The study of biomimicry and sustainable design promises great benefits in design applications, offering cost-effective, resourceful, non-polluting avenues for new enterprise. An important final caveat for students to understand is that once copied, species are not expendable. Biomimicry is intended to help people by identifying natural functions from which to pattern human-driven services. Biomimicry was never intended to replace species. Ecosystems remain in critical need of ongoing protection and biodiversity must be preserved for the overall health of the planet. This activity addresses the negative ramifications of species decline. For example, pollinators such as bees are a vital work force in agriculture. They perform an irreplaceable task in ensuring the harvest of most fruit and vegetable crops. In the face of the unexplained colony collapse disorder, we are only now beginning to understand how invaluable these insects are in keeping food costs down and even making the existence of these foods possible for humans.

Paul Andersen introduces the Punnett Square as a a powerful tool in genetic analysis. He tries to address major misconceptions that students have when use a Punnett Square. He gives a number of examples of monohybrid crosses and one example of a dihybrid cross.

Paul Andersen explains how the behavior of various organisms is shaped by natural selection. The action of phototropism and the timing of photoperiodism have both been shaped by the relative availability of light. Courtship in the bower bird determines the success of offspring.

Students toss coins to determine what traits a set of mouse parents possess, such as fur color, body size, heat tolerance, and running speed. Then they use coin tossing to determine the traits a mouse pup born to these parents possesses. Then they compare these physical features to features that would be most adaptive in several different environmental conditions. Finally, students consider what would happen to the mouse offspring if those environmental conditions were to change: which mice would be most likely to survive and produce the next generation?

Learn how total energy of a fluid helps explain why fluids can move from low pressure to high pressure! Rishi is a pediatric infectious disease physician and works at Khan Academy.

Hank tells us the story of the complicated chemical dance that allows our skeletal muscles to contract and relax.

The video resource "Big Guns: The Muscular System - CrashCourse Biology #31" is included in the "Biology" course from the resources series of "Crash Course". Crash Course is a educational video series from John and Hank Green.

The resource, "Bill Nye on Wind Video Link" included in "Lesson 1 How to Catch Some Wind" is a part of "Unit 06 Wind Energy" included in Energy & Sustainability ES - Course 1

Students act as if they are biological engineers following the steps of the engineering design process to design and create protein models to replace the defective proteins in a child’s body. Jumping off from a basic understanding of DNA and its transcription and translation processes, students learn about the many different proteins types and what happens if protein mutations occur. Then they focus on structural, transport and defense proteins during three challenges posed by the R&D; bio-engineering hypothetical scenario. Using common classroom supplies such as paper, tape and craft sticks, student pairs design, sketch, build, test and improve their own protein models to meet specific functional requirements: to strengthen bones (collagen), to capture oxygen molecules (hemoglobin) and to capture bacteria (antibody). By designing and testing physical models to accomplish certain functional requirements, students come to understand the relationship between protein structure and function. They graph and analyze the class data, then share and compare results across all teams to determine which models were the most successful. Includes a quiz, three worksheets and a reference sheet.

North Carolina is almost totally dependent on imported petroleum. To reduce this dependence, create economic opportunity in the state and to boost agriculture, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina is funded by the General Assembly to implement North Carolina’s state policy of creating a large, state-wide biofuels industry sector. The presentation will provide an overview of the key elements necessary in creating a sector capable of sustainably producing 600 million gallons of biofuels a year. It will also show the communications and social media tools available to North Carolinians who want participate in the state’s emerging biofuels community, as well as highlight the training that the North Carolina Community College System is providing for the growing field at Central Carolina Community College.

