HS-LS2-3
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
- Agriculture
Organic food starts to prove its worth
Organic food often comes with a higher price. But research is showing that food grown this way can be better for the environment — and possibly for us.
- Plants
Using plants to solve environmental problems
Problems in their communities suggested good research projects to three teens. Each wanted to tackle a different issue, from pollution to world hunger. To learn more about these issues, they turned to their local ponds, wetlands and gardens.
- Microbes
Life’s ultra-slow lane is deep beneath the sea
Biologists had suspected the deep seafloor would be little more than barren sediment. But they found a surprising amount of oxygen — and life.
- Microbes
Recycling the dead
When things die, nature breaks them down through a process we know as rot. Without it, none of us would be here. Now, scientists are trying to better understand it so that they can use rot — preserving its role in feeding all living things.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is Ebola?
A virus is behind the hemorrhage-inducing infection called Ebola. It causes fevers and often intense bleeding — seemingly from anywhere and everywhere.
- Animals
Surprise! Fossils in a flash
By studying how dead tissues decay — or turn to ‘instant’ fossils — scientists are gleaning helpful clues to what ancient life looked like.
- Animals
Explainer: People can sicken animals
Wildlife can sometimes become infected with germs shed by people.
- Microbes
Life in the bacterial underground
Tiny life forms in rock may coax minerals to release hydrogen for food.
- Animals
A fallout feast for crabs
Crabs can take advantage of hot, toxic plumes from undersea vents to feed on poisoned plankton.
- Climate
A change in climate
Global warming may be wiping out some plants and animals or pushing them into new habitats.
- Earth
Deep drilling at sea
Drilling holes deep into the seafloor unveils the ocean's past and hints at Earth's future.
