About the Biology Institute Introduction Institute Highlights Calendar   Teacher Resources Curriculum Planning Team Research Projects glucose uptake, stomata, plant hormones, fly grooming, waterstriders, sea urchins, stride length, ants, planaria, bioremediation Individual Presentations   Community Faculty, Guest Faculty Participants Read BI98 email Write to BI98 Supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Life in Motion

1998 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute

• Chuck Stinemetz, Rhodes College, Memphis TN,  Academic Director (email Chuck)
• Andrew Goldenkranz, Aptos High School, Aptos, CA, Academic Co-Director (email Andrew)
• Frank Hinerman, Mt. Lebanon High School, Pittsburgh  PA, Technology Guru (email Frank)

Introduction and Background

The theme of the 1998 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute was ``Life in Motion''. The construction of this institute addressed the importance of movement to all organisms and dealt with biological concepts at multiple levels of study.  Participants shared classroom activities, interacted with visiting faculty, attended guest lectures, and developed inquiry-based laboratory activities with the help of fellow participants.

Participants presented effective classroom activities which dealt with motion in life.  Visiting faculty demonstrated laboratories, themes,  or classroom activities that illustrated the importance of motion in animals, plants, fungi, protists and bacteria. Participants also explored how motion was important at multiple levels of study ranging from molecular/cell biology to populations.  Guest lecturers stimulated the teachers and enriched their background knowledge.

Our outstanding guest faculty and lecturers included:

• Dr. Tony Becker, National Faculty (Animal Physiology)
• Dr. Donna Stroup, Dr. Rick Goodman, Dr. Ruth Berkelman, and Mr. Evern Williams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA (Disease Detectives)
• Dr. Steven Block, Princeton University  (Molecular Motors)
• Dr. Eric Wieschaus, Princeton University (Embryology of Drosophila)
• Dr. Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences (The Need for Reform in Science Education)
• Dr. Charlotte Omoto, Washington State University (Introduction to Cellular Motility and Intracellular Movement)

Most importantly, our participants worked with each other to develop novel inquiry-based activities that addressed motion at a number of different levels in a variety of organisms. The results of their efforts and experiences have been archived on this web site for your use. The heart of this institute was the work generated by our expert teacher participants. This group features urban, rural, suburban backgrounds; public, private, alternative schools; very high to very low income communities. We think this group represents some of the best of American science teachers.  We hope that you will use this information to help create a more effective teaching environment in your classroom. (back to top)

Thoughts on Sequencing and Curriculum Planning

There are many ways to sequence a general high school biology course. Our group researched different sequences to see if there was an overriding sensibility to a particular orientation. We found that there is not a single model that will work in every situation.

We were fascinated by the fact that our host, Princeton University, has split their biology department in two. There is the Department of  Molecular and Cell Biology, and also a Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. So at least one world class university has effectively given up trying to teach everything in one department, much less one survey course. This is reflective of the difficulties that scientists have in orienting curriculum, and in covering the many important themes and concepts in a single course. Why, then, are high school teachers expected to do just that?

The "900 pound gorilla" of an answer, of course, is the demands of standardized testing. Whether it's the AP exam, the SAT II Biology, the Regents Exam in New York, or the Golden State Exam in California, we are constantly under the gun to cram more and more into our course. Although the National Science Education Standards recommend a "less breadth, more depth" approach to the curriculum, until there is meaningful assessment reform on a national level there will not likely be a radical transformation of what we teach. The picture is not completely bleak; there is solid support in many states and localities for authentic, performance based assessment, and for more thematic, curricular integration with other scientific disciplines and with other core subjects for students.

With that in mind, we present  some different approaches to sequencing and some suggestions as to when each may work. These are certainly not the only ways to orient a course. (back to top)

1. Bottoms Up! One common approach is to start at the organic molecular level and progress through the cell, to the organism culminating with the biosphere.  Advantages to this model include:  it mimics the chronology of life on earth, and it provides a solid conceptual foundation upon which learners can build an integrated knowledge of life. Most textbooks take this approach; we wonder if the popularity of this model is because many teachers use the text to sequence material, or because it actually makes sense. A biology course that follows chemistry will more likely use this orientation.
    
2. The Circle of Life. Another approach is to start with an ecological approach--an expansive view of living systems and interactions.  Many students have a basic knowledge of their ecological environment so learners can use this knowledge as a framework upon which to build new knowledge.  Once students develop a general understanding of interrelationships between organisms and their environment, they are curious about the origins of the diversity they observe.  Diversity is a result of the evolutionary process. School with available natural resources or a history or interest in field biology are likely to choose this orientation. BSCS Green is one text that uses an ecological approach to biology.
    
3. After All, You're Only Human! A third approach is to use human health and biology as the springboard into general biology. The initial application, or frame of reference, would always be in a human situation; whether biomechanics of sports injuries, human genetics, or body systems in relation to chemical or nutritional balances. Teachers or communities with nearby health facilities, strong athletic programs, or health career pathways may likely choose this frame for their general biology course.
    
