http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--Home.php Channel Description http://developer1.hhmi.org/erlDB/SPTUI--CWIS/images/cwis_logo.gif http://developer1.hhmi.org/erlDB/SPTUI--CWIS/images/cwis_logo.gif 69 21 Image Description en-us kucerar@hhmi.org kucerar@hhmi.org Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=29 This online publication is a resource for creating interesting and visually appealing posters that communicate scientific research clearly and effectively. The text, written in a conversational tone, explains what to include in a scientific poster and what to omit. It also details each aspect of the production process—from choosing and using software (with links to page layout applications and a downloadable PowerPoint poster template) to using art, color, images, and sound for bird songs or other audio subjects. Photographs of posters and poster sessions enhance the tutorial. Helpful tips for preparing rough drafts, avoiding common mistakes, and presenting the poster at a conference are also part of this comprehensive tutorial. 2012-05-07 16:51:02 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=186 A new video, Next Generation Sequencing: Genome Center Video Tour, from HHMI Professor Sarah Elgin of Washington University in St. Louis, is aimed at informing biology students about new advances in genome sequencing technologies and applications. It can be used with advanced high school students or at the undergraduate or beginning graduate levels. The video contains interviews with three directors of the Washington University Genome Center. The interviews are interspersed with video shots and still images of the machines in action and animations to explain the chemistry of next generation sequencing. The video has four parts: an introduction, which presents an overview and explains the uses of new sequencing technologies; descriptions and comparisons of the Illumina and 454 sequencing technologies, which can produce sequence data more quickly and cost effectively than earlier machines; and a discussion of current genome sequencing projects and their implications. The video, plus the script, a glossary, PowerPoint presentations of animations shown in the videos, and a complete list of image sources, are available online. [Students may understand this video better after they have watched an earlier video, Sequencing a Genome: Inside the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center, which is also available within this database.] 2010-07-12 10:38:50 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=45 This course—part of MIT’s extensive OpenCourseWare offerings—applies molecular biology and reverse genetics approaches to the study of apoptosis, or programmed cell death (PCD), in Drosophila cells. Small teams of students design and carry out experiments to address questions about the genes involved in the regulation and execution of PCD in this system. Some projects involve the use of DNA-damaging agents or other cytotoxic chemicals or drugs to help understand the pathways that control a cell's decision to undergo apoptosis. The course also provides instruction and practice in written and oral communications. The website features a course description, detailed lab protocols, and guidelines for keeping a lab notebook. Its 10 lectures on various aspects of scientific communications address writing research proposals, writing research papers, and giving an oral presentation. Slides and two movies support a special guest lecture on "Apoptosis in Mammalian Cells." 2010-07-09 15:27:32 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=44 This hands-on research course—part of MIT’s extensive OpenCourseWare offerings—introduces students to the strategies and challenges associated with microbiology research and helps them improve their scientific writing skills. Students take on independent and original research projects designed to help advance a specific field of research in microbiology. In this case, students explored how genes contribute to the useful properties of various species of Rhodococuss bacteria, many of which can break down environmental pollutants and can also produce a wide range of helpful molecules, including industrial chemicals and antibiotics. The “student projects” section includes examples of project and writing assignments, materials (such as literature search terms and project flow charts) that are designed to help students start the research process, feedback on student assignments, and one student's actual final paper. The lab protocols that students used are available in PDF format. A PowerPoint presentation of a writing workshop makes use of students' writing samples to illustrate common problems and mistakes in student work. 2010-07-09 15:19:09 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=183 These undergraduate labs—which are part of a series of quantitative biology (“Q”) modules developed by the University of California, Davis—are designed to familiarize students with the use of computer models to answer biochemical questions. The topics include acid-base chemistry, Gibbs free energy, Michaelis-Menten kinetics, enzyme inhibition, hemoglobin, and the Bohr effect. The developers say that, ideally, these labs would be taught as a supplement to a concurrent lecture course; some modules might also be useful in a general chemistry or enzyme kinetics course. The math skills used include 2-D and 3-D graphing, algebra, logarithms, and numerical solutions to systems of