Hands-on Biology Activities

In the lab, Breathing and Holding Your Breath, students begin with interactive activities to develop a basic understanding of why cells need oxygen and need to get rid of carbon dioxide, how the circulatory and respiratory systems cooperate to bring oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from cells all over the body, and how the nervous system regulates breathing. Then, students carry out an experiment to test whether changing levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide influence how long they can hold their breath. 

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In the lab, Regulation of Human Heart Rate, students learn how to measure heart rate accurately. Then students design and carry out an experiment to test the effects of an activity or stimulus on heart rate, analyze and interpret the data, and present their experiments in a poster session. In this activity students learn about both cardiac physiology and scientific method.

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In the lab, Invertebrate Diversity, students compare the external anatomy and locomotion of earthworms, mealworms, crickets and crayfish, all of which can be purchased at low cost from local pet stores.  Discussion questions help students understand the evolutionary basis of observed similarities and differences. This activity can be used as an introduction to the Annelid and Arthropod phyla and the principle that form matches function.

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In the lab, Some Similarities between the Spread of an Infectious Disease and Population Growth, a simple simulation demonstrates exponential spread of infectious disease in a population, and discussion questions develop student understanding of how human diseases spread. Additional discussion questions and a graphing activity develop an understanding of exponential and logistic population growth.

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In the lab, Evolution by Natural Selection, principles of natural selection are demonstrated by a simulation involving different color pompoms on different color and texture habitats and student feeders equipped with different types of feeding implement. Students learn how different adaptations contribute to differences in survival and reproductive success, which results in changing frequencies of genotypes in the populations.

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In the lab, DNA, students extract DNA from their cheek cells and relate the steps in the procedure to the characteristics of cells and DNA. Students learn about DNA structure and replication during the intervals required for the extraction procedure.

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In the lab, Using Blood Tests to Identify Babies and Criminals, students learn the genetics and immunobiology of the ABO blood type system, using simple chemicals and logical reasoning to solve a murder mystery and to determine whether two babies were switched in the hospital.

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In the simulation activity, Dragon Genetics – Understanding Inheritance, students mimic the processes of meiosis and fertilization to investigate the inheritance of multiple genes and then use their understanding of concepts such as dominant/recessive alleles, incomplete dominance, sex-linked inheritance, and epistasis to interpret the results of the simulation. This activity can be used as a culminating activity after you have introduced classical genetics, and it can serve as formative assessment to identify any areas of confusion that require additional clarification.

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In the lab, Dragon Genetics: Independent Assortment and Gene Linkage, students learn the principles of independent assortment and gene linkage in activities which analyze inheritance of multiple genes on the same or different chromosomes in hypothetical dragons. Students learn how these principles derive from the behavior of chromosomes during meiosis and fertilization.

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