Topics that will be covered in this exciting BioForum event will include:

Organic grape growing philosophy
Managing what you can organically/naturally
Measuring plant pH and leaf/stem juice Brix
Dealing with diseases/pests organically
Weed management
The kinds of grapes to grow organically in Western North Carolina
Grapevine gender determination
The perfect organic grape to grow in Western North Carolina
Propagation techniques
Trellis systems for growing grapes in the mountains
Vineyard production/installation cost estimates

This series of lectures was originally presented on January 9, 2009 at the "Particle Fundamentals Forum" hosted at BTEC on NCSU's Centennial Campus and is now available for you to see ON-DEMAND! You will learn about particles, what they are, how they are detected, forces on particles, and the types of instruments used to quantify these contaminants. Professionals with real-world experience will discuss on the mechanics of detecting particulate, the benefits and considerations of various monitoring techniques, and will also offer insight on the future trends associated with contamination and contamination control.

This 50-minute presentation, hosted by NCCCS BioNetwork covers: * Laser airborne particle counter for non-viable contaminants * Centrifugal air sampler for viable contaminants * Contact strips for viable contaminants from surfaces and people * Automated slide stain instrument for gram staining to identify viable contaminants.

Brunswick Community College's (BCC) Center for Aquaculture and Biotechnology (CAB) has implemented a Biofuels from Algae project as a joint effort between the departments of Aquaculture and Biotechnology. This entailed the design and construction of an 1800 gallon photobioreactor system during phase 1 of the project. Phase II focused on the downstream processing of oil extraction. BCC's CAB has a patent pending status on this process, which is purely mechanical, easily scalable and relatively cheap to implement. The final phase of the project (pending funding) will optimize and refine the oil extraction process, which will give us the opportunity to file a full patent, license the patent to industry or develop a trade secret with an industry partner, which will quickly move the process to commercialization. If the final phase is funded we will also obtain data on the yield of oil production, yield to biodiesel conversion, chemical composition of the extracted oil and determine the best species for use in the process developed at BCC.

BioInteractives contains a variety of medical and biological information including virtual labs on genetics and other biology subjects.

Have you ever asked what “biobased” means or wondered about the key aspects in developing and commercializing biobased products? This course will answer those questions and more; highlighting the opportunities, hurdles, and driving forces of the bioeconomy.

Today’s industries face enormous global challenges when it comes to the fossil-based economy. Fossil resources are no longer a desirable feedstock for many products and governments’ climate goals put various limitations to its usage. Moreover, consumer perception has become an increasingly important factor. With biobased products as an alternative to the fossil-based economy, the bioeconomy can provide viable solutions to these challenges.

The course describes the different types of biomass, the methods of refinery and typical conversion technologies used for biobased products. You’ll also engage in a study of the practical and real-life examples emerging in the market: biopolymers, bioenergy, bioflavours, and biosurfactants.

The course has been developed by a team of experts from seven different institutions and universities in three different countries, all sharing their personal perspectives on the opportunities and challenges faced by the biobased industry. The three top-ranked institutions Delft University of Technology, RWTH Aachen University, and Wageningen University & Research offer additional, more advanced courses to continue your learning journey:

Industrial Biotechnology: a more advanced course that digs deeper into engineering aspects of bio-based products.
MicroMasters Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability: Help drive the transition from fossil sources to renewable energy ones and engineer a biobased future.
Sustainable Development: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Introduction to sustainable development and its relation to the Water-Energy-Food Nexus.

Paul Andersen explains the importance of biodiversity. He starts by describing how biodiversity can be species, genetic or ecosystem diversity. He explains the importance of keystone species in an environment and gives two examples; the jaguar and the sea otter. He finishes with a quote from the father of biodiversity, E.O. Wilson.

Paul Andersen introduces the concept of bioenergetics. He explains how living organisms utilize free energy in the Universe. He begins with a brief discussion of thermodynamics and Gibbs free energy. He then explains how reactions can be exergonic or endergonic. He also introduces the concepts of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Paul Andersen explains how biogeochemical cycling is used to move nutrients from the environment into living material and back again. He explains the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the phosphorus cycle. He also explains the CHNOPS mnemonic device. He also explains why organisms need carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur.

Paul Andersen describes the four major biological molecules found in living things. He begins with a brief discussion of polymerization. Dehydration synthesis is used to connect monomers into polymers and hydrolysis breaks them down again. The major characteristics of nucleic acids are described as well as there directionality from 3' to 5' end.