4. Deep Themes in Biology. Although there is not a single national model or standard text in this area, individual schools or districts have radically restructured entire biology programs around fundamental themes or processes.  Some successful examples are: Water; Energy; Change; Current Events; History of Biology.  This has been the effort put forth this summer at our institute--using motion not as a single unit in the traditional sense, but as a continuous backbone, cutting across scale and kingdom,  with which we can reorient our outlook on biology. (back to top)

Team Research Projects

Click on project title to link to that project page (back to top)

Motion in Cell Biology An in vitro experiment was done to determine the affect of insulin and chromium picolinate on the uptake of glucose into a cell.

The Ins and Outs of Stomata: Gated motion Using simple procedures and common materials, it is possible to see and measure stomata,  the microscopic openings that permit plants to "breathe."  Student-centered, inquiry-based lab activities based on these methods are presented.

Hormones and Plant Growth On seed germination, stem elongation, and the influence of hormones on tropist growth.

Animal Behavior--Grooming Behavior in Drosophila This project used the grooming behavior of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model for an inquiry  based laboratory experience.  An ethogram of the behavior was constructed, and the behavior quantified with statistical analysis.

Walking on Water This experiment will focus on the effect one type of water pollution, detergents, can have on the locomotion of one aquatic organism, the water strider.

Sex and Sea Urchins: Developmental Biology Using sea urchins or zebra fish as a model, students can investigate the movement of cells within the early stages of development.

Steppin' Out Challenges to Alexander's Stride Length Hypothesis

Ants--Masters of the universe? Inquiries into successful adaptations, movements, and  migration in ant colonies.

Playing with Planaria Memory, movement, and inheritance in tracking planaria behavior.

Heavy Metal: Copper Uptake in Plants An investigation of the ability of plants to remove copper from soils (bioremediation).

 
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Individual Teacher Presentations

You can contact each teacher by clicking on his or her name; browse a project by clicking on the project title. You can also search for participating teachers.

(Participants: to correct your personal information, please use the Alumni Update Form on this web site.) (back to top)

Ruth Baldivia	Epidemiological simulation using actors and your own school building.	Betty Jean Jones	Studying Ecological Succession in Pond Water cultures. Moving through trophic levels and time
Bob Birch	Interactive examination of lobster claw biomechanics using multimedia	Burt Kessler	A two day kinesthetic "game" for modeling the process of natural   selection, speciation, and adaptive radiation.
Ian Bleakney	Tropisms and seed germination	Eileen Malloy- Desormeaux	Investigating Prions.  This activity investigates movement in protein shapes.
Janice Chen	Long-term dissection investigations	Gene McNicholas	Students create models of nucleotides and investigate  steps of replication
Norman Dahm	Problem based learning activity involving reenactment of a hantavirus outbreak	Harold Meiselman	Using multimedia technology to examine locomotion in geckos
Mary Duane	Epidemic disease simulation	Melinda Miller	Students create models of  biomechanics of flying
Sue Ford	interactive learning models and cooperative group strategies for teaching science	Cindy Miyada	Echolocation: Using a variety of "targets," the student will have to find whether or not they are able to identify the object that is in front of them.
Gary Fortenberry	Motion-based activities using Kagan's theories of learning style and development	Linda Needham	CBLs are useful for collecting data related to motion.
Jacqueline Foster	Pond Water Ecological Succession studies	Laura Parker	Using multimedia to demonstrate motion
Anne Marie Froehle	Mouthwatering Mollusks:  A tasting and observation lab designed to   introduce students to various types of mollusks.	Galina Pavlova	Students create models of circulation in mammal hearts
Robert Furtado	Investigating cytoplasmic streaming in Elodea	Celeste Payne	Using CBL's to model motion involving a pH gradient
Max Geisler	ATP is used by muscle proteins to create motion and heat.  This lab exercise explores optimizing   conditions for that process.	Cheryl Rankin	Investigations into adaptation and migration using E. Coli
Steve Hammack	Using probeware to model motion. Combines physics, neurology, and biomechanics.	Karen Shrader	Investigating movement within cells
Jonathan Harris	chemical uptake in malphigian tubules	Jim Sink	India ink is used to observe the flow of water over the gills of crayfish and as a demonstration of the jet propulsion system
Philip Holley	Investigating gravitropism in seed germination	Soo Boo Tan	An inquiry-based lab activity for observing fish respiration through gill and opercular motion.
Anna Horowitz	Using quiz boards to review concepts and vocabulary	Mimi Wallace	Using an inexpensive classroom ecostream model, students are able to build and maintain an operational ecosystem.
Carla Huffman	Kinesthetic classroom simulation of oxidative phosphorylation	Harry Weekes	This site discusses background information, activities, and exercises for learning about marine phytoplankton.
Erika Hunter	motion and team building for students	Nancy Wright	Exploring the physics of foot motion
Bill Johnson	Modeling motion in mitosis and meiosis
Erin Cline Tiderman	Inquiry Based Lab on Factors Affecting Seed Germination

 
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Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Biology bi98@www.woodrow.org
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