MS-LS2-3

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

  1. Microbes

    Making a microbe subway map

    We are surrounded by bacteria, fungi and other tiny organisms. Now, high school scientists have contributed to the first map of microbes in the New York subway system.

    By
  2. 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.

    By
  3. Climate

    The worst drought in 1,000 years

    The 1934 drought, during a period in American history known as the Dust Bowl, was the worst in a millennium, a new study finds. While the drought had natural origins, human activities made it worse.

    By
  4. Earth

    How people have been shaping the Earth

    We are the dominant force of change on Earth. Some experts propose naming our current time period the ‘Anthropocene’ to reflect our impact.

    By
  5. Earth

    Coming: The sixth mass extinction?

    Species are dying off at such a rapid rate — faster than at any other time in human existence — that many resources on which we depend may disappear.

    By
  6. 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.

    By
  7. Environment

    Watering plants with wastewater can spread germs

    Recycled waste water may slake the thirst of outdoor plants. But it also can spread bacteria, a new study finds — germs that antibiotics may not be able to kill.

    By
  8. Health & Medicine

    Clay: A new way to fight germs?

    Geologists have discovered a type of volcanic clay that shows promise in fighting infections — maybe even ones resistant to antibiotic medicines.

    By
  9. Microbes

    The Bahamas’ African roots

    Ocean bacteria may have built the Bahama islands, fed by dust blown across the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert.

    By
  10. Animals

    Keep the lights on for National Moth Week

    Helping scientists is as easy as leaving your porch light on. Photograph the moths you see and upload them to the Internet for science.

    By
  11. Animals

    Teen shows salty lionfish are getting fresh

    Lauren Arrington kept spotting lionfish in rivers near her Florida home. Her science fair project probed how much fresh water these ocean fish could stand — and led to a published research paper.

    By
  12. Animals

    Cool Jobs: A whale of a time

    Studying blue whales, spinner dolphins and other cetaceans demands clever ways to unveil the out-of-sight behaviors of these marine denizens.

    By