We explore kitchen botany of sweet peppers, onions, and cilantro in gazpacho soup through the microscopy of cells and organelles. We explore the genetics of Honeycrisp apples, peas, and mustard. We look at photosynthesis in leaves, and model how sugar gets from leaves to fruit.

We also explore how NASA is investigating  Europa, a moon of Jupiter, for signs of life, and make our own Europa model of living organisms.

We learn how cellular respiration works to provide energy for life. We classify the common and unique characteristics of organisms in the six Kingdoms of life and their phyla: Archaea, bacteria, protists, fungi, plants and animals. We map the timeline of life according to fossil evidence. During these lessons we explore materials engineering by comparing the algae we use to make sushi nori, popping boba, petri dishes, and jet biofuel. 

We build our understanding of genes, starting with Francis Crick’s letter to his 12 year-old son about his team’s discovery of DNA’s structure. We perform a DNA fingerprinting lab to solve a kitten paternity question. We learn about genetically modified organisms such as the Rainbow Papaya. 

We construct a modern understanding of natural selection and explore its scientific limitations. We explain the distribution of diverse species of freshwater California pupfish by gathering data about their environment and genetic variation. We look at a series of whale fossils over time including Ambulocetus, the walking whale. We build a cladogram–family tree–using DNA sequences of mammals including whales. 

We build living bottle ecosystems. We develop our reasoning with cause-effect chains based on evidence. Our case study of the US army parachuting cats into Borneo helps us fix a problem in the cause-effect chain of a collapsing ecosystem. We plan a more resilient environment for our local park using the iNaturalist app to survey native and invasive species.

We dissect a frog, a halibut, and a tree to compare models of circulatory and respiratory systems. We measure the levers of our arm, neck, and heel to understand the efficiency of their design. We diagnose a disease as we learn about our immune system. We build “brain hats” to understand the different functions of parts of the brain, and explore how & why teen brains are different from little kids' and adults'.