shield, blocking the approach of floating spiky blobs representing viruses.
ABOUT THE POST

In our third post in the immunology miniseries, we talk about immunologists, who are researchers and doctors who study the immune system or treat patients with immune-related diseases. Learn more about the NIGMS grantees we’ve highlighted on Biomedical Beat who study the immune system.

ACTIVITY
Have students read the roundup post and choose one of the five individual researchers. Ask them to read through that researcher’s individual post and note the specific education that the researcher received to become an immunologist as well as anything they find interesting about the researcher or their work. Come together as a class and discuss the requirements for becoming an immunologist (hint: training and education can vary widely!). Then go down the list of the five researchers and ask for a student who read each full post to mention something they found interesting about that immunologist.
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Quiz: Do You Know Your Immune System?

Cartoon microbes with smiley faces forming the shape of a question mark.
ABOUT THE POST

Throughout our immunology miniseries, we introduce the many functions and components of the immune system and highlight NIGMS-supported researchers who study immunology. For the final post, test your knowledge with a quiz.

ACTIVITY
After students read the three previous posts in the immunology miniseries, have them test their knowledge with this interactive quiz. They can see and share their results by clicking the “Finish” button at the bottom of the quiz. Review the correct answers as a class.
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Coloring Pages

Cells by the Numbers

An illustration of a cell and its organelles.
ABOUT THE POST

Cells are the basic unit of life. Did you know that our bodies have trillions of human and bacterial cells? Or that we lose billions of cells each day during normal processes? Find details about these fascinating cellular facets and more in our “Cells by the Numbers” post!

ACTIVITY
Print copies of the free basic animal cell (labeled) coloring page and have students read the blog post and color the cell. Then have them, either paired or individually, look up the jobs of each of the labeled cell parts and write them on the coloring page. You can give them the NIGMS glossary as a source—each organelle and the membrane are detailed there. Once completed, ask students to share and discuss with the class the roles of the cell parts.
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Science Snippet: The Marvels of Membranes

A drawing of a small cell with the membrane enlarged.
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Membranes—layers of lipids and proteins—mark the boundaries of cells and many organelles. They not only provide structure, but also control the import and export of molecules and support cellular communication.

ACTIVITY
Print copies of the free cell membrane coloring page beforehand. After students read the blog post and color the page, discuss the role membranes play in cell structure, passage of materials, and cell-to-cell communication. Use the coloring page to point out the main parts of the membrane required for each role:
  • Structure. The phospholipid bilayer separates the inside of the cell from the outside, creating a barrier and providing the cell’s shape.
  • Material passage. Ion channels (center of the coloring page drawing) allow specific ions to cross the membrane, but other molecules can pass directly through the membrane’s phospholipid bilayer (for more on this, see our post “What Being Unionized Means for Molecules”).
  • Communication. Receptors on cell membranes trigger a cascade of reactions inside the cell when a molecule binds to it.
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Make Like a Cell and Split: Comparing Mitosis and Meiosis

A drawing of the different stages of cell division, labeled.
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Mitosis is essential for growth and cell replacement, while meiosis creates egg and sperm cells for reproduction. In this post, an illustration places the two types of cell division side by side, emphasizing their striking similarities and key differences.

ACTIVITY

Print copies of the free, unlabeled cell mitosis coloring page beforehand. After students read the blog post and color the page, see how well they can fill in the different stages of mitosis. For more on cell division, watch these first and second videos of yeast cells dividing. Explain that researchers have colored different parts of the cells to allow us to see them splitting. Ask students to name a stage of mitosis and when they saw it happen in the clips (cytokinesis is the easiest to see, since the cells split in two). Have them look at some of the images related to the videos (image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5) and identify cells that are in the various phases of cell division, including interphase.

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Research Organism Superheroes: Axolotls

A cartoon drawing of an axolotl wearing a cape.
ABOUT THE POST

Axolotls are friendly-looking Mexican salamanders that can regenerate not only organs and limbs but also parts of their central nervous system. Researchers study them to understand this regeneration with the hope that their superpower can one day unlock new ways to help humans heal.

ACTIVITY

Print copies of the free coloring page beforehand. After students read the blog post and color the page, test their knowledge of regeneration using the quiz in this blog post. Have the students take the quiz on their own or go through the questions as a class and discuss the right and wrong answers.

