Hands-on Activities for Teaching Biology to High School
or Middle School Students

Introduction to Activities
Is Yeast Alive?
Cellular Respiration in Yeast
Moldy Jell-O
Who Took Jerell’s iPod? -- An Organic Compound Mystery
Diffusion: Molecular Transport across Membranes
Investigating Osmosis
Mitosis, Meiosis and Fertilization
Genetics
Dragon Genetics I
Dragon Genetics II
Using Blood Tests to Identify Babies and Criminals
DNA
From Gene to Protein - Transcription and Translation
Evolution by Natural Selection
Using a Dichotomous Key to Identify Flowers (and the murderer)
Some Similarities between the Spread of An Infectious Disease and Population Growth
What Parts of a Plant Do We Eat?
Invertebrate Diversity
Regulation of Human Heart Rate
Breathing and Holding Your Breath
Studying Our Senses
Sexual Health and Reproduction
Get the Lead Out! Game

Download all of the PDFs in a zipped archive. (Caveat: file size is about 23MB and will take a while if you're using a modem.)

Ingrid Waldron is retired from the Biology Department at the University of Pennsylvania and Jennifer Doherty is a post-doctoral researcher of science education at Michigan State University. They have developed hands-on, minds-on biology activities for grades 6-12 in collaboration with colleagues at Penn and K-12 teachers. Serendip is pleased to make these activities available to a wider audience. Waldron and Doherty provide a general introduction to the activities in the following paragraphs.

Introduction to Activities

The expression "hands-on, minds-on" summarizes the philosophy we have incorporated in these activities -- namely, that students will learn best if they are actively engaged and if their activities are closely linked to understanding important biological concepts. For example, it is helpful to use hands-on models to engage student interest and foster multiple modality learning, but it is crucial to closely link the modeling activity to student understanding of the actual biological processes. Many of our activities are somewhat similar to other versions available on the Web or in print (as indicated in our acknowledgments), but the hands-on, minds-on versions offered here generally have a greater focus on linking the activity to student understanding and learning of important biological concepts.

Our activities cover a broad range of biological topics. They are listed in one possible effective sequence for learning biology. The introductory activities help students to learn about the characteristics of life, metabolism, organic compounds, diffusion and osmosis, and experimental method. The mitosis, meiosis and fertilization activity is closely linked to the basic genetics activity, since understanding of the behavior of chromosomes during meiosis and fertilization provides the basis for understanding genetics. Three additional genetics activities provide options for more in-depth learning concerning genetics. The two molecular biology activities can be used in sequence to teach students about the structure and function of DNA and RNA, including how the genes in DNA provide the instructions for making proteins. The topics for the next group of activities include evolution by natural selection, dichotomous keys, exponential growth of populations, and introductions to plant and invertebrate diversity. The last group of activities is concerned with several aspects of human physiology, and the heart rate activity provides another opportunity to reinforce student understanding of scientific method.

We often revise our activities to improve student learning, based on our teaching experience and suggestions from the middle school and high school teachers we work with and other users of this website. If an activity is new or has been significantly improved within the last 12 months, the name of the activity is followed by the date of the current version. We encourage you to use the Comments link for each activity to add your suggestions and comments. If you prefer, you can send a private message to iwaldron@sas.upenn.edu.

We encourage you to use our Word files to modify the Student Handouts to optimize learning for your students. For example, some of the questions in the Student Handouts are followed by information that essentially answers the preceding question, and you may want to omit this material from the Student Handouts if you prefer to use classroom discussion to convey this material. Also, you may want to incorporate some of the suggestions and additional material from the Teacher Preparation Notes.

We encourage you to use the Comments link for each activity to add your suggestions and comments concerning the activity, including suggestions for other teachers who are planning to use this activity, useful preparatory or follow-up activities, additional resources, any questions you have related to the activity, or a brief description of any problem you may have encountered. If you have a relevant Word document you would like to have posted on the Comments page, such as a version of the protocol you have used in your classroom, or if you would prefer to send your comments or questions in a private message, please write Ingrid Waldron at iwaldron@sas.upenn.edu.

View and submit general comments on our hands-on activities

Supplies:

Most of these activities can be carried out with minimum equipment and expense for supplies. In the Teacher Preparation Notes we suggest sources where needed equipment and supplies can be purchased at a reasonable price.

Printing the Labs and Teacher Preparation Notes:

Each lab is available as an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file (a viewer-friendly and printer-friendly format), and as a Word file (which you are welcome to edit as appropriate for use in your classroom). You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to read the PDF files. If you don't have it already on your computer, you can download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software here.

