Properties and Functions of the Cell and Trophic System
Focus:
This module is developed for introductory biology courses (semesters 1 & 2) for majors. There is a large amount of material that needs to be covered during each semester. The content is also standardized between the multiple sections on campus, multiple campuses in our college and the state universities.
A general news article on scientific research will be used to introduce some topics and to generate interest among the students, which will then be followed by material from a primary article. They will then learn how the experiment was carried out and or how the data was analyzed. I plan to introduce 2 modules to each of the general biology courses.
Overview:
Applicable for Courses:
General Biology,Educational Level:
Introductory LevelRoadmap Objectives:
-
- Article: News article # 1A: Newly discovered human fat cell opens up new opportunities for future treatment of obesity. From the Science Daily News article # 1B: “Toggle Switch” to burn fat identified. From the Science Daily Primary article # 1: miR-155 regulates differentiation of brown and beige adipocytes via bistable circuit. Yong Chen, Franziska Siegel, Stefanie Kipschull, Bodo Haas, Holger Frohlich, Gunter Meister & Alexander Pfeifer. Nature Communications 4, 1769
- Content area/major concepts: cell chemistry, macromolecules, and scientific method.
- Methods or technology used to obtain data: northern blotting, western blotting
- How the CREATE strategy was used:
- Biggest teaching challenge: This topic is covered very early in the semester and students may not know some of the concepts that are needed to understand some of the experiments.
-
- Article: News article # 2: Everything you know about osmosis is (probably) wrong. From the Science Daily Primary article # 2: Osmosis is not driven by water dilution. Eric M. Kramer and David R. Myers, Trends in Plant Science 14:4 Instead of directly talking about membrane transport, diffusion and osmosis, this would be better way to direct students into this topic.
- Content area/major concepts: membrane structure, membrane transport, concentration gradient, diffusion, permeability, osmosis, active and passive transport.
- Methods or technology used to obtain data: membrane potential
- How the CREATE strategy was used:
- Biggest teaching challenge: This topic is covered early in the semester and students may not know some of the concepts that are needed to understand some of the experiments.
-
- Article: News article # 3: Predators affect the carbon cycle, study shows. From Science Daily Primary article # 3: Trophic cascade alters ecosystem carbon exchange Michael S. Strickland, Dror Hawlena, Aspen Reese, Mark A. Bradford and Oswald J. Schmitz . PNAS 10: 1073
- Content area/major concepts: trophic structure, herbivore, carnivore interactions
- Methods or technology used to obtain data:
- How the CREATE strategy was used:
- Biggest teaching challenge:
-
- Article: News article # 4: One gene many mutations: key that controls coat color in mice evolved nine times. From Science daily Primary article # 4: Genetic basis of adaptation: lessons from concealing coloration in pocket mice. Michael Nachman. Genetica 123:125-136
- Content area/major concepts: natural selection, mutation, and data analysis
- Methods or technology used to obtain data:
- How the CREATE strategy was used:
- Biggest teaching challenge: