What is DNA, and How does It Work? A Free Animation!!

I am delighted to have discovered this FREE animation called "What is DNA and How Does It Work?"

I first ran across this animation on TeachersPayTeachers.com in the store of Jon Perry.  I watched the video and immediately became so excited about it!  Teaching about DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis is a very difficult process for many of our students.  This video presents the information in a very clear, concise and meaningful way.  The animations are cute, but appropriate for all grade levels.  The information is accurate, and explained in terms that can be understood by learners of all ages.  The animation is not overly technical nor overly simplified, but provides just the right mix of information to students who are beginning their study of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis.

The best news is that Jon freely gives away his animation.  It is listed for free in his TpT store, and it also can be viewed on YouTube.

I was so impressed with the video, that I discovered that Jon has a web site called "Stated Clearly"  This information comes from his site:  "Stated Clearly was started by graphic artist Jon Perry in 2011. Since then, videographer Jeremiah Deasey, hip hop artist Anthony Danzl, and biological researcher Varinia Acosta have joined the team to add their skill and expertise."  I was delighted to read on Stated Clearly that the team has big plans for more videos covering all sorts of topics from genetics to evolution.

I encourage you to watch the video and make immediate plans for incorporating it into your instruction on DNA.  To Jon and his team, "GREAT JOB!!"

Jon's web site:  Stated Clearly
Find Jon on Facebook:  Stated Clearly on Facebook
Jon's store on TpT:  Jon Perry - Stated Clearly

The Haunted Library .... Science Style!

The Science of Halloween

Each year, our science students transform the library into a very scary place!  But it is for a very worthy cause!

The students at our high school participant in so many worthy causes, but our biggest efforts go to raising money for the Make A Wish Foundation.  Each year the teachers in the science department have their students carve pumpkins with a science theme.  Some teachers award extra credit while other teachers require it and give a grade for it.

The library is first decorated with black lights, screaming skeletons, ghosts and ghouls, hands that crawl along the floor, and so much more.  Long tables are set up, science fair style, where each student displays his/her pumpkin.  There are biology pumpkins, chemistry pumpkins, anatomy pumpkins, and well, to be perfectly honest, some pumpkins that we cannot tell where they belong!  :)

Students at the school get to tour the haunted library for $1 and all proceeds go to Make A Wish.  This year, we raised over $700.  Here are some photos from our scary day.

First, a look at our haunted library...

Now, for the pumpkins!

DNA Pumpkin

DNA was very popular!

The brain

Guess who?

The house from the movie "UP"

The chemical symbols ScArDy made a "scaredy cat"

In the womb.... 

In the womb again but with the pregnant woman!

Alien

heart

Loved this one!  It was magnesium as it is used in fireworks.

Mercury!

Anaphase of mitosis

Watson and Crick

All in all it was a fun day and served a worthy cause!

Informational Text in the High School Biology Class

Changes in Education? ..... Always!

In my 29 years of teaching, I have learned many, many things.  What lessons do I learn over and over, year after year?

• There is always something new in education!  
• The old tried and true ways are no longer acceptable.  
• Out with the old trends, and in with the new trends.
• Every 2-3 years brings in a new curriculum.

Don't misunderstand.  I am not one who opposes change.  Change is good. Our world is in a constant state of change:  There are changes in societal issues, there are changes in technologies , and there are changes in the students we teach.  The good news is that classroom teachers are the most adaptable people I know!  Each year brings us a new set of students with different ability levels, with different personalities, and with different needs. We adapt every year and we adapt to the teaching of these new students accordingly.

So what is new?  Everyone involved in education knows about the new Common Core Reading Standards and the push to teach critical reading through the use of informational text. Our world today is packed with information, and I agree that we must insure that our students are being taught to read, understand and comprehend informational passages. We must teach our science students to read critically, to answer questions of a problem solving nature, to read charts, data tables, and graphs, and to form accurate conclusions.

My question is:  Haven't we science teachers been doing this all along?

What is a science book, if not a huge selection of informational text readings?  

