Our library of interactive virtual case studies allows students to gain a deep conceptual understanding of science skills and concepts. Each starts with a real-world problem and then takes students through foundational knowledge and virtual guided-inquiry activities as they work to solve the problem.
The Latest STEM Cases
There has been an outbreak of legionnaires disease in a small town. This disease is caused by legionella bacteria that proliferate in contaminated water supplies. Students take on the role of a civil engineer to investigate how the water treatment plant has failed to get ri...
A farmer in Africa is having problems with elephants eating her corn and cotton crops. As a wildlife biologist, students learn about animal group behavior and relationships of elephants and humans with bees. Students collect data from the farm and elephants to hypothesize an...
There has been an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a small town. This disease is caused by legionella bacteria that proliferate in contaminated water supplies. Students take on the role of an environmental engineer to investigate the source of legionella and use stoichi...
All STEM Cases
A farmer in Africa is having problems with elephants eating her corn and cotton crops. As a wildlife biologist, students learn about animal group behavior and relationships of elephants and humans with bees. Students collect data from the farm and elephants to hypothesize an...
As a medical toxicologist, students learn about cell respiration to save the life of a CIA agent that has been poisoned.
The Secret Service recently arrested suspects accused of counterfeiting coins from 1915 valued at $50,000 each. The students act as a forensic scientist to investigate the crime scene and the evidence. Students learn about chemical and physical changes to recreate the method...
As a physician assistant, students must learn about diffusion to save the life of a person poisoned by chlorine gas that was released into a small town following a train crash.
As a national park ranger, students must restore the ecosystem of a park back to normal. They interact with populations of many organisms including wolves, deer and bees. Students learn the importance of food chains and webs, and how human factors can impact the health of an...
The Secret Service has arrested suspects accused of counterfeiting coins from 1915 valued at $50,000 each. The students act as a forensic scientist to investigate the crime scene and examine the evidence. Students learn about electrons and chemical reactions to recreate the ...
As a veterinary technician, students learn about enzymes to help a dog that has been eating normally but is losing a lot of weight.
Working as a CDC researcher, students investigate an outbreak of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections and determine how evolution was involved by tracing the source and cause of the outbreak.
As an agricultural scientist, students help a strawberry farmer who is having problems with low fruit production. Students learn about the factors involved in fruit production including plant nutrients, pollination and bees, and the interaction with the environment.
As a bee scientist, students help a honey farm that has low honey production due to wasps. Students learn about bees, heredity and traits to determine which traits will help the bees defend their hives against the wasps. They then pick a new queen bee to pass on these traits...
In the role of a physician assistant, students help a young man, named Anthony, who has Type II diabetes and high blood pressure. Students must make a diagnosis and then must apply the principles of filtration and homeostasis to help Anthony.
As a geneticist in an animal hospital, students learn about genetic changes in meiosis to determine the reason why a male cat can have calico fur coloring.
An infant on a farm has blue baby syndrome. As an EPA environmental engineer, students must find the cause of the baby's illness. Using environment data, students learn the importance of the nitrogen cycle and how human factors can impact nature.
Mussel farmers in the Arctic Ocean have reported problems with their mussels. They have noticed that the mussel shells have eroded and become brittle. Students take on the role of a marine chemist to analyze the changes to ocean carbon chemistry and equilibrium to determine ...
As a veterinarian, students help a young calf, named Clark, who is having seizures. To determine the cause, the students fly into Clark's brain to learn about osmosis and apply their learning to save Clark.
As a marine biologist students learn about photosynthesis to help scientists in Australia determine why the coral in the Great Barrier Reef is bleaching.
The Secret Service has arrested suspects accused of counterfeiting coins from the year 1915 valued at $50,000 each. The students act as a forensic scientist to investigate the crime scene and evidence. Students learn about the properties of matter to recreate the methods use...
As a pediatrician, students learn about genes and protein synthesis to try to help a baby girl named Lucy who has an immunodeficiency disease.
There has been an outbreak of legionnaires disease in a small town. This disease is caused by legionella bacteria that proliferate in contaminated water supplies. Students take on the role of a civil engineer to investigate how the water treatment plant has failed to get ri...
There has been an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a small town. This disease is caused by legionella bacteria that proliferate in contaminated water supplies. Students take on the role of an environmental engineer to investigate the source of legionella and use stoichi...