Do you have a favorite hands-on biology activity or experiment that you created, or that you adapted from a resource such as Howtosmile.org? You can enter it in the NIH K-12 LAB Challenge sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
NIH invites educators, students, scientists and anyone interested to submit entries to a new, national collection of activities about biology, biomedicine and bioengineering. Entries should underscore the scientific process of making a hypothesis, testing, and drawing conclusions. When contributing an activity or experiment adapted from an existing resource, the initial source must be noted.
Want to start now exploring experiments and activities about human health, biology and medicine? There are all kinds of activities in the Howtosmile.org collection, such as:
- Gross Growth, where learners grow germs from their hands and other objects to understand how doctors culture different germs to study them and diagnose sick people.
- Slowing the Flow, where learners experience how cold water affects circulation.
- DNA Extraction from Cheek Cells, where learners try a simplified version of the method researchers use to isolate DNA.
- Bone Basics, where learners explore the collagen and minerals that make bones flexible and strong, and consider how nanotechnology scientists are working to produce artificial bone components.
The NIH Lab Challenge is part of federal efforts to get the public involved in addressing the nation’s challenges. The mission of the National Institutes of Health is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.