Fringe Lesson Plans
TV Show Fringe on FOX Partners with Science Olympiad
Fringe is geared toward audiences over the age of 14.
This section contains free downloadable Lesson Plans that mix Fringe science with elements of Science Olympiad Division C events like Disease Detectives, Forensics, Sounds of Music, Chem Lab, and Dynamic Planet. Teachers and students in Grades 9-12 can use the plans in the classroom as special projects, tied into curriculum or as Friday brain teasers. Every plan will include learning objectives, online resources, a hands-on activity, discussion suggestions, extensions, episode scenes of relevance, and National Science Standards Alignment.
Science of Fringe Lesson Plans
The Science of Fringe Lessons Plans are the centerpiece of a public service and promotional campaign designed to raise awareness about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and will be posted after each episode airs on the Fringe show website and on FOX affiliate sites across the US.
Season 4
Episode #406, broadcast 11/11/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about combustion and how it starts and can be stopped.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Thermodynamics
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Episode #405, broadcast 11/4/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about DNA and how it can be copied.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Protein Modeling
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Episode #404, broadcast 10/14/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about electromagnets and how they can be created and utilized.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Technical Problem Solving
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Episode #403, broadcast 10/7/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about fungi, with a focus on a particular type called yeast.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Microbe Mission
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Episode #402, broadcast 9/30/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about hypothermia and its effects on the body.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Thermodynamics
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Episode #401, broadcast 9/23/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about food fortification.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Chemistry Lab
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Season 3
Episode #322, broadcast 5/6/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about reverse engineering and disassembling devices.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Forensics
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Episode #321, broadcast 4/29/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about static electricity and how it is created and dissipated.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Experimental Design
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Episode #320, broadcast 4/22/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about weather forecasting.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Dynamic Planet
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Episode #319, broadcast 4/15/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about wind power and turbine design.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Wind Power
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Episode #318, broadcast 3/25/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about gestation and how it is different from species to species.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Anatomy & Physiology
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Episode #317, broadcast 3/18/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about magnetism and how magnets can be created and demagnetized.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Technical Problem Solving
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Episode #316, broadcast 3/11/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about meteorites and ways of finding them.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Astronomy
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Episode #315, broadcast 2/25/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about adaptation and how the process helps organisms survive in their specific ecological environment.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Ecology
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Episode #314, broadcast 2/18/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about spectroscopy and how it can be used to determine certain characteristics of things.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Optics
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Episode #313, broadcast 2/11/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about the influenza virus and how is spreads and impacts its host.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Microbe Mission
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Episode #312, broadcast 2/4/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about bones and the nature of their chemical and physical composition.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Anatomy & Physiology
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Episode #311, broadcast 1/28/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about the classification of blood into blood types based on the molecules on the surface of red blood cells.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Forensics
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Episode #310, broadcast 1/21/11
Topic Overview: Students will learn about pharmacology and the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical functions.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Chem Lab
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Episode #309, broadcast 12/09/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about 3-dimensional protein models and how their use allows scientists to predict biological behavior.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Protein Modeling
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Episode #308, broadcast 12/03/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about scientific intuition and how it can facilitate the scientific method of collecting data through experimentation and observation in order to formulate and test a hypothesis.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Experimental Design
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Episode #307, broadcast 11/18/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about vaccination and the spread of communicable diseases.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Disease Detectives
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Episode #306, broadcast 11/11/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about information encoding, which is the process of converting a piece of information into another form or representation.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Write It Do It
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Episode #305, broadcast 11/04/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about the process of fossilization and identification of species from incomplete information.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Fossils
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Episode #304, broadcast 10/14/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about memory, which is the ability to store, retain and recall information and experiences.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Technical Problem Solving
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Episode #303, broadcast 10/7/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about chain reactions, where small changes result in additional changes, leading to a self-propagating chain of events.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Mission Possible
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Episode #302, broadcast 9/30/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about the different characteristics of music and how it can have physiological effects on the listener.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Sounds of Music
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Episode #301, broadcast 9/23/10
Topic Overview: Students will learn about the types of hormones and how they are used to regulate various functions in an organism.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Anatomy & Physiology
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Season 2
Episode #223, broadcast 5/20/10
Topic Overview:Students will learn about how various types of sensors can be used to remotely collect information about a geographical area, which allows for unique scientific analyses and discoveries.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:Remote Sensing
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Episode #222, broadcast 5/13/10
Topic Overview:Students will learn about how the various forms of energy can be converted into other forms of energy and how these conversions can be used to either disperse or concentrate energy.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:Egg-O-Naut
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Episode #221, broadcast 5/06/10
Topic Overview:Students will learn about the scientific method and how it can be used to collect data through experimentation and observation in order to formulate and test a hypothesis.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:Experimental Design
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Episode #220, broadcast 4/29/10
Topic Overview:Students will learn about fingerprints and how they can be collected and used as evidence to identify an individual.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:Forensics
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Episode #219, broadcast 4/22/10
Topic Overview:Students will learn about bioelectricity, the study of how electromagnetic fields interact with cells and tissues, with a focus on how the muscular system requires the use of electric potentials.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:Anatomy & Physiology
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Episode #218, broadcast 4/15/10
Topic Overview:Students will learn about scientific concepts related to time such as astronomy and physics, with a focus on timekeeping.
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:It's About Time
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Episode #217, broadcast 4/08/10
Topic Overview:The science behind cancer, with a focus on the causes and prevention of skin cancer
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event:Cell Biology
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Episode #216, broadcast 4/01/10
Topic Overview: Non-Verbal Communication — Alternative forms of Scientific Communication
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Picture This
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Episode #215, Re-broadcast 3/25/10
Topic Overview: Exploring Earthquakes — Earthquakes of differing magnitudes and resulting impact
Grade Level: 9-12
Related Science Olympiad Event: Dynamic Planet
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