Paul Strode describes the HHMI BioInteractive Click and Learn activity on DNA sequencing and phylogenetic trees. He describes how it teaches students DNA sequence alignment, and how those sequence differences allow researchers to determine relationships between species.
Visit www.biointeractive.org/phylo-tree to use the interactive resource, and to find related materials. Subscribe to the BioInteractive YouTube channel to get the latest educator tips!
The Hawaiian Bobtail squid has a remarkable symbiotic relationship with a species of marine bacteria that can produce light by a controlled chemical reaction. Also featured on the HHMI DVD, Exploring Biodiversity: The Search for New Medicines, available free from HHMI.
This activity supports the HHMI short film The Origin of Species: The Making of a Theory. Students are presented with a map of the Malay Archipelago and some field notebooks with observations of animals. By plotting which animals are found on which island, the students discover the Wallace Line-a sharp boundary that separates distinct Asian and Australian fauna.
"Survival of the Fittest: Variations in the Clam Species Clamys sweetus" is a guided inquiry. This series of hands-on activities complements the HHMI DVD Evolution: Constant Change and Common Threads and requires simple materials such as M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, food storage bags, and paper cups. This activity has been designed to engage students in thinking about the mechanism of natural selection by encouraging them to formulate questions that can be answered through scientific investigation, data collection, and pattern recognition.
This 8-minute video is derived from the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science. In it, Dr. Charles Sawyers explains the difference between proto-oncogenes, oncogenes, and tumor suppressor genes, and how mutations in these genes drive cancer development. "Cancer genes" can affect several cellular processes that he groups into three categories: cell growth and survival (i.e., genes involved in the cell cycle, cell fate (i.e., genes involved in cell differentiation), and genome maintenance (i.e, genes involved in DNA repair.)
Students begin by watching the online video clip and completing a worksheet. After that assignment, instructors can decide which of the two activities (or both!) to use in class. In Activity 1, students identify the locations on chromosomes of genes involved in cancer, using a set of 139 "Cancer Gene Cards" and associated posters. In Activity 2, students explore the genetic basis of cancer by examining cards that list genetic mutations found in the DNA of actual cancer patients. Small-group work spurs discussion about the genes that are mutated in different types of cancers and the cellular processes that the affected genes control.
The Activity 1 and 2 Overview document provides short summaries of the two activities along with key concepts and learning objectives, background information, references and rubrics, and answers to students' questions. Both cancer discovery activities are appropriate for first-year high school biology (honors or regular), AP and IB Biology. Activity 2 is also appropriate for an undergraduate freshman biology class.
One of the most important molecules relating to cancer is called p53. This Click and Learn explains the structure and function of the p53 protein as well as how the protein's activity is regulated. Learn why p53 is called the guardian of the genome and how interfering with its function can lead to cancer.
2:18 Human embryonic development depends on stem cells. During the course of development, cells divide, migrate, and specialize. Early in development, a group of cells called the inner cell mass (ICM) forms. These cells are able to produce all the tissues of the body. Later in development, during gastrulation, the three germ layers form, and most cells become more restricted in the types of cells that they can produce.
31min video The epic voyages of Darwin and Wallace led each to independently discover the natural origin of species and to formulate the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Find out how researchers identify genetic diseases and determine possible treatments.
short film, genes as medicine
click and learn, central dogma
scientists at work, the search for a mutated gene
central dogma card activity
animation, CF mechanism and treatment
click and learn. CRISPR-Cas9
A mini-documentary discussing the remarkable regenerative capabilities of the planarian, and how HHMI researcher Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado uses them to study the biology of stem cells.
In order to develop complex scientific explanations, students need to have many opportunities to grapple with a concept, look at it from various points of view, and analyze data representing different relationships. I plan the sequence and flow of my AP Environmental Science course strategically to ensure I am making these connections using a concept called "curriculum spiraling."
Penn State University anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski walks us through the evidence that the different shades of skin color among human populations arose as adaptations to the intensity of ultraviolet radiation in different parts of the world.
Meiosis, the form of cell division unique to egg and sperm production, sets the stage for sex determination by creating sperm that carry either an X or a Y sex chromosome. But what is it about the X or Y that determines sex? Before a meiotic cell divides, its two sets of chromosomes come together and cross over, or swap, segments. The first animation shows normal crossing over, where the X and Y chromosomes exchange pieces only at their tips. The second animation shows a rare mistake in which the Y chromosome transfers a gene called SRY to the X chromosome, resulting in sex-reversed babies. Studies of sex-reversed individuals led researchers to identify the master switch for sex determination, the SRY gene, which tells a fetus to become a boy.
Meiosis, the form of cell division unique to egg and sperm production, sets the stage for sex determination by creating sperm that carry either an X or a Y sex chromosome. But what is it about the X or Y that determines sex? Before a meiotic cell divides, its two sets of chromosomes come together and cross over, or swap, segments. The first animation shows normal crossing over, where the X and Y chromosomes exchange pieces only at their tips. The second animation shows a rare mistake in which the Y chromosome transfers a gene called SRY to the X chromosome, resulting in sex-reversed babies. Studies of sex-reversed individuals led researchers to identify the master switch for sex determination, the SRY gene, which tells a fetus to become a boy.
Four talks focus on sex determination-the molecular and genetic mechanisms that determine whether an organism will be male, female or a hermaphrodite.
Meisosis animation 49:00-53:00
53:21 SRY animation Y to X crossing over
53:30 SRY transfer 54:45
In the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science, Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Christopher A. Walsh of Boston Children's Hospital will reveal the breathtaking pace of discoveries into the genetic causes of various types of cancers and diseases of the nervous system, and discuss the impact of those discoveries on our understanding of normal human development and disease.
In this classroom activity, there are chemical formulas and 3-D structural diagrams of some interesting natural and artificial molecules that students can build with a kit. To build some models, students will have to team up with one or more colleagues.