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"What is Ambitious Science Teaching? Great teaching can be learned. This web site provides a vision of ambitious science instruction for elementary, middle school and high school classrooms. Ambitious teaching deliberately aims to support students of all backgrounds to deeply understand science ideas, participate in the activities of the discipline, and solve authentic problems. We feature 4 core sets of teaching practices that support these goals. These core sets make up the Ambitious Science Teaching Framework. The framework has been based on classroom research from the past 30 years-research that has asked, "What kinds of talk, tasks, and tools do students need in order to fully engage in meaningful forms of science learning?""

This case study is used to teach undergraduate students about hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), a controversial method for extracting methane from shale. The controversy arises from claims that chemicals used in the fracking process and the methane itself find their way into drinking water and are also sometimes found at dangerous levels in the air. The case study begins in a college chemistry class where a student inquires about a news item he saw about residents setting their tap water on fire. The instructor uses this as an opportunity for the students to research hydrofracking and natural gas, and she then integrate these topics into their present study of isotopes. The class first examines what isotopes are by using a guided inquiry based activity. The students then learn how mass spectrometry, which uses the principles just learned about isotopes, is employed to determine the source of methane in contaminated wells. This case study is designed for freshman chemistry students and students in environmental studies.

This directed case study was developed in order to present genomic data to students, allow them to interpret the impact of genetic variations on phenotype, and to explore precision medicine. Students are introduced to "Josie," a college sophomore who decides to have her genome sequenced after learning about genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in class. As students work  through the case, they learn about the different technologies that can be used in GWAS studies and interpret Josie's results for a subset of genetic markers that affect a range of traits from pharmacogenetics to disease risk alleles and non-pathogenic traits. Students are confronted with ethical issues such as duty to inform, actionable results, and variants of unknown significance (VUS). Students are also asked to reflect on their feelings about getting genomic testing for themselves. An optional activity for advanced students (included in the teaching notes) involves using the Gene database at NCBI to explore variants of the CYP2C9 gene. The case study is appropriate for use in undergraduate genetics or molecular biology classrooms.

This case study synthesizes students' knowledge of the central dogma and cell structure by examining a rare health disorder in order to understand protein targeting and its medical consequences. Students first identify the molecular alteration in affected members of a family with renal Fanconi syndrome as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (2014). Students then use an online bioinformatics tool to analyze the wildtype and mutant proteins and examine their subcellular localization. Finally, students use this information to explain the symptoms of affected family members. The case is delivered with a PowerPoint presentation that includes a selection of brainstorming prompts and "clicker questions." Students complete a worksheet (included in the teaching notes) before class, making the activity suitable for a flipped classroom. A second worksheet (also included in the teaching notes) is completed during class. The case is written for an introductory biology course for majors, but could also be used as a unit capstone in a non-majors human biology course; the case is also scalable to upper division courses in physiology that specifically explore kidney function.

When Jordan is diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiform), his college plans are unexpectedly put on hold. This scenario is presented in order to teach students about gene regulation, as the efficacy of the drug Jordan receives for post-surgical treatment is dependent upon the activity level of a gene encoding a protein involved in DNA repair. This "flipped" case study requires students to prepare in advance outside of class by watching several short videos that have been selected to teach the basics of how cancer forms as well as the role of epigenetics in gene silencing. Inside of class, the case is delivered using progressive disclosure format in which students gradually receive additional information to answer a series of directed questions. To determine a treatment plan for Jordan, students analyze data from a research study involving patients treated for his specific type of cancer. The case is designed for advanced high school biology classes as well as lower-level undergraduate general biology courses for non-majors and majors.

This "clicker case" gives students an opportunity to apply their understanding of three different types of selection (directional, stabilizing, and disruptive) to a variety of model systems. The case describes each type of selection in detail, presents a paradigm case of each, and then uses clicker questions to test whether students can identify the mode of selection in other systems (answers included in the teaching notes).  Nine different studies are presented so that students gain a broad understanding of selection and how environmental factors can impact species differently. The case concludes with an optional discussion activity (also discussed in the teaching notes) to deepen understanding. Although designed for a high school classroom, it could easily be used in a lower-level college course as an engaging introduction or review of concepts. The case could be used at the beginning of an evolution unit, but it would be helpful if the students were familiar with natural selection before completing the activity.

In this "clicker case," students learn about sex determination, meiosis, and chromosomal "crossing over" through the story of Santhi Soundararajan, an athlete from Kathakkurichi, India, who was stripped of a medal at the 2006 Asian Games after failing to pass a sex test. The case is called a clicker case because it combines the use of student personal response systems (clickers) with case teaching methods and formats. The case itself is a PowerPoint presentation (~2 MB) shown in class that is punctuated by questions students respond to using their clickers. It can be adapted for use without these technologies. Developed for an introductory biology class for both majors and non-majors, the case could also be used in an anatomy and physiology course or an endocrinology course.

