Building Stuff

Engineering is a big part of the Next Generation Science Standards. Classroom teachers are encouraged to integrate engineering into their curricula. Tabletop and classroom-scale building projects are one way to do that, and the hands-on nature of such projects has great value.

Another way to integrate engineering into the science curriculum is seeing larger scale engineering projects documented. PBS NOVA's Building Stuff miniseries does just that.

BUILDING STUFF at TPT

Engineering is all around us, and we humans have been doing it forever. But how does it actually work? Find out by watching some of the most creative and innovative folks in the game build stuff that helps extend our range, amplify our abilities, and alter our environment for the better. Experience the ups and downs with engineers as they design, build, and iterate their way through challenges, inspiring the inner “maker” in all of us.

1. Boost It! at TPT

SPIN LAUNCH · HAPTIC DANCE · DOUBLE DUTCH · BIONIC VISION

Around the world, engineers are finding ingenious ways to amplify our abilities and senses—allowing us to access and shape the world way beyond our natural gifts. From helping a blind man see without the use of his eyes to building a sling so powerful it can shoot rockets into space, see why engineering just might be the closest thing to a superpower we humans have.

2. Reach It! at TPT

WINDSCRAPERS · SAFE SUBMERSIBLES · FITTED FIRE SUIT · SPACE BASKET BOOM

From the time our species first evolved, we’ve been on the move. Not content to stay in one place, we’ve imagined and invented and built our way from one place to the next. From deep sea subs to wind-resistant skyscrapers to next-gen space habitats, see how today’s engineers are designing and building creative new ways for us to get all around—and even off—our planet.

3. Change It! at TPT

DRONE TAXI · TUNABLE E-NOSE · CORAL SEE · EARTH FILTER

Thousands of years of human innovation have allowed us to shape the environment to improve lives. The consequences of our activities are not always benign—but there are solutions. From electrifying aviation, to building robots to protect threatened coral reefs, a new generation of engineers is finding creative solutions to some of our most critical environmental challenges.

Rebuilding Notre Dame

The world watched in horror as Notre Dame Cathedral burned in the middle of Paris in April, 2019. France immediately embarked on the massive undertaking of restoring the cathedral. And they were intent on restoring the cathedral as it was before the fire. This made things even more challenging.

[It's always nice when I can use a photo from my own archives for the cover art. My polarizer was working hard on that shot.]

REBUILDING NOTRE DAME at TPT

Following the April, 2019 fire that almost destroyed Paris’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, a team of engineers, masons, and timber workers set out on the daunting challenge of restoring France’s historic landmark. The program traces the dramatic human and technical challenges of the project’s first three years, going behind-the-scenes with carpenters shaping lumber for the new roof and spire, stone masons repairing gaping holes in the vault, and artisans who use traditional techniques to restore stained glass windows. A symbol of the nation’s identity and resilience, Notre Dame gradually rises from the ashes, thanks to a restoration project like no other.

You're Probably Wrong About Rainbows

Veritasium's Derek Muller did a deep dive into rainbows, and brought his YouTube content creator skills to bear in articulating an explanation. 

I thought I dove pretty deep in my Understanding Rainbows classroom lesson. Derek dialed it up to 11 in You're Probably Wrong About Rainbows.

Naturally, I had questions.

YOU'RE PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT RAINBOWS at TPT

You probably don’t understand how a rainbow really works. In this video, Veritasium’s Derek Muller dives deep into the optics of rainbows. Caustics and Brewster’s angle deep. The video is divided into chapters; see the product listing for complete details.

Leonardo Da Vinci

 

American documentary film-making legend Ken Burns has expanded his horizons. In his first off-shore foray, he examines the life and times of Leonardo Da Vinci. 

There is much to explore. And I have questions.

LEONARDO DA VINCI at TPT

A 15th century polymath of soaring imagination and profound intellect, Leonardo da Vinci created some of the most revered works of art of all time, but his artistic endeavors often seemed peripheral to his pursuits in science and engineering. Through his paintings and thousands of pages of drawings and writings, Leonardo da Vinci explores one of humankind’s most curious and innovative minds.

