Amy Brown’s Biology Lessons

FREE! High School Biology Lessons.

While the lessons are directed for High School age, they might have information that you can use for your multi-aged groups or those kids that always want to be challenged.

If you are not familiar with Amy’s quality work, check out her free lessons. She has a list of these free lessons on her blogsite along with other helpful information. See, Amy Brown’s Biology Lessons at Science Stuff by Amy.

Following is a List and Description of Amy’s Thirteen Free Lesson. Each Free Lesson is linked to the page where you can download the material.

1. Use of Lab Equipment and Data Analysis Skills

Search words: lab, science lab, lab equipment, thermometer, graduated cylinder, Bunsen burner, balance, meter stick, graphing, line graph, bar graph, lab safety.

 This lab covers the proper use of basic pieces of lab equipment and the data analysis skills of tabling and graphing.

 This lab can be used with any type of science class that does lab work and with students in grades 6 through 12. I have found that my students come to me at the start of the school year with very different skill levels. I use this lab to insure that all students are quickly familiarized with my lab and learn (or review) how to use basic pieces of lab equipment. This lab teaches the use of 5 basic pieces of lab equipment: a graduated cylinder, a Bunsen burner, a meter stick, a thermometer, and a quadruple beam balance. Students will work with this equipment and answer basic questions.

 Also included is basic data analysis skills. Students will construct a data table, a line graph, a bar graph, and a circle graph.

2. Catalase An Enzyme Common to Both Plants and Animals

Search words: Enzyme, catalyst, substrate, hydrogen peroxide, peroxisome, lab lesson plan.

Catalase is an enzyme that is commonly found in plant and animal tissues. The function of the enzyme catalase is to break down the chemical hydrogen peroxide inside living cells. Because it is toxic, or poisonous, hydrogen peroxide would soon kill the cell if it were not removed or broken down immediately. Manganese dioxide is an inorganic catalyst. Catalysts are similar to enzymes in that they speed up chemical reactions, but they are not specific for just one reaction.

In this lab, students will observe the function of enzymes and will learn many facts about enzymes. They will observe the role of catalase inside living cells and will compare the enzyme catalase to the catalyst manganese dioxide.

3. Chemistry Lab Heat Of Crystallization

Introduction: Crystallization (solidification) is the exact opposite of the process of fusion (melting). When a substance undergoes a phase change, heat is either released or absorbed by the substance. Crystallization involves a phase change from liquid to solid; heat is released by the substance as it solidifies. Crystallization, then, is an exothermic process. When the process of crystallization takes place in a calorimeter, the heat released by the substance that is solidifying is absorbed by the water in the calorimeter. As a result, the temperature of the water increases. The temperature change can be used to determine the heat of crystallization of the substance undergoing the phase change.

Purpose: The student will determine the heat of crystallization of a wax sample.

4. Chart of Amino Acids: Names and Abbreviations and Condons

Here is a handy reference table that lists the 20 amino acids, the codons that call for the amino acid and the three letter designation for each amino acid.

The genetic information necessary for building proteins is encoded in series of three mRNA nucleotides. Each combination of three mRNA nucleotides is called a codon. Each codon codes for a specific amino acid.

This chart lists the 64 codons and the amino acids they code for. Also included is the three letter designation for each amino acid.

5. Using a Graph to Find Area

Purpose: In this activity, you will be using a sample of ordinary poster board with uniform thickness to study area. Since the thickness is constant, you can measure the mass and area of rectangular poster board samples and graph the data to find a relationship between mass and area (mass/area). Using the graph, you will then be able to find the unknown area of an irregularly shaped sample of poster board. This is an activity that can be used to teach basic graphing skills as well as the use of basic pieces of lab equipment – the ruler and the balance.

6. Biology Lab Simple DNA deoxyribonucleic acid Extraction

This is one of my favorite labs/activities that I do with my Biology I students. It doesn’t take long to do, it uses very simple, household materials, and it works every time! There is no number crunching or data analysis, but just a fun activity that your students will really enjoy.

You will use ordinary Dawn dish washing detergent and alcohol to extract the DNA from the cells of wheat germ. The download will include a lab handout that is ready to be copied and passed out to your students. Includes: Title, Introduction, Purpose, Safety Precautions, Procedure, and Follow Up Questions.

I have also included a “Teacher Preparation” page with answers to the questions and some additional set up information.

I use this with my high school Biology students, but this activity can easily be done with middle school students.