In this "clicker case," students learn about sex determination, meiosis, and chromosomal "crossing over" through the story of Santhi Soundararajan, an athlete from Kathakkurichi, India, who was stripped of a medal at the 2006 Asian Games after failing to pass a sex test. The case is called a clicker case because it combines the use of student personal response systems (clickers) with case teaching methods and formats. The case itself is a PowerPoint presentation (~2 MB) shown in class that is punctuated by questions students respond to using their clickers. It can be adapted for use without these technologies. Developed for an introductory biology class for both majors and non-majors, the case could also be used in an anatomy and physiology course or an endocrinology course.

The theory of evolution by natural selection is simple, elegant, and profound. Yet, a large number of undergraduate students including biology majors, medical students, and pre-service science teachers maintain a large set of misconceptions that interfere with a solid understanding of the process of natural selection. It is also well known that lecturing is an insufficient strategy to help students confront and correct these misconceptions. This activity uses the evolution of coat color in oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus) as the basis of a case study in which students investigate the role of variation, heritability, and selection in the evolution of a trait. Students examine graphs, data, and excerpts from a series of papers that have been published about this system over the last 100 years. The content is delivered as an interrupted case and encourages peer-to-peer teaching and interaction. The case is appropriate for use in non-major, introductory, or advanced biology courses.

In this interrupted case study, students shadow an endocrinologist as she tries to determine what is wrong with Angela Barber. Angela is a middle-aged woman presenting with symptoms suggestive of a thyroid issue. Students are given background information, patient history, and results from thyroid-specific blood tests. The exercise emphasizes the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis and particularly highlights the role of negative feedback. Students will use results from serum thyrotropin and thyroid hormone level tests, as well as patient symptoms, to come up with a diagnosis. In preparation for the diagnosis, students are asked to compare the endocrine profiles of patients with Graves' disease, Hashimoto's disease, iodine deficiency (primary hypothyroidism), and various tumors. The case was developed for college-level biology majors in a physiology course, but also has been used successfully for pre-nursing students in a non-majors anatomy and physiology course. Thus, this activity would be suitable for majors in physiology or pre-medical students, as well as allied health majors.

Although Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a fundamental part of introductory biology classes, students often have difficulty understanding its implications. This interrupted case study places students in the role of small teams who are conducting preliminary research into the impact of roads on the population structure of timber rattlesnakes in order to apply for a grant for further research. Research groups consisting of 3-4 students work through a series of questions allowing them to use HWE principles to discover for themselves how deviations from HWE can have implications for conservation biology. Periodic interruptions with help sheets (see Supplemental Materials) allow teachers to maintain an active role in the students' progress, while also demonstrating the collaborative nature of scientific research. Ultimately students formulate formal emails summarizing and interpreting their findings in order to "apply" for the grant. The case is designed for undergraduate students in introductory biology or in lower-level population genetics/conservation courses where connecting basic genetic principles to ecology and sustainability is key.

In this directed case study students follow a nurse practitioner and work with a diagnostics team to determine what is wrong with Tristan, an infant who comes to the clinic with multiple bruises. Students are given background and patient history, and are then given results of various blood tests ordered by the diagnostics team. The exercise emphasizes the physiological process of coagulation and the importance of various clotting factors, especially factor VIII. Students will be introduced to results from several blood tests, including: complete blood count, partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, metabolic panel, and factor VIII assay. The patient is ultimately diagnosed with severe hemophilia A and the case then introduces students to this disorder, the genetic determinants, the incidence, and ways to manage the disease. The data in this case are real and the story represents the medical history of an actual patient. Originally developed for pre-nursing students, this activity would also be suitable for majors in physiology or pre-medical students; it could also be used in an introductory genetics or biology course.

This case study challenges students to differentiate between anecdotal evidence and science-based evidence related to human health. The case uses a "flipped" approach in which students watch two preparatory videos prior to attending class. The first video defines anecdotal evidence while the second characterizes the different categories of scientific studies that generate evidence that is not anecdotal. Students watch the videos, analyze scenarios for anecdotal evidence, and think about what types of evidence they use to make health-related decisions. When students meet in class, they work in groups to compare and contrast these different categories of scientific studies and classify actual research studies aided by a dichotomous key for distinguishing between different types of studies related to human health. Primarily designed for students in introductory general biology courses, the activity could also be useful for lower division nutrition, physiology, or non-major biology courses or any course where students need to differentiate between science and pseudoscience.

This case study teaches students about allopatric speciation through an investigation of the benthic and limnetic sticklebacks of Paxton Lake, which are among the youngest species on Earth, diverging from each other after the Pleistocene glaciers melted and the Gulf Islands formed. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have carried out a variety of fascinating studies on these hardy little fish. Results from this research (formatted as data sheets included in the teaching notes) are provided to students who design experiments and then compare actual data to investigate why benthic and limnetic sticklebacks seldom interbreed in Paxton Lake. Developed for a first-year biology course for majors organized around the general theme of evolution and the history of life on Earth, this case study is an updated version of another case in the collection, "Something's Fishy in Paxton Lake" (Sharp, 2001). The current version is especially suited for a flipped classroom in which students prepare for class ahead of time with a reading assignment that also involves the viewing of a video by the case authors that introduces the mechanisms of allopatric speciation.