1. THE DISCIPLE OF EXPERIENCE at TPT

Leonardo da Vinci grows up in a Tuscan village surrounded by nature, then moves to Florence, where the Renaissance is in full bloom, to apprentice as an artist and craftsman. He shows extraordinary talent but at times struggles to finish commissions. Later, in Milan, he joins Duke Sforza’s court, begins writing treatises, and paints a monumental fresco depicting the Last Supper.

2. PAINTER-GOD at TPT

Leonardo works as a military engineer, designs fanciful flying machines, studies light and shadow, investigates gravity, dissects cadavers, and pens treatises on a vast array of subjects, all while seeking the perfect patron. In Florence, Milan, Rome and finally France, he pours the sum of his scientific and artistic knowledge into a portrait that would become the most famous painting on earth.

Benjamin Franklin

As a frequent visitor to pbs.org, I was seeing promotional material for the (then) upcoming Ken Burns' Leonardo Da Vinci documentary. While poking around, I discovered that he made a two-parter covering Benjamin Franklin. So I crafted a question set for that while waiting for the Da Vinci work to air.

Each episode runs about two hours, so this is a considerable piece of work. Each episode is divided into chapters; see product listings for complete details.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - 1. Join or Die (1706-1774) at TPT

Leaving behind his Boston childhood, Benjamin Franklin reinvents himself in Philadelphia where he builds a printing empire and a new life with his wife, Deborah. Turning to science, Franklin's lightning rod and experiments in electricity earn him worldwide fame. After entering politics, he spends years in London trying to keep Britain and America together as his own family starts to come apart.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - 2. An American (1775-1792) at TPT

Benjamin Franklin leaves London and returns to wartime Philadelphia where he joins Congress and helps Thomas Jefferson craft the Declaration of Independence. In Paris, he wins French support for the American Revolution then negotiates a peace treaty with Britain. He spends his last years in the new United States, working on the Constitution and unsuccessfully promoting the abolition of slavery.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - BUNDLE at TPT

Both episodes, bundled and discounted.

Decoding the Universe

DECODING THE UNIVERSE

See how our understanding of nature and the universe has been transformed since the 1970s.

How big is the universe? What is it made of? Are we alone? Questions like these have inspired amazing discoveries that have transformed our understanding of the universe since the 1970s, shedding light on everything from exoplanets to black holes to the mysterious dark matter and energy that rule the cosmos. And closer to home, quantum physicists have discovered the weird laws that govern the subatomic world, unlocking amazing technologies—from the smart phone in your pocket to powerful new quantum computers taking shape in labs today.

COSMOS at TPT

How big is the universe? If it began with the Big Bang, will it also have an end? Is there life beyond our planet? Questions like these inspired the launch of Voyager I in 1977 and have driven innovative space research and exploration ever since. Trace ground-breaking discoveries that have transformed our picture of the universe, from an age when we knew of no planets beyond our solar system, to today, when we have evidence of thousands and estimate trillions more. And follow the teams trying to solve two of the biggest mysteries in cosmology today: What are dark matter and dark energy?

QUANTUM at TPT

When we look at the world at the tiniest scales in the subatomic realm, things get weird – very weird. Welcome to the quantum universe, where particles can spin in two directions at once, observing something changes it, and something on one side of the galaxy can instantly affect something on the other, as if the space between them didn’t exist. Buckle up for a wild ride through the discoveries that proved all of this to be true and paved the way for the digital technologies we enjoy today – and the powerful quantum sensors and computers of tomorrow.

Will there be more episodes of Decoding the Universe? I don't know. Somehow in 2024, my search engine skills are unequal to the challenge of finding out. Someone deep in PBS NOVA HQ knows. I'm hoping more episodes will be added to this collection. 

Solar System

 

PBS NOVA has once again teamed up with BBC for another space science miniseries. The Planets (2019) was followed by Universe Revealed (2021).