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Research Organism Superheroes: Fruit Flies

A cartoon drawing of a fruit fly wearing a cape. Text reads: Superpower: Reproducing quickly with similar genes to people. Did you know? Fruit flies reproduce quickly and have short life spans, so scientists can easily study all stages of their lives in 6 to 7 weeks. Why is this important? Because fruit flies and humans have similar genes in their bodies. Genes are instructions our bodies use to live. Scientists study fruit flies to learn about those genes and how they affect our health.
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Scientists have been using fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) for over a century to understand human genetics and diseases. Not only are fruit flies much simpler than humans to study while having similar genes, they also reproduce quickly and have short life spans, so scientists can easily observe all life stages in just weeks. This post provides more in-depth information about why fruit flies are so commonly used in research as well as some examples of discoveries about human health that scientists have made by studying them.

ACTIVITY

Print copies of the free coloring page beforehand. After students read the blog post and color the page, see if they can come up with more than the two superpowers listed on the coloring page that make fruit flies excellent research organisms. The post describes many reasons why researchers use them.

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Research Organism Superheroes: Tardigrades

A cartoon drawing of a tardigrade wearing a cape. Text reads: Superpower: Surviving harsh conditions. Did you know? Tardigrades are teeny-tiny creatures that can survive very hot, cold, or dry conditions. Scientists study them to learn new ways for materials, like blood cells, to “survive” in an unnatural condition, like a blood bank.
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Very few things can be described as both cute and indestructible, but tardigrades can! They’re research organisms studied for their translucent bodies and ability to survive a wide range of harsh conditions. This post provides more in-depth information about tardigrades, including where they’re found and why they’re used as research organisms.

ACTIVITY

Print copies of the free coloring page beforehand. Have students read the blog post, either individually or as a class. Then watch this video about tardigrades living in the Canyonlands potholes while students color the coloring page. Once the students have seen the video and pictures of the tardigrades, vote as a class to determine which nickname they should have—water bear or moss piglet—and why, based on what the students have learned about them.

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Research Organism Superheroes: Hawaiian Bobtail Squid

A cartoon drawing of a bobtail squid in the ocean. Text reads: Superpower: Becoming invisible. Did you know? Bobtail squid hide from their enemies using an “invisibility cloak” formed by bacteria. Bacteria live on and in our bodies, too! But some bacteria can make people sick. Scientists study bobtail squid to better understand how bacteria can help and hurt us.
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The Hawaiian bobtail squid may be small, but it has a mighty invisibility cloak thanks to a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri. It can adjust the light emitted from the bacteria to match the moonlight shining through the ocean water so that it doesn’t cast a shadow! Researchers study this dynamic duo to better understand how bacteria can form beneficial relationships with hosts as well as cause disease.

ACTIVITY

Print copies of the free coloring page beforehand. Have students read the blog post, either individually or as a class. Then, as the students color the coloring page, play these videos about bioluminescence from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). First show this short, animated video, and then this 4-minute video narrated by deep-sea explorer Dr. Edie Widder. Ask the students to list some of the reasons marine life has so many more examples of bioluminescent organisms than are found on land. Dr. Widder says that the deep sea is an unexplored frontier on Earth. Ask students to discuss some of the benefits of exploring this frontier and learning from the organisms here on Earth. She also says she can’t imagine finding anything as cool on Mars as we have here in the deep sea with these bioluminescent organisms. Ask your students if learning about bioluminescence makes them agree with her.

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Research Organism Superheroes: Hydras

A cartoon drawing of a hydra wearing a superhero cape and mask.
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Hydras are tubelike creatures found in fresh water. Researchers commonly use them as research organisms because of their long lifespans and ability to regrow lost limbs after injury. Understanding these superpowers may one day lead to a better understanding of aging and treatments for lost limbs in humans.

ACTIVITY

Print copies of the free hydra coloring page and have students color the image and read the blog post. Then, as a class, play the Regeneration Kahoot! quiz. This quiz is based on the information found in Pathways: The Regeneration Issue, so if you want more on the topic, check out all the teaching resources there!

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Pharmacology

What Is Pharmacology?

