Online and in-person lab design exercise using yeast.

Because my AP Biology classes this year are a hybrid model in which students can move back and forth from remote to in-person instruction based on their circumstances, I needed to design labs that were portable and could be completed in the home lab (kitchen). In order to teach experimental design, I developed a mini-unit using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).  Much of the work can be done asynchronously.

The introduction to the module sets the stage.

 

Figure 1. Tyson on Curiosity

Science is about asking questions of the world.  It is how we get a clue.  Although there are many ways to “do science” including observational studies and case studies, the hypothetico-deductive method is the most well known and is often referred to as “The Scientific Method”.  In reality, science is never done in the step-by-step method often described in science classes.  With that said, it is vital that you learn how to create testable hypotheses, to design and conduct controlled experiments and to use mathematics (statistics) to test your hypotheses.  In this exercise, you will do all of these on a small scale so that you can use it as a model for the research project that you will design, conduct, and present at the research exhibit in April.

Next, students participate in an online forum discussion about the following objectives.

I provide them with a pacing guide to help organize their work:

They then need to get up to speed by reading some background material and choosing videos from a playlist. Here is a copy of the document.

Students choose three the following to watch or read.

Title with link	Notes	Format
Cellophane method	Measure the size of foam	Watch
Balloon method	Measure the size of balloon	Watch
Submerged pipette method	Small scale, count the bubbles	Watch
Mass method	Precise, but needs scales	Watch
Syringe method	Good background information	Read
Inverted tube method	Accurately measure volume of gas produced	Read

Students then design their own experiment based on the methods presented in the playlist. Here is a document I wrote to help them with the essentials of experimental design.

Next, students propose their designs to their classmates and get feedback. At this point, I encourage them to join with other students with similar designs. They revise their experiments, conduct them, collect results, analyze and present them in a Flipgrid presentation that I grade.

Dale Muzzey Animations, Antibody Diversity Video and Edpuzzle

 Dale Muzzey has made many useful and beautiful animations over the years.  Much of his content is available at Biovisions at Harvard.  Many of the animations were made in Shockwave Flash, which is no longer supported.  One of my favorite is a Flash animation on antibody diversity.  Here is a youtube recording of the animation.

I turned this into an Edpuzzle to make it more interactive for my students.

If you like the materials I shared here, you might be interested in my book of 600 AP Biology questions and answers.

How to answer free response questions on the AP Biology Exam

For students: 

Below are two edpuzzles that will help you learn how to answer AP Biology free response questions. I've been grading the exam every year since 2003 and have read tens of thousands of essays over the past 17 years (85,000 is my best guess). If you follow my method for answering questions, you will do well on the exam. I strongly encourage you to visit AP Central, the College Board's website.  You will find past exam questions that you can use to practice on.

For Educators: 

Our school is currently teaching on a blended, hybrid style in which students may choose, on a day-to-day basis, to be in-person or remote. When in person, we wear both masks and face shields. Obviously, this kind of teaching demands significant flexibiltiy. I played with EdPuzzle for years and have found it to be particularly useful now. In this post, I share two EdPuzzles that I made to teach students how to answer long and short free response questions. Feel free to use with attribution.

If you like the materials I shared here, you might be interested in my book of 600 AP Biology questions and answers.

Science Extracurricular Opportunities at the Pingry School

Pingry offers a rich extracurricular program in Science.  In this blog post, I will outline them and provide links for you to explore more.

Journal Club  

Students, faculty, grads and researchers present cutting edge experiments being done at universities and research institutions around the world. This program is open to absolutely everyone and meets before school. Thursday at 7:30 AM.

Faculty: Logerfo

Open to: Absolutely anyone who wishes to listen, discuss or present

Science Olympiad

Both the middle school and the upper school have Science Olympiad teams.  Members prepare for and compete in events in the New Jersey Science Olympiad.  Events include bridge building, aerodynamics and a broad range of other scientific topics

Faculty: Tambor, Huang-Hobbs (middle school), Kehoe (upper school)

Open to: Middle School, 9th grade 

Astrophotography Club

Using Pingry's Telescope to capture Lunar, Planetary or Deep Sky images. Nightscape photography, capturing images of the Milkyway, Star Trails and Light Painting. 

Faculty: Toner

Open to: All students

Project 80

Students use science to educate themselves and others so that they can affect change in the world around them. Students are making commercials, hosting talks, and having fun with science in general.

Faculty: Coe

Open to: All students in the Upper School

Robotics Team

FTC 6069 and FRC 2577 are competitive academic teams with the objective to design and build robots for, respectively, the FIRST Tech Challenge, starting in September, and FIRST Robotics Competition, starting in January. The teams is divided into student-led programming, electrical, mechanical, and public relations sub teams.

Faculty: Jenkins, Bourne

Open to: All Students in the Upper School

PCR

Pingry Community Research Journal (PCR) is a student-edited publication that is an outlet for student-researchers to communicate their findings. Publishing one’s work to the larger community is a main end goal of all scientific research.

Faculty: Maxwell

Open to: All Students in the Upper School

Anatomy Club

Students meet approximately once per month to examine the anatomy of different organisms by dissection.  Meetings are monthly during CP.

Faculty: Torres

Open to: All Students in the Upper School

SMART Team

Students collaborate with scientists to learn about a researcher's field of study. Using a three dimensional printer, students create models of protein structures to help them explain complicated biological processes. Students then present their work at a national scientific conference.

Faculty: D’Ausilio

Open to: Sophomores

Waksman Student Scholars Program

Students identify and analyze DNA sequences from the duckweed Landoltia punctata.  Once completed, the student's sequence is published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database for scientists to access.

Faculty: Maxwell

Open to: Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

iRT

The Independent Research Team is a group of small teams doing original research on topics ranging from molecular biology to physics to computer science. Each team is lead by a senior student and a faculty mentor who are responsible for teaching underclassmen, collaborating with scientists at nearby universities, and driving the project forward. All projects are novel, student-driven, and grounded in the current scientific literature. 

Faculty: Kirkhart

Open to: Sophomores, Juniors, or Seniors

The following are actually classes, but provide options for individual research projects.

Introduction to Scientific Research: Methods in Molecular Biology

The research course is a science elective open to students in their junior and senior years. In this course, students learn a variety of molecular biology techniques while completing a yearlong project designed to isolate a specific enzyme from bacterial cells and test its activity. They also gain experience in reading primary scientific literature in the field of biomedical research. Students who take the research course for the second year focus on designing an individual research project using skills they have learned in the first year of the course.

Faculty: D’Ausilio

Open to: Juniors and Seniors

AP Biology Master Projects

Students conduct independent research projects based on individual interest.  This includes choosing a project, proposing a budget, designing and conducting experiments, analyzing results, and communicating findings.  Students present a poster to the public at Exhibit: Science and publish an article in Pingry Community Research Journal.

Faculty:  Maxwell

Open to: Juniors and Seniors