This year, it was deeper dive into the solar system. You might wonder what was left to document so soon (in space documentary years) after The Planets. What Solar System does is to open things up to include moons and dwarf planets. Suddenly to the topic candidates expand from fewer than a dozen to hundreds. We've been sending probes to explore these words for decades, and researchers have been able to identify and sort unexpected mysteries. 

Ice worlds composed of hot, black ice, volcanic worlds heated by tidal forces, dwarf planets that kiss more than they collide, comets, asteroids, and an unseen cloud of countless worlds. Solar System dives deep into some two dozen worlds in our own neighborhood, including Haumea, Ganymede, Miranda, Pan, Io, Enceladus, Iapetus, Phobos, Ceres, Triton, and Charon. Earth is included in the mix, correctly cast among the "Strange Worlds." Honestly, the more you know about Earth, the stranger it seems.

Thanks once again to my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Murphy, for encouraging me to deepen my fascination with the other worlds of the solar system years before the Vikings or the Voyagers.

Omnivore

 

I am a fan of James Burke's Connections and Carl Sagan's Cosmos. When I watched Omnivore on AppleTV+, it seemed like host René Redzepi was revealing connections in the cosmos of comestibles. 

Is Redzepi the Burke/Sagan of foods? Yes he is. (I try to quash any envy I might harbor toward people like Redzepi, but acknowledge I will never be as good at anything as Redzepi is at food.)

The story of what we eat is the story of us. Omnivore tells the story in eight chapters: Chile, Tuna, Salt, Banana, Pig, Rice, Coffee, and Corn.

The series is beautifully photographed on location in Denmark, Serbia, Thailand, Spain, Japan, France, Peru, Korea, Djibouti, India, Mexico, Colombia, Rwanda, and the US. Program participants speak in their native languages and there are no voice-overs. There are subtitles. It's nice to hear the character and inflections of participants' voices.

Of course, I have questions! 

OMNIVORE at TPT

Take a look at the world through the lens of food and explores how food explains the past and forecasts the future.

Crosswords that work in college prep courses

Crossword puzzles are amusements appropriate for elementary school students. Middle school at tops. They sit at the base of Bloom's taxonomy, and have no place in a rigorous high school college prep course,

Or so I thought.

I don't even remember what my impetus was for creating a series of crossword puzzles for my college prep physic course, but create I did. Computer software meant I could load a list of words and the computer would craft a puzzle grid. Then I could add words to flesh out the puzzle and fill the page.

What I didn't expect was student enthusiasm for the puzzles. That enthusiasm acted as a catalyst, and I worked out an implementation scheme.

High School Physics Crossword Puzzles [OpenStax-aligned]

The first set of crossword puzzles I posted on TPT consisted of puzzles I created years ago for my Conceptual Physics course. Next I posted a set intended for use with AP Physics students. Then I proceeded with crosswords aligned with the OpenStax Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy textbooks.

The Chemistry textbook had a decent set of key terms for each chapter. Key terms in Biology were ... abundant! In the Astronomy textbook, I needed to supplement key terms with "non-key" terms from the chapters.

This brings me to the OpenStax Physics: High School textbook. I aimed for about 50 topical terms (key and non-key terms from each chapter along with review terms from previous chapters as needed). Additional terms were added to fill the gaps in the puzzle. Additional terms could be physics or science-related. But they could also be from random tops all over the general knowledge board. State nicknames, chemical symbols, tech, Roman numerals, and so on.

As ever, the resulting puzzles each include over 100 words with over 150 crosses. "Busy crosswords".

I gave crosswords to students as they finished unit tests. It gave quick test-takers something to do while classmates finished their tests. I gave them puzzles for the upcoming unit of study. Each puzzle had enough non-chapter terms to keep students engaged before and while learning the upcoming unit.

High School Physics Crosswords MEGABUNDLE at TPT

All 23 puzzles, bundled and steeply discounted.

High School Physics Crosswords Series One: Motion and Forces at TPT

Puzzles 1-5 bundled and discounted.

The Invisible Shield

This 4-part PBS series tells the story of public health and epidemiology through the lens of the pandemic.

