MITC Activities

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS3: Monarchs in the Balance Dilemma Cards
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS2: Planting a School Butterfly Garden
CS3: Monarchs in the Balance Dilemma Cards
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS2: Planting a School Butterfly Garden
CS3: Monarchs in the Balance Dilemma Cards
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

1. demonstrate safe practices during field and laboratory investigations; and
2. make wise choices in the use and conservation of resources and the disposal or recycling of materials.

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS2: Planting a School Butterfly Garden
CS3: Monarchs in the Balance Dilemma Cards
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

1. plan and implement investigative procedures including asking questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting equipment and technology;
2. collect data and make measurements with precision;
3. organize, analyze, evaluate, make inferences, and predict trends from data; and
4. communicate valid conclusions.

EX1: Coming Up With A Question
EX2: Hypothesis Generation
EX3: Designing an Experiment
EX4: Practicing Experimental Design
EX5: Analyzing and Presenting Data
EX6: Writing Conclusions with the RERUN Method
EX7: Presenting Results of Experiments

1. analyze, review, and critique scientific explanations, including hypotheses and theories, as to their strengths and weaknesses using scientific evidence and information;
2. evaluate promotional claims that relate to biological issues such as product labeling and advertisements;
3. evaluate the impact of research on scientific thought, society, and the environment;
4. describe the connection between biology and future careers;
5. evaluate models according to their adequacy in representing biological objects or events; and
6. research and describe the history of biology and contributions of scientists.

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS2: Planting a School Butterfly Garden
CS3: Monarchs in the Balance Dilemma Cards
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

1. identify the parts of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells;
2. investigate and identify cellular processes including homeostasis, permeability, energy production, transportation of molecules, disposal of wastes, function of cellular parts, and synthesis of new molecules;
3. compare the structures and functions of viruses to cells and describe the role of viruses in causing diseases and conditions such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome, common colds, smallpox, influenza, and warts; and
4. identify and describe the role of bacteria in maintaining health such as in digestion and in causing diseases such as in streptococcus infections and diphtheria.

1. compare cells from different parts of plants and animals including roots, stems, leaves, epithelia, muscles, and bones to show specialization of structure and functions;
2. identify cell differentiation in the development of organisms; and
3. sequence the levels of organization to relate the parts to each other and to the whole.

MG11: Milkweed Monitoring

1. describe components of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and illustrate how information for specifying the traits of an organism is carried in the DNA;
2. explain replication, transcription, and translation using models of DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA);
3. identify and illustrate how changes in DNA cause mutations and evaluate the significance of these changes;
4. compare genetic variations observed in plants and animals;
5. compare the processes of mitosis and meiosis and their significance to sexual and asexual reproduction; and
6. identify and analyze karyotypes.

1. identify evidence of change in species using fossils, DNA sequences, anatomical similarities, physiological similarities, and embryology; and
2. illustrate the results of natural selection in speciation, diversity, phylogeny, adaptation, behavior, and extinction.

EC8: How Living Things Protect Themselves
EC9: Plant Defenses
EC10: Camouflage 1
EC11: Camouflage 2
EC12: Warning Coloration
EC13: Flash, or Startle, Coloration
EC14: Mimicry
EC15: Monarch Protection

1. collect and classify organisms at several taxonomic levels such as species, phylum, and kingdom using dichotomous keys;
2. analyze relationships among organisms and develop a model of a hierarchical classification system based on similarities and differences using taxonomic nomenclature; and
3. identify characteristics of kingdoms including monerans, protists, fungi, plants, and animals.

1. compare the structures and functions of different types of biomolecules such as carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids;
2. compare the energy flow in photosynthesis to the energy flow in cellular respiration;
3. investigate and identify the effects of enzymes on food molecules; and
4. analyze the flow of matter and energy through different trophic levels and between organisms and the physical environment.

1. interpret the functions of systems in organisms including circulatory, digestive, nervous, endocrine, reproductive, integumentary, skeletal, respiratory, muscular, excretory, and immune;
2. compare the interrelationships of organ systems to each other and to the body as a whole; and
3. analyze and identify characteristics of plant systems and subsystems.

1. identify and describe the relationships between internal feedback mechanisms in the maintenance of homeostasis;
2. investigate and identify how organisms, including humans, respond to external stimuli;
3. analyze the importance of nutrition, environmental conditions, and physical exercise on health; and
4. summarize the role of microorganisms in maintaining and disrupting equilibrium including diseases in plants and animals and decay in an ecosystem.

EX1: Coming Up With A Question
EX2: Hypothesis Generation
EX3: Designing an Experiment
EX4: Practicing Experimental Design
EX5: Analyzing and Presenting Data
EX6: Writing Conclusions with the RERUN Method
EX7: Presenting Results of Experiments

1. analyze the flow of energy through various cycles including carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water cycles;
2. interpret interactions among organisms exhibiting predation, parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism;
3. compare variations, tolerances, and adaptations of plants and animals in different biomes;
4. identify and illustrate that long-term survival of species is dependent on a resource base that may be limited; and
5. investigate and explain the interactions in an ecosystem including food chains, food webs, and food pyramids.

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS2: Planting a School Butterfly Garden
CS3: Monarchs in the Balance Dilemma Cards
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving

1. evaluate the significance of structural and physiological adaptations of plants to their environments; and
2. survey and identify methods of reproduction, growth, and development of various types of plants.

CS1: Is Our Community a Good Home for Monarchs?
CS2: Planting a School Butterfly Garden
CS4: Writing and Problem Solving