equations; students are assumed to have completed one year of undergraduate calculus. Each module has one or more background mini-modules associated with it, with details found on the individual module pages. The module documents are written in Mathcad, a general purpose mathematical software package, so students must have access to Mathcad version 13 or higher. With the exception of "Introduction to Mathcad,” which is a module designed to build Mathcad skills and which should be considered a prerequisite, the modules can operate independently of one another. Faculty members can change the order to accommodate teaching preferences and can use teaching assistants to run and grade the labs. 2010-07-09 11:50:16 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=185 This introductory course in quantitative biology from the University of California, Davis, contains modules that cover a range of biological topics, including plant pathology, ion channels, HIV, primate sexuality, and protein phylogenetics. The modules are designed to be self-contained lab exercises that integrate quantitative techniques and modeling into biology instruction; they can be administered and graded by teaching assistants with little intervention from faculty lecturers. The mathematics skills used include graphing, probability, correlation, arrays, logarithms, and ordinary differential equations. The module documents are written in Mathcad, a general purpose mathematical software package, so students must have access to Mathcad version 13 or higher. However, PDF versions of the modules are also provided for demonstration purposes. As one example, the “Pine Trees” module uses experimental data to test hypotheses regarding mortality in ponderosa pines. Students import data into Mathcad arrays, describe and summarize the data using Boolean tests, and go on to graph the data and construct linear fits to those data. The modules generally operate independently of one another—allowing educators to change the order—but the Introduction to Mathcad and the Graphing Mini-Module, which are designed to build Mathcad skills and teach students how to create simple numeric calculations, symbolic calculations, and graphs, should be considered prerequisites. (Students should have completed two quarters of undergraduate calculus and, preferably, an introductory statistics course as well.) 2010-07-09 11:49:24 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=182 Professional Communications Projects, an online publication from Louisiana State University (LSU), presents methods educators can use to teach students to communicate scientific information in the genres working scientists are expected to master. These genres include conference abstracts and presentations, scientific posters, articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, grant proposals and annual reports, project plans, and fact sheets and other public outreach documents. This publication—which is available through Pedagogy in Action, a portal maintained by Carlton College’s Science Education Resource Center (SERC)—notes that educators should identify authentic communications projects that naturally support course goals and grow organically from the content. The document offers examples of projects that can be easily adapted to any science classroom. For example, scientists who offer summer research opportunities can investigate a unit called "Developing Professional Communication Skills in an Undergraduate Research Experience Poster Session." The unit offers a comprehensive instructional framework to assist students in the development of professional-level scientific posters and includes a tip sheet for poster design and a rubric for assessing visual communication. Another curricular unit, "Building Professional Communications Skills in Microbiology," has students create and execute three PowerPoint presentations, which include procedures, diagrams, results, and explanations of those results, to help them learn, understand, and retain information. 2010-06-14 11:54:50 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=181 The bioinformatics activities and lesson plans in this database, written by high school teachers in an outreach program from Franklin & Marshall College, can be adapted for classroom use. The lessons are based on content and inquiry-based activities given in a week-long professional development summer seminar in bioinformatics. The subject areas are: computer science, biology, evolution, genetics, genomics, phylogenetics, and DNA and RNA. Many lesson plans, such as the Medical Problem Solving Webquest, reflect the content of the summer seminar, which focused on medical problem solving at a local clinic that uses bioinformatics to find the genetic causes of disease in Amish and Mennonite children. Other lesson plans cover a variety of different topics. For example, a Visual Basic DNA Decoder lesson has students write a Visual Basic computer program that can be used to transcribe a DNA Codon into mRNA, and then translate the mRNA sequence into the correct amino acid. In a Fish Evolution lab, students use SDS-PAGE to analyze different fish proteins and to predict the evolutionary relationships among different fish. Each activity contains a summary, a lesson plan, curricular documents for students and teachers, and the time needed to complete the lesson. A Franklin & Marshall College faculty member reviewed each activity for scientific accuracy. Educators must first register to gain access to the materials. Once they have registered, users can comment on the materials and can also contribute new bioinformatics activities, which would undergo a review process. 