Group items tagged

Common Core Standards for Science and Technical Subjects focus mainly literacy.   Teachers of science are expected to promote skills in students that allow them to read technical nonfiction texts.  Reading standards can be summarized as follows:

video summarizing diffusion and osmosis ~5 minutes

article summarizing key findings

Article summarizing transgenic animals

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.

7 minute video summarizing translation, cartoon style

These 106 in-depth tutorials are designed to illustrate and explain some of the many complex topics in biology. Each tutorial has four elements: an introduction that describes the topic to be illustrated and puts it into a broader context, a detailed animation that clearly illustrates the topic (there are a few tutorials that include simulations or other types of content, rather than animations), a conclusion that summarizes what you should have learned from the animation, and a quiz on the topic covered.

2:40 video summarizing key points occurring during each stage of mitosis.

Article summarizing cell division with time lapse cell division video of 30hours pro vs eukaryotic division.

Science Forward is a new type of undergraduate science seminar, helping students to see science as a lens on the world, a way of approaching questions and challenges. The course focuses on the critical thinking skills in use across the scientific disciplines, which we have summarized as the "science senses." Starting with critical issues in the contemporary world, from climate change to the social and economic implications of artificial intelligence, the course encourages active learning and inquiry-based instruction.

article summarizing transgenic and recombinant organisms

graphic summarizing the DNA fingerprinting technique

The article "Data back ban of artificial trans fats" (10.8 readability score) summarizes new research showing that banning artificial trans fats in foods could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Students can focus on details reported in the article, follow connections to earlier articles about trans fats research, engage in a classroom discussion of related scientific and government policy questions and make connections between the science of food and their health. Students can also conduct their own experiments to analyze foods for fats and then research the types of fats within different foods to make recommendations about dietary consumption.

Students can manipulate mutations in bunnies, such as fur color and teeth length. By altering the environmental factors, students can see how the bunny populations change over time. For example, in a warm environment, more bunnies will have brown fur, but in the cold environment, more bunnies will have white fur. The student worksheet includes instructions on how the simulator works. Then students perform a variety of "experiments" to explore mutations in the populations. I include this as part of a unit on evolution, so students are familiar with VIDA charts. Students complete a chart at the end of the activity to summarize how variations in populations lead to adaptation.