This set of mini cases on the ecology of eastern cottontail rabbits is designed to give students practical experience using statistics in a scientific context. Given a dataset and experimental design, groups of students are asked to play the part of a wildlife management researcher to determine the results for each study. Students practice the scientific process and gain experience making hypotheses and predictions, choosing an appropriate statistical test, interpreting and displaying results, and presenting data to others. Students choose between four basic, commonly used, statistical tests (t-test, one-way ANOVA, linear regression, and Chi-square test), and justify their choices. This activity was developed for undergraduate level students and is applicable to biology courses, particularly those dealing with ecology or management. The case is designed for student groups, but could be modified into clicker questions or individual assignments.

This case study was developed to teach students the importance of understanding the behavior of wildlife, explore the difficulty in making management decisions when the public is invested in a species, and to help students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills. Students learn about the conservation status and behavior of the black rhinoceros by reading a primary literature article and answering a series of questions. They then listen to a Radiolab podcast that explores the moral dilemma of whether it is ethically appropriate to shoot an endangered rhinoceros if the purpose is to raise conservation funds. Students are assigned one of five positions and write essays to prepare for a town hall style debate in which they examine the pros and cons of such a decision. The Radiolab podcast is based on real events, and is also representative of many ethical dilemmas that wildlife managers regularly face. This case study is appropriate for several upper division biology courses.

The purpose of this case is to teach introductory college biology students the basic process of mitosis, focusing on the fundamental cellular processes that occur during each of the stages-prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase and cytokinesis. It would also be appropriate for AP Biology students. The case is framed around solving a murder. The murder plot involves a naturally-occurring poison derived from Yew trees, known as paclitaxel. Paclitaxel is a mitotic inhibitor that works by inhibiting the depolymerization of microtubules so that the cell is arrested in metaphase. At the end of the case, students will be able to describe the basic process of mitosis, including the fundamental processes that occur in each stage. The discovery of paclitaxel led to the development of the chemotherapeutic drug, Taxol ®, and the case concludes by having students think about the correlations between poisons and chemotherapies. The case involves the use of videos, one of which was made by the author for this case, and can be used in a flipped classroom.

In this interrupted case study, students meet a pair of fictional newlyweds on their way to Australia for their honeymoon. Initially eager to enjoy the sun, sand, and sights, Tanya and Julien Brahim end up more intimately acquainted with the local wildlife than they had planned. Tanya is bitten by a venomous arachnid and Julien has a run-in with a dangerous cnidarian. This case study was created to help students solidify their knowledge about cardiac myocytes, particularly ion movements associated with action potential generation in autorhythmic and contractile cells. As students work through the case, they will complete fill-in-the-blank paragraphs describing the heart, diagram membrane potentials and ion movements, and compare and contrast action potentials from different cell types. Written for a course in human physiology, the case requires some prior knowledge of membrane potentials, equilibrium potentials, ion gradients, neuronal action potentials, and skeletal muscle action potentials. An optional pre-case assignment (included in the teaching notes) can be used to make sure that students are familiar with the necessary concepts.

"This case study uses a PowerPoint presentation to guide students through two activities designed to teach them about the basics of coronavirus diagnosis and transmission. The first activity involves a set of five "clicker questions" that students answer using either a personal response system, online polling application, or show of hands as they consider symptoms and test results of a hypothetical patient. The second activity is an outbreak simulation in which students consider the spread of a pathogen in various geographical settings and from different perspectives. Students work together to draft a list of precautions that could be taken to limit the spread of the disease and minimize healthy individuals' risk of contracting it. The simulation is designed for a biology lesson pertaining to outbreaks. Although coronavirus is used as the model, the concepts of disease transmission and prevention covered in this case are relevant to many diseases."

This case study follows a young cystic fibrosis (CF) patient named Lucas. Through Lucas's story and interactions between his parents and pediatrician, students learn about the scientific background and basis of CF. By reviewing email correspondence between Lucas's parents and various doctors, students gain an overview of CF research. CF has become a model disease in certain undergraduate biology classrooms due to its relatively clear mechanism and genetic basis. This case asks students to come up with their own ideas to improve on an existing line of research - gene therapy - in treating CF. During the process, students will gain a better appreciation of the innovative nature of science and develop research skills such as finding, understanding and analyzing primary literature. The activity was originally designed for first- and second-year students as part of an extracurricular case competition, but may be used for any undergraduate biology level. The case assumes basic (high school level) knowledge of genetics, biochemistry, cell biology and physiology.

"I Heart Running" is a case study in which students diagnose the cause of exercise-induced tachycardia in an otherwise healthy, 27-year-old female. The patient, Sam, is a long-distance runner and realizes that her exercising heart rate reaches over 200 beats per minute. As the story of Sam's encounters with her physician develops, students are given results from multiple laboratory tests and detailed patient background information.  Students are guided through the material with a series of questions with the ultimate goal of determining the cause of the exercise-induced tachycardia that Sam experiences. The case study is based on actual laboratory results and was designed for students in an upper-level undergraduate Human Physiology course. In this activity students will learn about heart rate, cardiovascular physiology, and oxygen carrying capacity, and factors which influence these concepts, as they try to diagnose Sam.