Thanks to Our Sponsors:

We appreciate past support for Jennifer Doherty from a School District of Philadelphia Mathematics and Science Partnerships sub-award and from an NSF GK-12 grant to the University of Pennsylvania.

We appreciate support for Serendip which receives funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and from Bryn Mawr College.

Is Yeast Alive?

Students evaluate whether the little brown grains of yeast obtained from the grocery store are alive by testing for metabolism and growth.

Cellular Respiration in Yeast (new, December, 2008)

Students learn about the basics of metabolism and then design and carry out experiments to test how sugar concentration and other variables influence the rate of anaerobic respiration in yeast. In an optional extension activity students can use their yeast mixture to make a small roll of bread.

Moldy Jell-O

Students design experiments to determine how substrate and environmental conditions influence growth of common molds.

Who Took Jerell’s iPod? -- An Organic Compound Mystery(new, December, 2009)

In this activity, students learn how to test for triglycerides, glucose, starch, and protein and then use these tests to solve a mystery. The activity reinforces students understanding of the biological functions and food sources of these different types of organic compounds.

Diffusion: Molecular Transport across Membranes (revised, December, 2009)

Students investigate diffusion across a selectively permeable membrane (dialysis tubing) and discuss applications to understanding the selectively permeable cell membrane. This activity includes a demonstration of osmosis (diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane).

Investigating Osmosis(new, December, 2009)

Students make predictions about the effects of osmosis and design an experiment to test these predictions. The experimental approach is similar to the diffusion activity, but focused specifically on osmosis.

Mitosis, Meiosis and Fertilization (revised, January, 2010)

Students use sockosome models of chromosomes (made from pairs of socks) to understand the processes of mitosis, meiosis and fertilization. Students are also introduced to the concept that understanding meiosis and fertilization provides the basis for understanding genetics and learn how a mistake in meiosis can result in Down Syndrome

Genetics (revised, January, 2010)

These activities help students to understand the basic principles of genetics, including Punnett squares and pedigree analysis. The understanding of meiosis and fertilization developed in the previous hands-on activity is linked to the understanding of basic principles of genetics.

Dragon Genetics -- Independent Assortment and Gene Linkage (revised, January, 2010)

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.

Dragon Genetics -- Principles of Mendelian Genetics

Students learn the principles of Mendelian genetics by using Popsicle sticks, each of which represents a pair of homologous chromosomes with multiple genetic traits. Pairs of students use their sets of Popsicle sticks to represent a mating and then identify the genetic makeup and phenotypic traits of the resulting baby dragon.

Using Blood Tests to Identify Babies and Criminals (revised, January, 2010)

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.

DNA (figures corrected, February, 2009)

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.

From Gene to Protein - Transcription and Translation (revised, February, 2010)

Students learn how a gene provides the instructions for making a protein, and how the gene for sickle cell hemoglobin results in sickle cell anemia. Simple paper models are used to help students learn the basic molecular biology of transcription and translation.

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.

Using a Dichotomous Key to Identify Flowers (and the murderer) (new, December, 2009)

Students learn how to construct and use a dichotomous key using their shoes. Students then learn angiosperm flower structure and use a dichotomous key to identify the type of flower and solve a mystery.

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.

What Parts of a Plant Do We Eat?(new, December, 2009)

Students review the structure of angiosperm plants and learn about the diversity of plant form by using evidence from examination of fruits and vegetables to identify which part of the plant each fruit or vegetable is.

Invertebrate Diversity (revised, December, 2009)

Students compare basic characteristics of earthworms, snails, and several arthropods, all of which can be purchased at low cost from local pet stores.

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.

Breathing and Holding Your Breath

Students begin with interactive activities to develop a basic understanding of regulation of breathing and then carry out an experiment to test whether changing levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide influence how long they can hold their breath.

Studying Our Senses (revised, May, 2009)

Students investigate how a person identifies different flavors of jellybeans and explore the surprising ways the brain interprets the patterns of light and dark that reach our eyes.

Sexual Health and Reproduction

This activity provides questions and Web sites to guide student investigation of birth control methods, fetal development, risks of alcohol and smoking during pregnancy, changes during puberty, and HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Get the Lead Out! Game

This board game reinforces learning about the sources and biological hazards of lead exposure.

If you have any comments or would like additional information, please contact Ingrid Waldron at iwaldron@sas.upenn.edu.

Teachers are encouraged to copy and modify these labs for use in their teaching.

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Hands-on Activities for Teaching Biology to High School or Middle School Students

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