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The researchers' approach to developing the method was adopted from food science, where it is used for control of complex industrial processes. Basically, it involves handling and analysing huge amounts of biological data in a holistic and explorative way. The researchers analysed all compounds a blood sample contains instead of - as is often done in health and medical science - examining what a single biomarker means in relation to a specific disease. "When a huge amount of relevant measurements from many individuals is used to assess health risks - here breast cancer - it creates very high quality information. The more measurements our analyses contain, the better the model handles complex problems," continued Professor Rasmus Bro.

Emerging diseases and potential pandemics make the news nearly every year. Students (and everyone else) may wonder where new infectious diseases come from, how scientists assess the risk of a pandemic, and how we might go about preventing one. This case study uses a PowerPoint presentation to explore these questions by focusing on HIV, a pandemic that began as an emerging disease. The storyline progresses backwards through time as scientists attempt to unravel the origins of a new, mysterious plague. Much of the case relies on audio excerpts from an episode produced by Radiolab, an acclaimed radio show that explores a variety of topics in science and culture (www. radiolab.org). Students use graphics, animations, and sound clips presented in the PowerPoint slides to discuss several sets of questions. The case is suitable for a wide range of high school and college introductory biology courses, as well as undergraduate microbiology, ethics, and public health courses.

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is an invasive plant that can be very hard to eliminate. This PowerPoint-driven case study briefly describes this plant and asks students to identify possible solutions for its control when a homeowner discovers it growing next to his house. The case was designed for an introductory college course, either a general biology course or a plant biology course, and while it can be used as a regular case, it was actually written to assess the students' ability to solve a problem and write an analysis. If you teach with cases, shouldn't you test with cases as well?

Researchers tested pairs of identical and non-identical twins to see how attractive they were to mosquitoes. Identical twins were more likely to have similar levels of attractiveness - suggesting shared genetic factors were at play. The "intriguing" results must now be assessed in larger trials, experts say. Researchers have long tried to understand what drives mosquitoes to bite certain people more than others. Recent work shows the insects may be lured to their victims by body odour.

12 main findings of the Climate Change report

Officials in Panama have ruled that AquaBounty Technologies' has been operating in violation of environmental regulations as it experiments with genetically engineered (GE) salmon in that country. In a decision that could challenge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ongoing safety assessment of AquaBounty's GE salmon, Panamanian officials fined the company $9500. Food & Water Watch, Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth called on the FDA today to terminate its regulatory review and deny AquaBounty's pending regulatory application to sell the company's GE fish in the United States.

An international group of scientists meeting in Washington called on Thursday for what would, in effect, be a moratorium on making inheritable changes to the human genome. The group said it would be "irresponsible to proceed" until the risks could be better assessed and until there was "broad societal consensus about the appropriateness" of any proposed change. The group also held open the possibility for such work to proceed in the future by saying that as knowledge advances, the issue of making permanent changes to the human genome "should be revisited on a regular basis."

This case study uses a jigsaw activity to introduce students to four specific plant responses to climate change: elevational range shifts, phenology shifts, community shifts, and changes in biodiversity. Students become "experts" on one of these responses by reading an article (from Nature, Science, or American Journal of Botany; not included with the case) on their assigned topic and then sharing their expertise with others in class. In order to hone their understanding and increase retention on these topics, students then learn about plant communities found in a specific system-vernal pools or seasonal wetlands typical of Mediterranean climates (a PowerPoint presentation on this topic is included). Students accomplish several small group tasks to assess how different vernal pool plant communities have responded to fluctuations in annual weather patterns and predict how these communities may respond to greater weather variability resulting from future climatic change. This case was written for mid- to upper-level ecology, plant ecology, botany, or environmental studies courses. The material covered may also be suitable for classes examining the role of weather variability/climate change in relation to plants.

n. As such, this set of Essential Elements addresses a small number of science standards, representing a breadth, but not depth, of coverage across the entire standards framework. The purpose of the DLM Essential Elements is to build a bridge from the content in the general education science framework to academic expectations for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. This version of the Essential Elements will provide content for science assessments for at least the next two years. The DLM Science Consortium intends to develop a learning map based on research about how students learn science content and engage in scientific and engineering practices in the next phase of the project. Revisions will be made when the science map is complete, at which time we anticipate the EEs will be aligned to the map with revisions and additions as appropriate.

With that in mind, we formed the first storylining working group, which is open to anyone to join at any time. The group is led by Dr. Jason Crean and Mrs. Kristin Rademaker and meets once a month to maintain that open collaboration.  We are able to offer Professional Development Credits to participants with an open-door policy.    We began this project with 3 goals in mind: Train educators in three-dimensional learning, teaching, and coherent curricular design through sustained collaborative work and by both experiencing and doing it themselves;  Create coherent storylines, including embedded three-dimensional assessment pieces that will evolve over time through continuous feedback from pilot teachers; and most of all Share our work- for teachers, by teachers, for free-  with any stakeholders interested in making the fundamental shift towards a three-dimensional classroom. 

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets.

National Science Digital Library 

EDpuzzle-video

List of activities, games, and lessons to prepare for exams

inquiryHub high school and middle school curricula are aligned to the Framework and guided by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Using research-based approaches to teaching science in a deeply digital environment, students contribute resources, observations, data, and analyses to solve larger scientific problems.  inquiryHub curricula are designed to go beyond traditional science content. By focusing on phenomena relevant to students' lives and communities, the coursesprovides opportunities to authentically engage with science and engineering practices.