A collage of different cartoon images showing scientists working across a spectrum of basic science, chemistry, biology, research, genetics, and medicine, illustrated by images of an EKG readout, test tubes and a pipette, a syringe and medicine bottle, a chemical structure, a microscope, a pill bottle and pill, a data chart, a hospital, a DNA strand, and a human silhouette.
ABOUT THE POST

The first post in our pharmacology miniseries gives an overview of the research-based science situated at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and medicine. Pharmacologists explore how molecules and bodies interact, and their research can have major impacts to how we understand human health and how clinicians treat patients.

ACTIVITY

Before having students read the post, ask them what they know about the areas of chemistry, biology, and medicine. Then ask them to imagine a scientist who would use all three of those areas in their work. Did they come up with someone who makes and designs medicines? Pharmacologists study how bodies and molecules interact. Some develop new medicines to target specific health issues, some use molecules as tools to study the body, and some work directly with patients and their doctors to optimize their treatment. Once the students read the post, discuss as a class the different roles of pharmacologists. Encourage students who find this career interesting to explore it more and see what’s required to become a pharmacologist (college degree, then a Ph.D.).

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What Happens to Medicine in Your Body?

Cutaway diagram of the human body (head, arms, and torso) showing the blood (arteries in red and veins in blue) and internal organs. Drug delivery is shown by intravenous drip with blue arrow into the arm, tablet with black arrow into the mouth, and inhaler with twin blue arrows through the mouth into both lungs. Life of drug in the body is shown by black arrows from mouth to stomach, from stomach to liver, from liver to heart, from blood to kidney, and from liver to intestines.
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The second post in our pharmacology miniseries introduces pharmacokinetics, the study of how the body acts on a medicine. The post follows a medicine entering the body, finding its therapeutic target, and eventually leaving the body to answer the common question, “What happens to medicine in your body?”

ACTIVITY
Before students read the post, ask them what they think happens to a medicine in their bodies. Did they think about how it gets into the body, travels to the target to be effective, AND gets out of the body? All of those steps are important parts of being an effective and safe medicine. After the students have read the post, discuss each of the pieces of ADME. Sometimes pharmacists will put a label on a medicine bottle warning not to take it with certain foods. Pharmacologists have determined that those foods can alter how the body responds to certain medicines. Discuss how ADME properties would be affected in the following hypothetical situations (with the reminder that not all medicines have these interactions and all bodies process medicines slightly differently, so reading and following specific instructions are very important!):
  • Calcium from dairy in the stomach binds the medicine: The body is unable to absorb the full dose, so less active medicine gets into the blood and distributed to the therapeutic target.
  • Leafy greens like spinach and kale are high in vitamin K, which can be a problem when consumed with medicines intended to lower vitamin K levels: The medication dose is based on the normal amount of vitamin K in the patient’s body, so adding more through the diet can lead to too much of the vitamin that doctors are trying to lower with medicine.
  • Grapefruit juice blocks the enzyme that metabolizes the drug: Pharmacologists establish dosing with the amount that will be metabolized in mind, so if the enzyme isn’t functioning normally (due to genetics or something blocking or using it), then more of the medicine than anticipated will be available because the enzyme isn’t breaking it down at the normal rate.
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How Do Medicines Work?

A person in a white lab coat and blue gloves touching a screen with a holographic human body and data readouts.
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The third post in our pharmacology miniseries introduces pharmacodynamics, the study of how medicines act in the body. Most medicines bind to molecular targets, which results in their therapeutic effects. In this post, we explore how medicines act at different targets or directly upon the immune system and how pharmacologists help determine dosages that maximize a medicine’s effectiveness while minimizing side effects.

ACTIVITY

Once the students read the post, have them freewrite or discuss as a class why it’s important to follow instructions listed on medicine bottles as well as the information from their doctors and pharmacists. They should identify that pharmacologists have carefully determined the instructions and guidelines so that they get the benefits the medicine may provide while minimizing negative effects.

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Quiz: Do You Know Pharmacology Facts?

Various pills spilling out of an orange bottle onto a blue background. A quiz question reads: What is pharmacology? Three blank answer options are below.
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The final post in our pharmacology miniseries discusses some areas of pharmacology that NIGMS-funded researchers study and puts your knowledge to the test with a quiz.

