Tag: learning

  • Case Study – Mitosis, Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine

    Case Study – Mitosis, Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine

    Students in my anatomy class get a quick review of the cell and mitosis. This activity on HPV shows how the cell cycle relates to overall health. In fact, many of the chapters in anatomy have anchoring phenomena on diseases and health. For example, cystic fibrosis is a cellular transport problem, but has serious effects…

  • Skeleton Label Using Slides

    Skeleton Label Using Slides

    Many students in health, anatomy, and biology classes learn the bones of the skeleton. To introduce the topic with my anatomy students, I usually lay random bones on the tables. Students guess where the bone is found in the body. Some are easy, like the femur. The scapula usually stumps them. It can be a…

  • Can Plants Learn?

    Can Plants Learn?

    An experiment to determine if plants could learn by association Identify key features, such as variables, controls. Based on a real experiment in Nature.com.

  • Is Group Work Really Effective?

    Is Group Work Really Effective?

    I was out for a day last week and left a case study for my anatomy students.  The case was about six pages long and starts with a doctor examining a pregnant woman and hearing what he thought was a heart murmur in the fetus.   The pages build upon each other, asking students to…

  • Writing to Learn – A Common Core Standard

    Writing to Learn – A Common Core Standard

    A collection of activities for students to use writing assignments to engage in lessons and learn scientific concepts.

  • Are Exit Tickets a Good Way to Assess Understanding?

    Are Exit Tickets a Good Way to Assess Understanding?

    My genetics unit for Freshman Biology always starts with a history lesson on Mendel and our understanding of heredity at that time.   One of the main themes of this lesson is a comparison between two ways of thinking about inheritance and two competing theories:    The Particulate Theory and the Blending Theory. Students struggle…

  • Three Elements of Authentic Learning Projects

    Three Elements of Authentic Learning Projects

    One movement in education is to increase the number of AUTHENTIC learning modules, where students look at real-world problems, and work out solutions. This is often done in a collaborative environment where students work in small groups to produce an artifact or presentation that demonstrates their mastery of the topic.

  • Resources for Teaching and Modeling Mitosis

    Resources for Teaching and Modeling Mitosis

    Teaching resources to help students understand the process of mitosis. Use models and internet simulations to illustrate the process.