Author: Shannan Muskopf
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Cow Eye Dissection
Students dissect a cow eye as part of a unit on anatomy or the senses. This guide contains step by step instructions on how to cut the eye and identify the major features. Cow eyes can be purchased from Amazon or biology supply companies. You can also use sheep eyes, which are slightly less expensive.…
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HHMI and Case Studies
HHMI Biointeractive has many interactive resources, case studies, and data analysis. Here is a list of my favorites: Interactive Case Study For Studying Elephant Communication Effects of Fungicides on Bumble Bee Colonies Human Skin Color: Evidence for Selection Lactase Persistence: Evidence for Selection Exploring Trophic Cascades Exploring Biomes in Gorongosa Nutrient Cycling in the Serengeti
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Investigation: Rat Dissection
Provides instructions for dissecting a preserved rat. Students start with the external anatomy, then locate muscles, bones, and then the major organs.
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Case Study – Lice and Human Evolution
Google slides present a case of human evolution and the evolution of body lice. Students read details and data and answer questions in small groups.
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Evolution and the Rock Pocket Mouse (HHMI)
This activity was modified from the HHMI Activity on color variation in the rock pocket mouse which illustrates evolutionary concepts such as fitness, natural selection, and mutation.
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Mitosis Coloring
Students read about each of the phases of the cell cycle and label and color a diagram that shows details of interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Students must also label cell structures like the centrioles, aster, spindle, and nuclear membrane. This worksheet can be used as reinforcement for a lesson on mitosis and…
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How Mitochondria Produce Energy for the Cell
This worksheet is intended for basic biology students to learn how cellular respiration provides energy for the cell. Students color a mitochondrion which shows how the inner membrane is folded into cristae and indicates that mitochondria are organelles that have their own DNA. Finally, students examine the equation for respiration and compare it to…
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Photosynthesis Lab – How Light Color Affects Growth
A virtual simulator that shows how plant growth changes in response to the color of light. Students measure the heights of plants grown under different colors.
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How Does Photosynthesis Work?
This handout can be used with a lecture on photosynthesis, where students label the main features of the light-dependent reaction and the Calvin cycle.
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Investigation: Observing Diffusion & Semi-Permeable Membranes
Units on the cell will also include lessons about how the cell transports materials across the membrane. For beginning biology students who don’t have a strong foundation in physical science, the ideas of entropy, solutions, and concentrations can be overwhelming. Diffusion is easy to explain with a perfume bottle or food coloring. …
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Toxicology Resources for the Biology Class
Resources for investigating how poison affects animal physiology. Students can read the “Poisoner’s Handbook” and perform experiments on worms.
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The Blue Bottle Demonstration
Most biology teachers must eventually accept the awful truth that they will need to include chemistry in their biology classes. For years, the only chemistry I had to worry about was the very simple photosynthesis equation which was fairly easy to explain and also presented in an “unbalanced” form. When I started teaching AP…
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A Simple Demonstration for the Scientific Method
A simple demonstration using bromothymol blue to show students how the scientific method can be incorporated to determine why the chemical changed color after you blow into it with a straw.
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Case Study: John Snow and the Origin of Epidemiology
This case study explores a time before the Germ Theory when doctors were uncertain how disease was spread. Current models, such as the humoral or miasma model could not fully explain how cholera infected some households, but not others. This case story explores London, England in 1854 after an outbreak of cholera which had…
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Investigation: Cellular Respiration
Students set up respirometers to measure the oxygen consumption of germinating peas in cold and warm water, and compared to a living organism.