Our high school is being very proactive in addressing the new Common Core standards.  We have been directed by our administration to incorporate informational text and critical reading into all subject areas.   We have even worked a special time into our weekly schedule for this.  One day each week, 45 minutes is set aside to address the Common Core standards.  (Clarification: Each teacher is addressing Common Core standards in every class, every day. The 45-minute, weekly time is devoted to "extra" informational text reading practice.)  Each and every teacher in our school meets with a group of students and teaches a lesson that involves information text, writing, and critical reading.  Teachers have been charged with writing materials related to their subject area that can be used during this time. Each week I meet with a different group of students and provide them with a lesson on reading informational text in science.  Students meet with a different teacher each week in order to be exposed to texts of varying subject areas.

At this point, I have developed two exercises that I have used with these groups of students.

The first involves the predator/prey relationship.  It does contain an informational text passage, but I just could not help myself. I included a graphing activity along with it!

The second is a rather lengthy reading about lichens.  It includes facts about the mutualistic nature of lichens, structure of lichens, and the important role that lichens play in the environment.  Pictures are included to enhance the text.   I thought it would be nice to have the students read about an organism that they might not know a lot about.

The days of Common Core are upon us.  Let us embrace it as we have with all of the trends of the past.  There is good news..... If we don't like this, all we have to do is wait for a year or two, and we will be challenged with something new!  ;)

Have fun teaching!  

Keep It Current!

A current event a day, keeps the  boredom away!

A current event each day is standard operating procedure in my biology classroom.  Each day after school, I spend a few minutes surfing the web looking for interesting bits of science news that I can share with my students the following day.  I try to make it biology-related if possible, but lately I have been sharing all the amazing stories about the Mars rover, Curiosity.  If possible, I use my projector to show images from the news story.  I give a very brief synopsis of the article and allow a few minutes for students to comment or ask questions.  If I can find a current event that involves decision making on the part of the student, all the better!

Our students are going to be voters soon and they need to informed if we expect them to make informed decisions.  I love articles that deal with the environment, global warming, stem cell research, endangered species, etc., since these are topics our students will have to deal with in their adult lives.  When I first decided to do this in my classes, it was very sporadic.  Soon, I realized that my students really looked forward to this time in my class, so I began to have a current event more frequently.  High school students rarely give compliments to their teachers.  They may love your class, but may not tell you so until you see them in the grocery store years later!  So last week, when one of my students commented that they really looked forward to current event time, I was delighted to know that my efforts were appreciated.

One problem that might occur if you decide to try this in your classes:  Students will want to talk about the issue for a longer period of time than you can allow!!  It takes a bit of training at first, but my students now know that when I say "Let's move on to our lesson for today." that definitely means "Let's move on!"

I am always on the lookout for new sites to use as sources of current event information, but these are the ones I use most often, and have remained my favorites:

Google News:  The left side bar has the news divided up into topics.  Scroll down and click on "science."

National Geographic:  There is so much to love here!  My favorite areas of this site are Photo of the Day, Featured Video and Daily News.

Smithsonian.com:  This is just an amazing plethora of interesting information.  Click on the tab at the top of the page called "Science and Nature."

Science News:  Not as visually attractive as the above sites, but what a great source of information!  And the sister site is called "Science News for Kids."

Science Daily:  I like this site, but it can get very technical.

Scientific American:  You can't beat this site.  Check out the "Citizen Science" area.  I have had my students get involved with these activities and they are a lot of fun!

NASA Science:  Lately, I have been using this site quite a bit.  My students are very interested in hearing about the Mars rover.

EurekAlert!  Great source of current information!

USA News Science:  Content is provided by the National Science Foundation

LiveScience:  Love, love, love!

Science Illustrated:  Amazing photographs!

Discover:  "Nuff said!

I have so many others that I love as well!!  I will update the list as I have time!

Have fun teaching!!

The Lesson Cloud - New Web Address

New address;  Same great collaborative blog!

I hope that you are a devoted follower of The Lesson Cloud!  It is a collaborative blog of 100 teacher/authors.  There are tons of different posts each day covering a very wide range of topics.  The teacher/authors are a very diverse group of school teachers of all subject areas and all age groups.  There is something for everyone on The Lesson Cloud!

If you have followed The Lesson Cloud in the past, you may have noticed that our web address has changed.  Please click on these links to go to The Lesson Cloud.  Once there, we hope that you will bookmark our new address.

Microscope Fun!

Last week, I remembered a very important lesson in school teaching..... Sometimes the simple things work the best in the classroom!