ACTIVITY

After students have read the first three posts in the miniseries, have them test their knowledge with this interactive quiz. They can see and share their results by selecting the “finish” button at the bottom of the quiz.

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Becoming a Biomedical Scientist

How Can I Become a Biomedical Scientist?

A long hallway lined on each side with a tabletop and many drawers and shelves.
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Are any of your students particularly enamored with science? This post, the first in our new miniseries on becoming a scientist, lays out the different levels of education and training that scientists may have, from an undergrad degree to a Ph.D. and even postdoctoral work.

ACTIVITY

Citizen science projects use the hands, eyes, and minds of the public to help conduct scientific research. They’re great opportunities to get young students excited about and involved in science. Review the available citizen science opportunities listed on the NASA and General Service Administration websites, and choose one to lead students through during an after-school club or on a field trip. Alternatively, review the project as a class and have students complete the activity at home with their families. Most projects only require a computer or a smartphone application. Review your findings as a group.

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What Careers Can Biomedical Scientists Have?

A person standing in the forest wearing a hard hat and outdoor gear and writing on a clipboard.
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There are many job options for students who love science and want to immerse themselves in it. This post highlights some of those options, such as being a biomedical science writer or a researcher at a university or private company.

ACTIVITY

Encourage your students’ curiosity about careers in science with our online interactive, Step Into An Imaging Lab. In this simulation of a science lab internship, students can choose the microscopy techniques they want to explore as they study cells and proteins. You can also check out our basic science careers posts for more on becoming a scientist.

High school students may also be interested in exploring the From College to Jobs: Pathways in STEM interactive infographic, which displays data describing where STEM college graduates work, what college majors they had, and how much they earn. Use the From College to Jobs: Pathways in STEM Warm-Up Activity to lead a group discussion, or guide the class through the Where to Next: Exploring STEM Careers Kahoot!

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Advice to Future Scientists

Headshots of Drs. Eda Koculi, Abraham Badu-Tawiah, Morgan DeSantis, Xuecai Ge, and Elias Picazo. Text reads: Advice to Future Scientists, NIGMS Biomedical Beat Blog.
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For the final post in our miniseries on becoming a scientist, we’re revisiting some advice NIGMS-funded researchers have for students who are interested in a science career path. Check out the full Q&As with these researchers if you missed them.

ACTIVITY

After students read the post, as a class, discuss some of the advice featured in it. Did they learn anything new? Did any advice spark an action they could take as they start their journeys in science? Encourage them to leave any thoughts or questions that they have about becoming a scientist in the comments of the blog post. We may respond or even add their question to an upcoming interview with another scientist!

For more, break the students into groups and assign each group one of the five linked interview posts to read. In those posts, they learn about the backgrounds and education paths of these five scientists, which may help them to envision themselves becoming scientists. Alternatively, ask each group to read a short biography about a different scientist through the Scientist Spotlights Initiative. Each scientist spotlight includes a downloadable student assignment with links to external resources and prompts for writing a reflection.

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The Brain and Anesthesia Issue

All About Anesthesia

A woman wearing a hospital gown and a hair net, lying on a hospital bed as a gloved hand places a face mask emitting general anesthesia over her nose and mouth.
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Anesthesia is a medical marvel that keeps patients from feeling pain. If you’ve ever had a surgery or even a minor procedure, you’ve probably benefited from it! In this post, we dive into the different types of anesthesia, its history, the way it works, and NIGMS-supported research on it.

ACTIVITY

Have students read the post and infographic to learn more about anesthesia and its history and how it keeps us from feeling pain. Then look at the list of NIGMS-funded anesthesia research at the end of the post and engage students in class discussion, asking them which they would study if they were an anesthesia researcher. For more advanced exploration, divide students into groups, assigning each an NIGMS-funded anesthesia research topic from the list. Have the groups discuss why their topic is important to the broader scope of physical/mental health and wellness. Then have each group share their thoughts with the rest of the class.

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Science Snippet: Get to Know Your Nerve Cells

An illustration of a neuron that shows a round cell body with dendrites branching away from it and a long axon.
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Did you know that some cells in our bodies use electricity to carry information? These nerve cells, or neurons, are fundamental for how we interact with our environment. In this post, we explore the role of nerve cells and describe NIGMS-supported research on them.