THE INVISIBLE SHIELD at TPT

The Invisible Shield, a four-part documentary series, reveals a little-known truth: that public health saved your life today and you probably don’t even know it. But while public health makes modern life possible, the work itself is often underfunded, undervalued, and misunderstood.

1. THE OLD PLAYBOOK at TPT

History repeats itself. It’s not the first time the world has had to deal with a pandemic, and the push highlights how the public health sector had to go back to work.

2. FOLLOW THE DATA at TPT

Data has been an essential public health tool since at least the seventeenth century. Helping the world understand and mitigate the spread of disease, data has helped us make sense of the threats to our collective health.

3. INOCULATION & INEQUITY at TPT

Public health officials face disinformation, skepticism of science, and distrust in government as they begin vaccinating the public against COVID. Historical injustices and inequities lead to apprehension, forcing public health to refine its approach.

4. THE NEW PLAYBOOK at TPT

With all the challenges the public health sector faces, and life expectancy declining, how will a committed next generation of public health workers going overcome these obstacles?

Secrets in Your Data

 

There is content that you're supposed to teach when you are a classroom teacher. Usually the product of academic content standards, textbook adoptions, and other processes that take years to develop.

Sometimes new topics arise that students should probably know something about. Maybe pandemics or emerging and widely-adopted technology. I would classify personal data privacy and security as such a topic. Involved technology (phones and websites) seem universally adopted among students. Data brokerage is a $200-million dollar/year industry. Data theft/identity theft/ransomware are growth industries. 

We can wait until approved curriculum is developed and adopted, of course. Or we can at least provide a baseline awareness of the issues. This 15 May 2024 episode of NOVA provides an opportunity.

SECRETS IN YOUR DATA at TPT

Whether you’re on social media or surfing the web, you’re probably sharing more personal data than you realize. That can pose a risk to your privacy – even your safety. But at the same time, big datasets could lead to huge advances in fields like medicine. Host Alok Patel leads a quest to understand what happens to all the data we’re shedding and explores the latest efforts to maximize benefits – without compromising personal privacy.

Astronomy Crossword Puzzles [OpenStax-aligned]

Who needs astronomy crossword puzzles? I have no idea! But if you do, I have some you might like. When I make crossword puzzles, I include appropriate chapter key terms; everyone does. But where most creators stop there, I take things further. I fill those awkward empty spaces (large enough to grow farm crops). I bring in non-key terms from the chapter, terms from previous chapters, science, math, general knowledge, pop culture, and randomness. That's among The Lessons of Phyz Advantages.

The good people at OpenStax have published Astronomy 2e on their site. Chapters 2-30 have key terms. So I am making crossword puzzles for those chapters. This post will grow one puzzle at a time until all puzzles are finished. Some chapters have very few key terms; those chapters are combined into a single puzzle.

My favorite use case is to distribute the next chapter's crossword puzzle on unit test day. That is, give out the Chapter 2 puzzle on Chapter 1 test day, and so on. It's nice for keeping the room quiet while students finish the test at different times from one another. You might naturally worry that students wouldn't have a chance with a puzzle filled with as-yet uncovered vocabulary. And you'd be right, except that I filled my puzzle space gaps with words they already know from previous chapters or general knowledge. Often the acronyms and initialisms are, well, very straightforward. The clue for NIST is National Institute for Science and Technology. I gave students the duration of the next unit to complete the puzzle.

2. Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy at TPT [Free]

Word Count: 107   Word Crosses (Puzzle Score): 166

Key terms: Accelerate, Apparent, Astrology, Celestial, Circumpolar, Cosmology, Ecliptic, Epicycle, Equator, Geocentric, Heliocentric, Horizon, Horoscope, Parallax, Planet, Poles, Precession, Retrograde, Year, Zenith, Zodiac

