It’s Good to Be Smart!

This episode will help you answer the question, “How do we classify living things?” and it will introduce you to the seven-level classification system that biologists use to make sense of the wild diversity of different kinds of organisms we see on this planet!

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “What is the difference between bacteria and humans?” That might sound like a ridiculous question, but you might be surprised to see the things humans and simple, single-celled creatures have in common. (And, you're right...there are also some pretty humongous differences between them as well!) You'll also meet another interesting domain of life in this episode: Archaea!

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “How do we know biogenesis is true?” by exploring several important experiments from the history of science--some pretty clever ideas by some exceptional scientific minds!

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “Where does life come from?” and introduces the (debunked) theory of spontaneous generation and the (strongly supported by evidence) theory of biogenesis.

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “How do we know all living things are made of cells?”--an introduction to the three parts of cell theory, and the historical development of this essential theory for understanding biology!

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “What are the layers of organization within an organism?” from organic compounds up to cells, all the way up to whole creatures!

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “What are organic compounds?” and give you an introduction to the chemistry of life: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “How do we recognize living things?” and help you understand key characteristics that ALL living things have in common.

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “What is the difference between 'living,' 'non-living,' and 'dead?'" That might sound obvious, but this episode will help to clarify the meanings of these important terms, and use the illustration of an ecosystem to see how living, non-living, and dead things interact in the real world.

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of life—the characteristics of living things, how we classify life, and even where life comes from. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at https://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This episode will help you answer the question, “How is Energy Related to Chemical Reactions?”

Remember, “smart” is something we *become* as we learn new things. So, keep listening, keep learning, and keep getting smarter every day!

This episode is part of a series all about understanding the nature of matter. Each season has a different thematic focus, so if you found this episode interesting or helpful, check out the rest of the episodes in this season! Instructional resources for this episode, including the script, a thinksheet, and alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards can be accessed for free at http://goodtobesmart.com 

It’s Good to Be Smart! is created by Dr. Dave Mulder with support from the National Science Foundation through a grant from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.