Nerve cells allow us to feel pain (among other things), and anesthetics, as described in Pathways, prevent us from feeling pain.

ACTIVITY

The post outlines how your brain detects and reacts to something dangerous (for example, a thorn). Divide the class into groups of five to seven students and have each group form a line from one side of the room to the other. The students at the head of the line will act as the brain of the group, the student at the back of the line will be the neuron that senses the trigger, and the ones in between will be the neurons that carry the message. Without telling the entire group, assign each sensing neuron an environmental factor that would trigger a reaction, like a hot stove, a missing rung on a ladder, an unexpected step on muddy ground, a sharp edge, etc. Have the sensing neurons “transmit” their message to the next neuron in line without speaking or touching. Each student (neuron) in line receives the message with their eyes (dendrites), interprets the message with their brain (cell body, nucleus), and then transmits it to the next student with their own body (axon). Once the message makes it to the front of the line, the student acting as the brain can say it out loud. The first group to successfully transmit their message to the brain wins.

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Biology Beyond the Lab: Using Computers to Study Life

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Computers and mathematical methods are increasingly important tools for studying biology. In this post, we share the stories of a medical doctor who aims to use these tools to predict sepsis and a computer scientist who applies them to understand cell development pathways.

Pathways discusses machine learning as a possible way to discover a definitive biomarker for pain. This post explains how scientists use computers to study biological processes.

ACTIVITY

Before students read the post, engage them in a quick freewrite about what they think machine learning means and how it’s used in science. After they’ve read the post, have them compare and discuss what they wrote with what they learned and now think of the topic.

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The Imaging Issue

Photo Quiz: Puzzles in Purple

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This quiz features eye-catching, purple-hued images paired with questions that test your knowledge of basic science concepts. The images were captured using some of the techniques described in Pathways.

ACTIVITY

Have students test their knowledge of cells and science concepts by taking the quiz. For a more in-depth activity, have students look up their selected answers in our glossary. For any incorrect answer, have them define that term and compare it to the correct term.

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Automating Cellular Image Analysis to Find Potential Medicines

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Anne Carpenter, Ph.D., has developed software for analyzing images of cells that can identify signs of diseases and potential medicines to treat them. Thousands of researchers, including many at pharmaceutical companies, have adopted her computer program. Dr. Carpenter never imagined this achievement when she started her journey in science as a biologist without any computer science training.

Both this post and Pathways describes tools used for imaging microscopic biological structures such as cells.

ACTIVITY

The blog post discusses how cells affected by disease sometimes have features that visibly differ from their healthy counterparts. Dr. Carpenter’s Cell Painting tool visualizes these differing features in cells that include the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, plasma membrane, Golgi, and part of the cytoskeleton. Have students search for photos of these structures in our image and video gallery and/or identify a disease that affects one of these structures.

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Fifty Years of the Protein Data Bank!

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Since 1971, the Protein Data Bank has served the scientific community as an open-access resource of 3D protein structures. To celebrate 50 years as a key resource in the community, we spotlight an educational board game that simulates the process of determining a protein’s structure. Knowing the structures of proteins and other biological molecules helps scientists understand their roles in human health and disease and leads to the discovery of new and more effective medications.

Researchers use many imaging techniques in determining protein (and other macromolecular) structures. Some of these techniques are described in Pathways, and others are introduced in this post.

ACTIVITY

After reading the post, divide students into small groups to play PDB50: The Game simulating how researchers identify macromolecular structures.

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Cool Video: A Biological Lava Lamp

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The glowing, twisting cells in this video look just like a bubbling lava lamp, but they actually show a step of egg cell development.

The video was taken using a confocal laser scanning microscopy (sometimes shortened to just “confocal microscopy”), one of the techniques mentioned in the Pathways timeline (1970s).

ACTIVITY

Have students research what confocal microscopy is. They can start with our glossary definition (also linked in the post). Then have them search our image and video gallery to find another cool image that was taken using this method (Search term “confocal”) and describe what they see in the image and why it’s important or being studied.

You can also do this exercise with any of our other Cool Images posts. Pick a type of microscopy, a color, or a component of a cell for your students to research and then search the image and video gallery.