Selected additional terms: Aquarius, Arabic, Aries, Astronomy, Cancer, Capricornus, Constellation, Copernicus, Diameter, Flat, Galileo, Geyser, Hubble, Jupiter, Leo, Libra, Magnet, Mars, Mercury, Meteor, Milky, Mol, Moon, Nasa, NIST, Nobel, Ophiuchus, Optics, Owl, Pauli, Pisces, Planetarium, Polaris, Ptolemy, Renaissance, Sagittarius, Scorpius, Sputnik, Starlink, STP, Sun, Syene, Taurus, Uranus, Virgo, Voyager

All puzzles include an online option for tech-savvy users who can upload files to a server space. Here's a sample of an online version.

https://phyz.org/crosswords/02-Birth

3. Orbits and Gravity at TPT

Words: 105   Puzzle Score: 162

Great American Eclipse

 

As I post this, the "Great American Eclipse" is days away. NOVA released this video today as eclipse chasers are nervously monitoring cloud-cover forecasts and making their way toward the path of totality.

I worked a bit furiously to craft this question set for those who might find it useful.

GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE at TPT

Explore the spectacular cosmic phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. In April 2024, the Moon’s shadow is sweeping from Texas to Maine, as the U.S. witnesses its last total solar eclipse until 2044. This extraordinary astronomical event is plunging locations in the path of totality into darkness for more than four minutes–nearly twice as long as the last American eclipse in 2017. Learn how to watch an eclipse safely and follow scientists as they work to unlock secrets of our Sun–from why its atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface, to what causes solar storms and how we might one day predict them.

Participants include Amir Caspi, Craig DeForest, Jon Ghahate, Kelly Korreck, Judith Nakamura, Tyler Nordgren, Hakeem Oluseyi, Mathieu Ossendrijver, Sam Parks, Anjali Piette, Jenna Samra, Grant Tremblay, Anjali Tripathi, and Michael Wong.

For additional eclipse content, see:

ECLIPSE OVER AMERICA (2017)

TOTAL ECLIPSE (pre-2017)

From Ann Arbor to Asteroids

ANN ARBOR (c. 1984) I settle into booth in the recently opened food court area in the basement of the Michigan Union to work on a Physics 401 problem set. It's early afternoon, and I am fueled by a slice and a soda—sorry, pizza and a pop (this is Michigan!). The fellow undergrad preparing the square pizzas at Parcheezi is Phil Plait. And $2.85 was all you needed for that lunch. 

Later that evening, I visit my neighbor at the Mary Markley dorm to finish the 401 problem set. He's a year younger than me, and super brilliant. His name is Dan Durda and, like me, he can be found in the audience at the monthly AstroFest presentations produced by Jim Loudon. We attended those gatherings religiously!

SACRAMENTO (c. 1996) I'm a fan of Homicide: Life on the Street (predecessor to HBO's The Wire). The guy playing drug kingpin Luther Mahoney is Erik Todd Dellums. Many actors relish playing the bad guy, and Dellums is clearly eating up this role.

(2015) I've been asked to introduce Michio Kaku at the Sacramento Speakers Series. It's a rare non-wedding, non-funeral occasion for which I am willing to dress up. I do my best to hype him up for the large auditorium crowd.

BOZEMAN, 2024. I'm writing a question set to accompany Asteroids: Worlds that Never Were, an episode of How the Universe Works. The episode is narrated by Erik Todd Dellums. It features astronomy experts Dan Durda, Phil Plait, as well as physicist Michio Kaku.

ASTEROIDS: WORLDS THAT NEVER WERE at TPT

From icy worlds with more fresh water than Earth to flying mountains of pure metal, asteroids shaped our past and promise much for the future. Could these enigmatic space rocks hold the key to how life in the Universe arises and is extinguished?

Comets: To Catch a Frozen Wanderer

In 1996 and 1997, comets had quite a moment. Comet Hyakutake and Comet Hale-Bopp garnered attention worldwide. Some people used the passage of Hale-Bopp for nefarious purposes that ended tragically.

I recall Hale-Bopp being much more celebrated, but Hyakutake being much more beautiful in the sky.

In any case, comets can burst onto the scene with little notice. What are they all about? We begin with an episode from How the Universe Works. Comets: Frozen Wanderers provides a nice, comprehensive lesson on the nature of comets. It holds out hope that ESA's Rosetta/Philae mission will be able to get up close and personal with a comet.

