Biology kits for high school can take a few pages in a textbook and transform them into a memorable hands-on experience. And look at my page How to Choose the Right Homeschool High School Science for more fun teen ideas.
Also, look at my page Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook and Seashore Beach Watching Unit Study and Seashore Lapbook for more fun ideas.
This might look like observing prepared biological specimens under a microscope and analyzing what they see or dissecting a shark like we are doing today.
Dissecting a shark is much more than a science lab, it’s an adventure into the mysteries of the ocean. By seeing how each system works together, your high schooler gains a hands-on understanding of marine biology and anatomy.
Whether they’re planning to be a scientist, it’s part of their requirements, or they simply love the sea, this experience opens the door to a deeper appreciation for life beneath the surface.
Beyond the dissection, we are going to look at the benefits of biology kits for high school, some fun facts, and a peek into a variety of kits themselves.
MORE HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HOMESCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE
- How To Combine High School Homeschool Marine Biology Curriculum & Notebooking
- Fun High School Science Games About Ocean Life
- High School Marine Life Art Ideas & Easy Eagle Ray Art
- Marine Science Experiments For High School Made Easy
- High School Science Movies for Homeschoolers
- An Easy Beginner’s Guide to Biology Lab Supplies High School
- A Beginner’s Guide To 1st Year High School Science Subject
- How To Build High School Environmental Science Homeschool Curriculum
- Online High School Science Courses For Homeschoolers Who Love Choices
- Fun Anatomy Activities For High School & How To Make An Easy Skin Layer Model
- Fun and Easy High School DNA Model Project
- How To Create A Botany High School Curriculum & Career Ideas
- Biology Kits for High School & How to Do a Shark Dissection
MARINE BIOLOGY BOOKS FOR KIDS
8 Marine Biology Books for Teens
Choose a few of these ocean themed books to go along with your study of the Oceans. Whether you're looking for a spine for a unit study or literature, you'll love this roundup.
For Grade Level 7-12. The oceans may well be Earth’s final frontier. These dark and sometimes mysterious waters cover 71 percent of the surface area of the globe and have yet to be fully explored. Under the waves, a watery world of frail splendor, foreboding creatures, vast mountains, and sights beyond imagination awaits. Now this powerful resource has been developed for three educational levels!
Island of the Blue Dolphins begins with a young girl named Karana who is living on the Island of the Blue Dolphins (fancy name, right?) with her younger brother, Ramo, and sister, Ulape. One day, a group of Russian hunters (Aleutians) land on the island to hunt for otter. This is when the trouble really begins.
A beautiful edition with 110 images from the 1875 English edition. Use Amazon's Look inside feature to compare this edition with others. You'll be impressed by the differences. Don't be fooled by other versions that have no illustrations or contain very small print. Reading our edition will make you feel that you are traveling the seas with Captain Nemo himself.
In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.
More than 100 original illustrations by Louis Rhead. You want to read this book with illustrations.
An introduction by W. D. Howells.
Nicely formatted text in an easy-to-read font.
A beautiful cover from the 1891 edition.
Follow Rothman’s inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world’s oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages.
In Life Between the Tides, Adam Nicolson investigates one of the most revelatory habitats on earth. Under his microscope, we see a prawn’s head become a medieval helmet and a group of “winkles” transform into a Dickensian social scene, with mollusks munching on Stilton and glancing at their pocket watches. Or, rather, is a winkle more like Achilles, an ancient hero, throwing himself toward death for the sake of glory? For Nicolson, who writes “with scientific rigor and a poet’s sense of wonder” (The American Scholar), the world of the rock pools is infinite and as intricate as our own.As Nicolson journeys between the tides, both in the pools he builds along the coast of Scotland and through the timeline of scientific discovery, he is accompanied by great thinkers―no one can escape the pull of the sea. We meet Virginia Woolf and her Waves; a young T. S. Eliot peering into his own rock pool in Massachusetts; even Nicolson’s father-in-law, a classical scholar who would hunt for amethysts along the shoreline, his mind on Heraclitus and the other philosophers of ancient Greece. And, of course, scientists populate the pages; not only their discoveries, but also their doubts and errors, their moments of quiet observation and their thrilling realizations.Everything is within the rock pools, where you can look beyond your own reflection and find the miraculous an inch beneath your nose. “The soul wants to be wet,” Heraclitus said in Ephesus twenty-five hundred years ago. This marvelous book demonstrates why it is so.