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A Focus on Microscopes: See Eye-Catching Images

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Did you know that there are many kinds of microscopes? Each offers its own advantages to researchers studying the tiny components of life, but all of them can capture eye-catching images.

The images in this post were taken using some of the imaging techniques described in Pathways.

DISCUSSION

Using the captions in the slideshow pictures, discuss what cell parts or phenomena the images are showing and why scientists might be studying them.

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Through the Looking Glass: Microscopic Structures in Many Sizes

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Microscopic structures can vary greatly in size. The largest objects that we view through microscopes are about 10 million times larger than the smallest!

The relative sizes in the microscopic world described in Pathways can be difficult to conceptualize. This post describes an interactive tool to view these relative sizes.

ACTIVITY

Use the Cell Size and Scale interactive supported by our Science Education Partnership Award program to illustrate how cells, viruses, proteins, and more measure up. One of the largest objects on the scale is a grain of rice. Start the lesson by giving each student a grain of rice to hold as they think about how small each object on the scale really is. Give the students a list of some of the items shown on the scale and ask them to place them in order from largest to smallest. Then, either as a group or individually, have them slide the scale from the largest items to the smallest atom to see how well they did.

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Superbugs

What Is Antibiotic Resistance?

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Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem where bacteria develop the ability to fend off the antibiotics we use to fight them. Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are difficult to treat and can be deadly. This post explains how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics and what you can do to help prevent that from happening—topics that Pathways also explores.

ACTIVITY
After students read the blog post, ask them what actions they can take to prevent antibiotic resistance (there are four bullet points at the end of the post). One step from this list is to take the entire course of antibiotics as prescribed and then properly dispose of any left over. Break the students into small groups and have them brainstorm two to three impacts that improper disposal of antibiotics (or any medication) could have on the environment. Then as a class, look at the U.S. Geological Survey’s site and graphic about pharmaceuticals in
water. Are there any impacts that your group didn’t come up with? Or any that aren’t included on this graphic? Lastly, show students how to look up safe disposal locations in your area.
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Antibiotic Resistance and Researchers Studying It

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Test your knowledge of bacterial infections with this quiz, using examples from some of the scientists we’ve featured on the blog who explore new ways to fight antibiotic resistance. This post and Pathways discuss antibiotic resistance.

ACTIVITY
Read the introduction of the post together as a class. Divide the students into groups of four, and have each student read a different post from the list at the bottom of the quiz. Then have the groups answer the quiz questions together. As a class, discuss how the groups worked together to answer the quiz questions. You can also talk about the researchers’ backgrounds and how they became scientists with questions like:
  • How did they know they wanted to be a scientist?
  • What made them choose the field of research that they’re in now?
  • Can you see yourself having a career like this scientist?
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Science Snippet: Brush Up on Biofilms

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Microbes often form organized communities called biofilms. Some are useful to people, but others cause disease. Many NIGMS-supported researchers study biofilms and are developing ways to combat those that can threaten your health.

Pathways describes antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and this post describes biofilms, which are also antibiotic resistant.

DISCUSSION

Biofilms can form through quorum sensing. This is a complex form of communication where individual bacteria produce chemical signals in response to the population density around them. Other bacteria can sense these signaling molecules to determine information about their environment and regulate their responses.

After reading the post, discuss quorum sensing with your students through the example of a TikTok (or other social media) trend. An individual user creates content, just as an individual bacterium produces a signaling molecule. Other users see that post and make their own similar content, creating a trend. This is similar to what happens when other bacteria sense the signaling chemicals and put out their own in response. Social media trends don’t last long before the next thing hits, and similarly, a bacterium must continue to produce chemicals to communicate with other bacteria in the quorum. You can also watch this YouTube video on quorum sensing.

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Cool Images: Bewitching Bacteria

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The effects of bacteria on our bodies range from helpful to life threatening. But regardless of their relationship to us, many species of bacteria can be surprisingly stunning.

This post shows pictures of bacteria, and Pathways is all about bacteria and superbugs.

ACTIVITY

Have each student (or group of students) choose one of the four bacteria shown in the post to research. (To make this activity more difficult, have them search our image and video gallery for types of bacteria not found in this post.) Have them write 2-3 sentences about the bacterium, including what type of bacteria it is, where it’s commonly found, what diseases it can cause, which of those diseases can be treated with medicine, and what versions of drug-resistant superbugs are known or common.