PBS's To Catch a Comet picks up the story from there, providing a moment-by-moment account of Rosetta's rendezvous with Comet 67P. A great story with challenges and nail-biting moments.

As always, I have questions.

COMETS: FROZEN WANDERERS at TPT

We follow the odyssey of a comet as it sails through space, watching every move as it evolves from a chunk of ice and rock into an active nucleus engulfed in a gaseous haze. What we learn is a revelation; comets are even more mysterious than we imagined.

TO CATCH A COMET at TPT

On November 11, 2014, billions of kilometers from Earth, a spacecraft orbiter and lander did what no other had dared to attempt: land on the volatile surface of a comet as it zooms around the sun at 67,000 km/hr.

Hunt for the Oldest DNA

Sometimes the inspiration for a scientific breakthrough is an apple falling from a tree. Sometimes it's a race between a train and a light wave. And sometimes ...

Sometimes it's a dog pooping in the rain.

Sequencing DNA that's more than a million years old was thought to be impossible. And it was. Until it wasn't. Breaking that barrier is a story of scientific perseverance laced with frustration, anti-bullying vibes, and real consequences of failing to solve an as-yet insoluble problem. Success was never guaranteed, and it came at a price.

But what a story it is! Watch the program. If it's something that works with your curriculum, consider using the question set with students. It's written with them in mind: to keep them actively engaged without ever boring them. (And welcome to NOVA's 51st season!)

HUNT FOR THE OLDEST DNA at TPT

For decades, scientists have tried to unlock the secrets of ancient DNA. But life’s genetic blueprint is incredibly fragile, and researchers have struggled to find DNA in fossils that could survive millions of years. Then, one maverick scientist had the controversial idea to look for DNA not in fossils or frozen ancient tissue – but in dirt. Join the hunt as scientists decipher the oldest DNA ever found, and reveal for the first time the genes of long-extinct creatures that once thrived in a warm, lush Arctic.

Participants include Tom Gilbert, Ross Macphee, Mikkel Pedersen, Maanasa Raghavan, Maureen Raymo, Alexandra Rouillard, Natalia Rybczynski, Astrid Schmidt, Beth Shapiro, Niobe Thompson, and Eske Willerslev.

For more DNA content, see:

Human Nature

Secrets in our DNA

Eclipse Over America (2017)

The Great American Eclipse of 2024 is April 8. And that's coming right up. I made it to totality in 2017, so I understand the addiction that eclipse chasers feel. I knew exactly what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, where it was going to happen, and why it was going to happen.

None of that mattered when it actually happened. An expletive passed my lips involuntarily. 

I'll chase totality in April, as well. In any case, NOVA produced Eclipse Over America in conjunction with the 2017 eclipse. For reasons that elude me, they have not posted the episode to YouTube, nor have they made it available to PBS Passport subscribers. Amazon's Prime Video seems to have it available for purchase, though they have it mislabelled as a season 17 episode. Apple iTunes seems to need you to buy they whole season (44) to access the episode. I found a streaming copy of it on Facebook.

ECLIPSE OVER AMERICA on TPT

On August 21, 2017, millions of Americans witnessed the first total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States in 99 years. As in in total solar eclipses, the moon blocked the sun and revealed its ethereal outer atmosphere—its corona—in a wondrous celestial spectacle. While hordes of citizens flocked to the eclipse’s path of totality, scientists, too, staked out spots for a very different reason: to investigate the secrets of the sun’s elusive atmosphere. During the eclipse’s precious seconds of darkness, they gathered new clues on how our sun works, how it can produce deadly solar storms, and why its atmosphere is so hot. NOVA investigates the storied history of solar eclipse science and joins both seasoned and citizen-scientists alike as they don their eclipse glasses, tune their telescopes, and revel in the eclipse that spanned the continent.

Participants include Amir Caspi, Nicky Fox, Holly Gilbert, Don Hassler, Jason Kalirai, James Klimchuk, Bill Murtagh, Tyler Nordgren, Mathieu Ossendrijver, Jay Pasachoff, Steven Tomczyk, and Constantine Tsang.