2010-06-04 13:33:45 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=180 This two-part lab from Barnard College helps students construct cladograms (also called phylogenetic trees) in order to understand the types of data, methods, and assumptions that are used to determine evolutionary relationships. The exercises, which can be used or adapted to enhance the study of evolution in an introductory biology course, ask students to construct cladograms for two different groups of organisms: fictitious organisms from the “family” Squirmidae, and real organisms from the kingdom Plantae. Discussion questions and learning objectives are included. Comprehensive background information helps students understand the major concepts behind cladistic methods, and procedures clearly explain how to construct cladograms for both the hypothetical and real groups of organisms. This lab uses two computer programs: Mesquite software for evolutionary biology, which is designed to help biologists analyze comparative data about organisms; and BioEdit, a biological sequence alignment editor used to examine plant protein sequences. Both software programs are free, and links to them are available in the “related resources” section of this resource. For the lab analysis of the kingdom Plantae, educators will need to purchase the seven live plant specimens noted in the lab instructions. Most live plant specimens can be obtained from Carolina Biological. (Barnard grows its own plants in a campus greenhouse. Educators might inquire whether similar plant resources exist at their own colleges or universities.) The majority of the exercises, with very few modifications, can also be performed without the Mesquite or BioEdit programs. Educators who prefer an alternative draft that does not require the use of any computer software can email Dr. Jessica Goldstein, director of Introductory Biology Labs, Department of Biology, Barnard College, at jgoldstein@barnard.edu. 2010-05-27 11:18:17 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=178 This series of easy-to-implement science lessons for grades kindergarten through five is aimed at educators and undergraduates or other volunteers who regularly work with teachers in the classroom. They were developed for a Williams College Outreach Program that places undergraduates in local classrooms as science assistants and teaches them to use a hands-on approach to expose children to the thought processes of scientific discovery. The kindergarten science lessons focus on the senses, plant growth and change, animals, the seasons, habitats, and the properties of objects. The first-grade units explore solids, liquids, and gases; air, wind, and sun; and fossils. River science is the focus of the second-grade lessons. In third grade, students investigate matter and weather and water cycles. The fifth-grade lessons deal with the ways living things adapt to their environments and the behaviors they use to survive. [There are no units currently available for grade four.] Inquiry skills, such as making predictions, naming and using simple equipment and tools, and recording observations and data, are a key part of each unit. A document describing the overall themes and driving questions and a list of all materials needed are available for each grade. Links to two documents developed for the outreach program, General Teaching Techniques and and Teaching the Scientific Method, are provided in the “related links” section of this resource. 2010-05-17 14:47:59 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=179 This website contains Metabolic Melodies, a series of songs with biochemistry-related lyrics set to popular tunes. Dr. Kevin Ahern and three other contributors (Tony Rianprakaisang and Taralyn Tan, undergraduate teaching assistants. and Indira Rajagopal, biochemistry instructor) wrote the songs for biochemistry classes he teaches at Oregon State University. At the end of the quarter, Dr. Ahern sings the songs to his classes as a study aid. Tim Karplus, David Simmons, and Barbara and Neal Gladstone, who are professional musicians, have recorded 48 of the songs, which are available on the website as MP3 files with graphics; five other songs have not yet been recorded. The songs, which are listed in order of their popularity as downloads, cover a wide range of topics. For example, a song about “Enzymes” is sung to the tune of “Downtown,” “The Tao of Hormones” to “The Sound of Silence,” and “Central Dogma Zen” to “Those Were the Days.” The website contains a PDF with all the lyrics. In addition, educators can see some of Dr. Ahern’s students, accompanied by student musicians, perform several of the songs on YouTube. Dr. Ahern urges educators to try out the songs in their classrooms and let him know the results. His email address is ahernk@onid.orst.edu. 2010-05-17 14:44:49 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=177 This article describes the Folded-List Study Technique, a method designed by Professor of Biology Paul Heideman at the College of William and Mary, to give students a fast and efficient way to learn, recall, and apply key science concepts. (It is designed to be used in conjunction with the “Minute Sketch” tool, which is available within this database.) This document explains the method: Using a blank piece of paper folded lengthwise into four sections, students create one