7. Stoichiometry: Mole Practice Worksheet

This short worksheet consists of only 5 problems. Students will practice converting between moles / grams / molecules. Your download will consist of a worksheet that is ready to be photocopied and passed out to your students. This is a great worksheet for additional classroom practice, for homework, or for a short quiz.

This worksheet is also available in a bundled product containing 5 different worksheets:

8. Crossword Puzzle on Flatworms and Roundworms

This crossword puzzle has 41 terms that are commonly used in a unit on flatworms and roundworms, the phyla Platyhelminthes and Nematoda. My students love to review in this way. It helps to reinforce concepts and vocabulary used when teaching this material. I particularly love that it helps students practice their spelling!

I hope that this FREE item will be beneficial to you and your students. Amy Brown

9. Advanced Placement AP Biology Review PPT Organic Compounds

Advanced Placement (AP) Biology Review PowerPoint
Topic: Characteristics of Carbon and Organic Compounds
Keywords: Advanced placement biology, test prep, AP exam, AP biology exam.

This is not a teaching powerpoint. This powerpoint is suitable for Advanced Placement Biology classes that need a quick review over a particular topic. Several months before the AP Biology exam, I begin to run through these short powerpoints to start my students on the road to reviewing for the exam in May. Each powerpoint is a set of questions followed by the answer. As the exam approaches, I spend 10 to 15 minutes each class period running through the questions on these review powerpoints. Keeping previously taught material fresh in the mind of the student is key to scoring well on the AP exam.

This power point would not be suitable for teaching the material for the first time. This power point is simply a question followed by the answer. It covers what I consider to be the main points and ideas for each topic.

This particular power point contains 71 slides with 71 questions and answers. It covers the following topics:
1. Organic compounds: Definition, types, the role of carbon, carbon backbones
2. Characteristics of carbon
3. Functional groups
4. The building blocks of organic compounds: sugars, fatty acids, glycerol, amino acids, and nitrogen bases.
5. Polymer principles: macromolecules, polymers, monomers, dehydration reactions, hydrolysis reactions
6. Carbohydrates: general structure, type of sugars, structural and storage polysaccharides, starch, glycogen, cellulose, chitin.
7. Lipids: general structure , hydrophobic, hydrophilic, saturated and unsaturated, uses of lipids, phospholipids, waxes and cholesterol.
8. Proteins: general structure, amino acids, levels of protein organization, uses of proteins, denaturation of proteins.

The powerpoint is based on the 8th edition of Biology by Campbell and Reece.

10. Monohybrid Mice Monohybrid Genetics Problems

Search words: genetics, monohybrid cross, Punnett square, genotype, phenotype, genetics word problems, worksheet.

This is a two page worksheet that has 4 monohybrid problems. Each problem requires the student to fill in the Punnett square, fill in a table of genotypes and phenotypes and probabilities, and answer 7 to 8 questions about each problem.

This can be used as an introductory worksheet, as a homework assignment, or as a short quiz on monohybrid crosses.

All answers are included.
Your download will include both a PDF file and a Word document.

11. Scientific Method PowerPoint with Notes for Teacher and Student

This is a 26 slide PowerPoint presentation on the nature of science and the scientific method. The slides are colorful and visually appealing. Steps of the scientific method are covered, but more importantly, the lesson provides examples and practice problems illustrating the application of the scientific method. Analysis questions and answers are included.

The download will include 4 pages of notes for the teacher and a 5 page notes outline for the student. Students will fill in their outline as the power point is being presented. The notes are offered in an editable Word document as well as a pdf form.

12. Characteristics of Life Power Point

Here is a freebie for you. This is a PowerPoint on the characteristics of life. It is 11 slides that are bright, colorful, and contain some pretty cool pictures. Use this in grades 4 and higher as an introduction to any life science unit. It is a great first day of school attention grabber.

13. The Effect of Concentration on the Rate of Diffusion

PURPOSE: This experiment will explore the concentration gradient by measuring the rate of diffusion in a number of theoretical cells. The objectives for this lab are: (1) To define concentration gradient, (2) To explain experimental data concerning different concentration gradients, (3) To complete a data table and prepare a graph to illustrate the data, and (4) To apply information from this experiment to other related problems.

MATERIALS: 5 pieces of dialysis tubing, glucose solutions in concentrations of 20%, 40%, and 80%, Tap water, String, Balance, 5 beakers, Stopwatch

Each lab will include: Introduction, Statement of Purpose, Safety Precautions, Materials List, Lab Procedure, Data Tables, Student Data Pages, Follow up questions, and Teacher Preparation Notes.