The Universe's Total Eclipse is an older eclipse documentary. And I have questions.

Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul

A few years ago, we began seeing a spike in unscheduled fire alarms at my school. The culprit? Boys vaping in the bathrooms during class. And the leading vape product among teens? Juul.

Juul was a phenomenon. It burned bright and it died young. Its story is instructive. And packs a few surprises. At its heart, it's a story of when moving fast and breaking things, the celebrated Silicon Valley ethos, goes sideways.

This is a great lesson in marketing literacy. It also involves engineering, venture capitalism, and public health.

NOTE: This program is rated TV-MA (MPAA equivalent: R). Profanity is not bleeped. Instructors will want to pre-screen the episode to assess propriety for their students. 

BIG VAPE: THE RISE AND FALL OF JUUL at TPT

In this docuseries, a scrappy electronic cigarette startup becomes a multibillion-dollar company until an epidemic causes its success to go up in smoke.

1. THE SPARK at TPT

Two Stanford graduates set out to disrupt the tobacco industry by creating a sleek new product for adult smokers but run into a series of struggles.

2. FIRST IMPRESSIONS at TPT

Upon launch, Juul rolls out an edgy campaign targeting youth culture until the popular ads come under criticism and spur new regulations from the FDA.

3. WHERE’S MY JUUL? at TPT

Viral social media videos and word-of-mouth send Juul and its flavor pods flying off shelves- and into the hands of kids, causing nationwide outrage.

4. OVERNIGHT BILLIONAIRES at TPT

A landmark deal makes billionaires of Juul's founders but leaves other employees torn. A health crisis linked to vaping jeopardizes the company's future.

Biology Crossword Puzzles [OpenStax-aligned]

With Conceptual and AP Physics crosswords covered, I moved on to Chemistry. Physics vocabulary is fairly pedestrian. We do our intimidation in the form of mathematics. Chemistry vocabulary wanders deeper into the esoteric: stoichiometry right off the bat. Pnictogen? Chemistry's got some words. 

Now that Chemistry's covered, it was time to move on to Biology. Intro Biology has very little math, so it brings the words. So many words that live their best lives within the confines of the study of life sciences. Endoplasmic reticulum arrives early and it's got plenty of friends.

Like the Chemistry puzzles, the Biology puzzles are aligned with an OpenStax online textbook. I chose Concepts of Biology this time. While nature may abhor a vacuum, I abhor crossword puzzles with yawning gaps and empty spaces. This time, some gaps were filled with terms from "100 Words Middle School Students Should Know" from vocabulary.com. Others were filled with terms from science, mathematics, geography, pop culture, and randomness. Students will be amused and surprised to see some of the terms that show up in these puzzles.

1. Introduction to Biology at TPT [Free]

Word Count: 108 · Puzzle Score (word crosses): 170

Core terms: Applied, Atom, Based, Basic, Biology, Biosphere, Cell, Community, Control, Deductive, Descriptive, Ecosystem, Eukaryote, Evolution, Falsifiable, Homeostasis, Hypothesis, Inductive, Law, Life, Macromolecule, Method, Molecule, Natural, Organ, Organelle, Organism, Peer, Phylogenetic, Physical, Population, Prokaryote, Science, System, Theory, Tissue, Variable

Selected additional terms: Acronyms, Adversary, AI, Air, Amber, Animal, Cheetah, Civic, Contortion, Cpu, Density, Divide, Earth, Elephant, Emu, Exodus, Eye, Gem, Hasten, Jupiter, Jut, Leopard, Lion, Mercury, Meter, Muscle, Navel, Neon, Neptune, Onion, Orion, Paris, Physics, Pluto, Quotient, Recluse, Slope, Twitch, Typhoons, URL, USB, xy

I posted this one online so you can see how the online version plays. Here's the link:

https://phyz.org/crosswords/01-Intro2Bio

2. Chemistry of Life at TPT

Words: 107 · Puzzle Score: 172