column for words and one for sketches or images. In the words column, they write the term or phrase for the first key concept. In the next column, they create a simple sketch to represent the concept. They keep adding words and sketches until the page is filled (although, over time, they should be able to condense all the essential material from one entire lecture on the top half of one sheet). Next, students fold the earlier columns behind and engage in repeated sketching and writing of these concepts in columns three and four. The recopying and rethinking of these concepts engages a student’s motor memory and visual cortex. Dr. Heideman says that his method forces students to extract the essentials from a large amount of material and learn the key concepts as sequential events. It is an active-learning method that engages students’ attention and allows them to review material quickly and to assess how much they have accomplished within a given time. Dr. Heideman says the method can be applied to other study techniques, such as concept mapping. 2010-05-17 14:12:22 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=176 This article, from Professor of Biology Paul Heideman of the College of William and Mary, describes how and why to create a “minute sketch,” a tool to improve science learning. A minute sketch is a simple drawing that captures an essential concept, event, or structure in less than a minute. Using examples, the author explains the four steps in the minute-sketch process: Identify an important concept or process; write down the term and key words from the definition or explanation; create or find symbols for each key word or event; and combine the symbols in a sketch that captures the definition or concept. Minute sketches involve motor or kinesthetic memory; they provide a second way of learning that is independent of word learning but is far more permanent, as the sketches can be easily practiced and recalled. Dr. Heideman contends that the process forces users to learn topics, not just to memorize them, and helps them solve problems and make predictions. He also says that it trains students to think like scientists, who work by creating their own minute sketches—called models—that look like the figures, flow charts, and diagrams found in textbooks. Minute sketches are most useful, he writes, when used in conjunction with Folded Lists, another resource available within this database. 2010-05-17 14:10:38 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=175 StarGenetics, a resource from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is an educational software tool that lets students mate organisms and perform various genetic analyses virtually. A free, platform-independent software product that does not require installation and allows for fly and yeast experiments, StarGenetics can be used for in-class demonstrations, virtual labs, and homework assignments. The tool allows students to simulate mating experiments between organisms that are genetically different across a range of traits to analyze the nature of the traits in question. StarGenetics lets educators customize the experiment presented to the student. Instructors can specify simple to complex genetic interactions, as well as the genotypes, phenotypes, and other genetic characteristics of the organisms provided in a particular experiment. The website includes a user’s manual, a video tutorial, sample exercises, and a simple Excel Workbook with instructions for educators. By modifying the Workbook, educators can generate new source files for exercises that can involve a range of genetics concepts, from simple dominance between alleles to complex gene interactions. The Star (Software Tools for Academics and Researchers) Program also has a suite of other software tools and database applications on its website. These include StarBiochem, available within this database, and StarBiogene, which allows students to analyze and visualize genomic expression data. 2010-05-12 13:30:17 http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=174 This article by Gail Gerdemann of Oregon State University shows teachers of K-2 classes how to use rocks, leaves, and other natural objects (instead of commercial math manipulatives) to teach children science and mathematics skills. The author contends that natural objects—which children love collecting—have more complex physical properties than commercial products and come in a variety of sizes to order and measure. She explains how to gather the collection from the schoolyard—leaves in the fall, seeds in the spring, and rocks and twigs all year round—and how to have children make some observations and then sort and classify by the items’ attributes. Next, she describes a variety of games that go from simple to more complex. For example, a “Same and Different” activity asks students, working in pairs, to choose two objects from the collection and name the ways in which they are different and similar, using precise words that describe properties. Toward the more advanced end of the spectrum, “Guess My Series” asks the teacher to choose an attribute and place five rocks in a line using a secret plan (in order by size, hardness, or color). Students try to deduce the attribute and then put another rock into the “line-up.” The author also provides assessment tasks for sorting and classifying and measuring. The resource file below contains a link to a PowerPoint with photographs illustrating the games described in this article. 2010-05-10 13:53:48