The Sea Around Us remains as fresh today as when it first appeared over six decades ago. Carson's genius for evoking the power and primacy of the world's bodies of water, combining the cosmic and the intimate, remains almost unmatched: the newly formed Earth cooling beneath an endlessly overcast sky; the centuries of nonstop rain that created the oceans; giant squids battling sperm whales hundreds of fathoms below the surface; the power of the tides moving 100 billion tons of water daily in one bay alone; the seismic waves known as tsunamis that periodically remind us of the oceans' overwhelmingly destructive power. The seas sustain human life and imperil it. Today, with the oceans endangered by the dumping of medical waste and ecological disasters such as the Exxon oil spill in Alaska, the gradual death of the Great Barrier Reef, and the melting of the polar ice caps, Carson's book provides a timely reminder of both the fragility and the centrality of the ocean and the life that abounds within it. Anyone who loves the sea, or who is concerned about our natural environment, will want to read, or re-read, this classic work.
Next, using biology or science kits offers many advantages beyond textbook learning.
8 BENEFITS OF BIOLOGY KITS FOR HIGH SCHOOL
Some of the main benefits include:
- Accessible biotechnology experiments – Some newer biology kits utilize freeze-dried, shelf-stable components, allowing advanced molecular biology experiments (such as protein expression) to be conducted without the need for a full lab setup.
- Hands-on learning & deeper understanding- Kits let homeschoolers do real experiments (dissections, microscopy, DNA work, etc.), which helps solidify abstract concepts.
- Increased engagement & curiosity- Your student will enjoy exploring on their own, asking “What if…?” and trying variations of the experiments.
- Bridging theory and practice- Kits help them see how what they read in textbooks actually looks in real organisms or processes.
- Developing scientific thinking- Working with kits teaches them to make observations, form hypotheses, analyze data, and troubleshoot experiments.
- Safe and structured exploration- Kits are designed to include safe reagents, instructions, and controlled variables, making experimentation more accessible and less risky.
- Preparation for advanced study/careers- Students who use dissection kits or molecular biology kits get early exposure to tools and methods used in college-level biology, medicine, biotech, etc.
- Convenience for parents- Kits usually come with pre-measured supplies, instructions, and support materials, so you don’t have to source every component yourself.
Also, look at these biology kits.
BIOLOGY KITS FOR HIGH SCHOOL
- Novare General Biology Microscope Kit
- Amazon.com: Apologia Biology Dissection Complete Kit
- Core Flex Advanced Dissection Kit
- Nasco AP Biology Lab Kit
- Collection of Biology Posters
Also, look at these facts about shark.
FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT SHARKS
Before we explore sharks inside and out, here are a few facts to share and consider when dissecting your specimen.
Sharks don’t have vocal cords, so they never make sounds; they communicate and sense their surroundings entirely through body language, electrical signals, and vibrations in the water.
There are more than 500 species of sharks, from the tiny dwarf lantern shark (about 8 inches long) to the whale shark, which can grow over 40 feet.
Sharks constantly shed their teeth—some lose up to 30,000 teeth over their lifetime!
Unlike bony fish, sharks don’t have swim bladders. Instead, their large, oily liver helps them stay buoyant.
HOW TO DO A SHARK DISSECTION
If you have a high school marine biology dissection kit, it may include a dogfish shark, a smaller species that’s ideal for studying anatomy.
You will need:
- A specimen
- Dissection tray and tools (scalpel, scissors, probes, and forceps)
- Gloves, goggles, and a lab apron for safety
- Reference diagrams or anatomy charts
- Notebook or lab sheet for observations and sketches
*Always work in a well-ventilated area and follow all safety instructions, including proper handling of the specimen.
First, gather all the necessary items in one place, including a large tray to hold your specimen and supplies.
Begin by looking at the shark’s outer features. Identify the fins (dorsal, pectoral, pelvic, and caudal), the gill slits, and the mouth. Feel the texture of the skin—covered with tiny tooth-like scales called dermal denticles that reduce drag as the shark swims.
We compared our shark to a diagram, and using a stick, I had my high schooler point out each external part of the shark.
8 BENEFITS OF BIOLOGY KITS FOR HIGH SCHOOL
Sharks’ eyes are equipped with a reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum, which helps them see in dim light—similar to a cat’s eyes.
Sharks can detect a single drop of blood in millions of gallons of water due to their powerful sense of smell.
Carefully open the body cavity. You’ll find major organs like:
- Liver- Large and filled with oil, helping with buoyancy.
- Stomach and Intestines – The spiral valve inside increases surface area for digestion.
- Heart and Gills – Show how oxygen travels through the body. Sharks have five to seven pairs of gills instead of lungs.
Depending on your specimen, they might observe male or female organs, helping to understand how sharks reproduce.
- Oviparous – Laying eggs (like the catshark).
- Viviparous – Giving birth to live young (like hammerheads).
- Ovoviviparous – Eggs hatch inside the mother before live birth (like dogfish).
Unlike bony fish, sharks have cartilage instead of bones. Students can feel the flexibility and strength of the cartilage and discuss why it helps sharks move efficiently.
As you study, compare shark anatomy to human or other vertebrate anatomy. Notice similarities in the digestive and circulatory systems—this helps highlight how all living things share certain biological patterns.
