biology

This is the second set of web projects to emerge from The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, a course offered at Bryn Mawr College in Spring 2011. Two months into the semester, students are thinking through aspects of the story of evolution beyond the context of biology which are of particular interest or use to them.

Take a look around, and feel warmly welcome to respond in the comment area available at the end of each paper. What strikes, intrigues, puzzles you...what, among your reactions, might be of interest or use to the writer, or others in the class, or others who--exploring the internet--might be in search of a thoughtful conversation about evolution and literature?

These are the first web projects to emerge from The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, a course offered at Bryn Mawr College in Spring 2011. One month into the semester, students are thinking through some of the problems that have been raised in their minds by our discussion of biological evolution.

Take a look around, and feel warmly welcome to respond in the comment area available at the end of each paper. What strikes, intrigues, puzzles you...what, among your reactions, might be of interest or use to the writer, or others in the class, or others who--exploring the internet--might be in search of a thoughtful conversation about evolution and literature?

Students in Brain, Education, and Inquiry at Bryn Mawr College write web papers on topics of interest to themselves. These are made available via links from the index below to encourage further exploration by others having similar or related interests. All papers have associated on-line forums for continuing conversation.

These teacher notes summarize important concepts concerning mitosis and meiosis and propose a sequence of learning activities that will help students understand and learn these concepts and progress beyond common misconceptions. Students also learn how understanding meiosis and fertilization provides the basis for understanding how inheritance occurs.  Links to suggested activities are provided, including a hands-on simulation of mitosis, meiosis and fertilization, a card sort activity, a discussion activity about the effects of mistakes in meiosis, and a vocabulary review game.

The attached file has the key concepts and suggested learning activities.

This game helps students to enjoy reviewing vocabulary related to mitosis, meiosis and fertilization.  Each card in the deck has a target vocabulary word and two related taboo words that the student may not use as he/she gives clues so the other students in his/her small group can guess the target word.  Many students have trouble learning the substantial new vocabulary required for biology, and this game lets students have fun while reinforcing their understanding of key terms. 

The first file below provides the master copy for creating the card decks for this game, and the second file below provides the teacher notes, including instructions for playing the game.

Mitosis and Meiosis Card Sort Activity