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Exploring Nature’s Treasure Trove of Helpful Compounds

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Compounds that plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals produce can sometimes help people as well. In fact, many medicines, molecules used in research, and other useful compounds originated in nature.

Natural products are a source for new antibiotics that may help us fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria and superbugs.

ACTIVITY

Ask the students if they can think of a natural product. Caffeine is probably the natural product they’re most familiar with, but many life-saving medicines are also natural products. Caffeine is naturally found in tea leaves and coffee beans. When you brew a cup of tea or coffee, you've actually extracted caffeine and lots of other natural products out of the plant material (tea leaves or coffee beans). When researchers want to study a natural product, they start by extracting lots of chemicals out of the plant—like your cup of tea—and then take that tea and further purify it to isolate just the chemical(s) they’re looking for. This post discusses some of the difficulties that natural product researchers face and how they’re working to overcome them.

Pair and Share: Read the introduction paragraph as a class, then divide students into four groups to each read one of the sections in the article (Seaweed Empowers Neuroscience Research, Discovering New Antibiotics, Replacing Plastic, and Advancing Natural Products Research with Better Libraries of Microbes). Have the groups discuss the section and come up with one sentence that summarizes the research. Then come back together so that a representative from each group can share their summaries.

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The Circadian Rhythms Issue

Why Am I So Tired?

Alarm clock on a model brain. In the background, gold stars on dark blue for nighttime (L), and white clouds on light blue for daytime (R).
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Circadian rhythms are your internal timekeepers—they control daily activities such as when you go to sleep and wake up. When they fall out of sync with your environment, you may feel groggy and have trouble focusing.

ACTIVITY

Have students read the blog post about what can disrupt sleep on Earth and watch the video of Expedition 55/56 flight engineer Ricky Arnold discussing the crew sleeping quarters, the importance of sleep, and ways in which the crew adapts for circadian rhythms aboard the space station. Then use the surveys and worksheets from NASA’s STEMonstrations: Sleep Science to get your students thinking about their own sleep and what might be disrupting their circadian rhythms.

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Quiz: What Can Research Organisms Reveal About Health?

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Research organisms such as fruit flies and mice help scientists better understand basic biological processes and develop treatments for human diseases. This interactive quiz tests your knowledge of these important creatures.

Much of what we know about circadian rhythms in humans was first discovered in research organisms.

ACTIVITY

Have students test their knowledge of research organisms with this quiz. They can learn more about uncommon research organisms by reading the post, Amazing Organisms and the Lessons They Can Teach Us.

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Scientist Interview: Investigating Circadian Rhythms with Michael W. Young

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When circadian rhythms are disrupted—for instance, by the beginning or ending of daylight saving time that occurs each March and November—we often feel “off” until our bodies adjust. But for some people, this adjustment never happens. Nobel laureate Michael W. Young, Ph.D., describes his current research on circadian rhythms and delayed sleep phase disorder in a short video interview.

The scientist interviewed in this post, Dr. Michael W. Young, was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for his research on circadian rhythms.

ACTIVITY

Watch the video interview as a class. Dr. Young discusses a mutation that can lead to delayed sleep phase disorder. Ask the class what a mutation is (a change in a DNA sequence) and how it might cause a sleep disorder (our DNA is the code that tells our bodies how to function). Use this image to explore how a small change in DNA can result in a physiological change in our bodies. Compare nucleotides to letters, mRNA to those letters typed out, amino acids to words, and the protein to a full sentence. If you choose the wrong letter in a single word, the final sentence probably won’t make sense. Similarly, if one of DNA’s nucleotides is changed, the mRNA, amino acids, and protein will end up changed. (But thankfully, we have spell-check—and in a way, so do our cells! DNA polymerases have a proofreading function to prevent major DNA mutations from occurring.)

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The Regeneration Issue

A Tale of Tails: How Reptile Regeneration Could Help Humans

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Thomas Lozito, Ph.D., has been fascinated by lizards since he was about 4 years old. He now researches how they regrow their tails in hopes of unlocking secrets that could ultimately improve human healing. Within the next 10 years, Dr. Lozito aims to take his research a step closer to humans by enabling a mouse to regenerate its tail.

Both this post and Pathways feature Dr. Lozito and his research on regeneration.

ACTIVITY

Have students read the blog post. It discusses how Dr. Lozito has worked with other scientists to test potential medicines. Explain to students that science is a “team sport” where many people work together within and across labs. Ask students how they think scientists who have different skills or study different topics could help one another. You may want to refer to the descriptions of scientific roles in the “Help Wanted” section of Pathways.

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Quiz Yourself to Grow What You Know About Regeneration

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Do you know which tissues and organs the human body can regenerate? How about which animals can regrow entire limbs? Our quiz will test your knowledge of regeneration and regenerative medicine.

This post quizzes how much you know about regeneration, the topic of Pathways.

ACTIVITY

After reading Pathways, have students test their knowledge (and probably learn a few more new facts) with this interactive quiz.

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Interview With a Scientist: Unlocking the Secrets of Animal Regeneration With Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado

Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, wearing eyeglasses and a black sweater, and smiling.
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Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., is making exciting discoveries in the field of regenerative medicine. For the last 2 decades, NIGMS has supported the work of his laboratory in studying flatworms to uncover the genetic and developmental basis of regeneration. In a short video interview, Sánchez Alvarado describes his research findings and how they might impact our health.

Both this post and Pathways feature Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., and his work in regenerative medicine.

DISCUSSION

Watch the video interview as a class. Then have students choose a research organism—it could be the planarian that Dr. Sánchez Alvarado uses in his work, one of the organisms from our coloring pages, or another they’re interested in. Instruct them to research and write a paragraph on the organism they choose. They should include information on what the organism is, how it’s useful in studying disease, what (if any) discoveries have been made studying it that have shaped human health, and what benefits and limits it has over other research organisms. (These questions are taken from the headers of the fact sheet, so students can use it as a model for their own writing.)

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Basic Science Careers

How Research Works: Understanding the Process of Science

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Have you ever wondered how scientific discoveries are made? Scientists follow the scientific method when they ask questions about the world around them. They perform experiments, analyze their results, and draw conclusions based on the results.

Pathways introduces the important role that scientists play in understanding the world around us, and all scientists use the scientific method as they make discoveries—which is explained in this post.

ACTIVITY

After students have read the article, ask them if they think the item you’ve chosen for this activity will dissolve faster in cold or hot water. (Colorful hard candies work great, but if you don’t have any, salt or sugar also works.) Have students think about the steps of the scientific method outlined in the post to decide how they’d answer the question. Instruct them to write down their hypothesis, the techniques they’ll need to find the answer, and the evidence they’ll collect in the process. Then, as a class, apply the process with a demonstration to determine an answer. (You’ll need two cups, preferably clear, one with cold and the other with hot water. Add equal amounts of the hard candy, salt, or sugar and watch to see which dissolves first.) Ask the students if their hypotheses were correct and if this demonstration sparked any other questions that they can test using the scientific method.

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Any of Our Posts on Being a Scientist!

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We regularly interview scientists to hear about their research and what led them to where they are in their careers. Check out our Q&As with:

We also have posts highlighting some of the researchers featured in Pathways, including Computational biologist Melissa Wilson and Geneticist Michael Young.

Pathways discusses the importance of basic science, and these posts highlight researchers who study different fields of basic science.

DISCUSSION

Have students read one of the Being a Scientist posts. Then, in a class discussion, ask questions specific to that post, such as: Did this person always want to become a scientist, or when they were your age, did they think they’d grow up to do something else? What training and education does this scientist have? What’s interesting about their career path? What’s interesting about their science? What tools or techniques does the scientist use in their research? How is the basic science that they do related to human health?

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Select a topic from the dropdown above to view blog posts that directly or indirectly connect to the STEM topics along with activity suggestions for how to use the posts as educational supplements.

Other Resources for Your Classroom

If you’re looking for other educational supplements, check out the short scientific posts in these series:

In Other Words.

Posts comparing a word that means one thing in everyday language and another in science

Quizzes.

Posts in quiz format on various scientific topics

Science Snippets.

Short posts exploring basic science topics

Find more educational content and curriculum supplements on our NIH-wide K-12 STEM resources website.

We’d love to hear how you’re using these resources or if there’s one you suggest that we add. Feel free to leave these comments below!

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