What do you do in high school biology on a day that is destroyed by homecoming interruptions?  Pull out the microscopes and let the kids have some fun!  I have a great 2-day lab that I have used in the past on the microscope.  I haven't used it in a few years because I have been favoring labs that are more "technology oriented" that use probes, graphing calculators, and spectrophotometers.  But I was reminded last week that sometimes the kids like the "old stuff" like a good old fashioned microscope.

During two days of homecoming activities at our school, I knew that my students would be bouncing off the walls, and we were running an abbreviated schedule each day.  I pulled out my old tried and true microscope lab and put the students to work.  They looked at all kinds of things and had a blast doing it.  I had forgotten how excited students can get about pond water!

My lab has 5 parts:

• In the first part, students compare plant cells to animal cells.  I used onion skin as the plant cell and cheek cells as the animal cell.  
• The second part is called "Cells with Chloroplasts."  Students looked at the leaf from the Elodea plant. 
• The third part is called "Cells with Chromoplasts."  Students looked at the skin from an apple or a tomato.
• The fourth part is called "Storage in Cells."  The students placed a bit of potato pulp on a slide, added a drop of iodine, and observed the very large starch grains found inside the cells.

• The fifth part of the lab is "Fun with Pond Water."  My students had a blast with this.  I gave extra credit to students who brought in pond water samples, and we had many samples to choose from.

It was very gratifying to see the students have so much fun with such a simple activity.

Have fun teaching!!

Lab:  Diversity of Cell Structure

Osmosis Lab and Diffusion Lab Experiment for Biology

A Simple Osmosis and Diffusion Lab That Makes Cellular Transport Click with Biology Students

 

Teaching cellular transport in biology can sometimes feel like throwing vocabulary words at a wall. Terms like diffusion, osmosis, active transport, passive transport, hypotonic, hypertonic are often intimidating for our students. If you are looking for a simple, visual, and memorable diffusion and osmosis lab that brings these concepts to life, this lab is for you.

 

This hands-on osmosis and diffusion lab uses dialysis tubing to help students visualize passive transport through a semipermeable membrane. It is easy to set up, produces clear results, and helps students understand molecular size and membrane permeability without the need for specialized lab equipment.

 

The Setup for This Osmosis and Diffusion Lab: Two Bags, Two Solutions, One Powerful Lesson

 

Students are given two pieces of dialysis tubing. One piece of tubing is filled with starch solution, the other with glucose solution. Each is placed in a separate cup of tap water. To the cup containing the starch-filled bag, students add iodine.

 

The visual results start almost immediately. Within minutes, students see the dialysis tubing turning purple or bluish black, a dramatic visual change that signals diffusion is taking place. The students can see that the iodine molecules move across a semipermeable membrane and react with the starch. Meanwhile, students use glucose test strips to check whether glucose molecules have diffused out into the water of the second cup.

 

What Students Learn from this Osmosis and Diffusion Lab

By analyzing their results, students make key observations:

• Starch didn’t leave the bag.
• Iodine entered the bag.
• Glucose slowly diffused out, with positive test strip results appearing only after 24 hours.
• Water moved into the bag, as shown by swelling.

 

These outcomes open the door for class discussions about molecular size, permeability, and the differences between active and passive transport. I also challenge students to rank the molecules from smallest to largest based on which ones could pass through the membrane. 

 

 

Ready to Try This Osmosis and Diffusion Lab?

The version of the lab I use in my classroom is available here:


👉 Diffusion Through a Non-Living Membrane

 

It comes with student instructions, a detailed teacher guide, data tables, and analysis questions ... everything you need for a smooth, engaging class period.

 

Want to go further? Try this FREE download:


🎁 The Effect of Concentration on the Rate of Diffusion
 - This is a great follow-up or extension that deepens students' understanding of how concentration gradients affect the rate of diffusion.

 

More Resources to Reinforce Cellular Transport

Need additional reinforcement activities for your cell transport unit? These are teacher favorites in my TPT store:

•    🧪 Cellular Transport Worksheets – Lots of practice requiring critical thinking skills.

•    💧 Qualitative and Quantitative Plasmolysis Lab – Hands-on exploration of osmosis in plant cells

•    🎨 Cellular Transport Color by Number – Fun, low-prep review with instant feedback

 

Why This Osmosis and Diffusion Lab Works

 

This osmosis and diffusion lab works because it’s:

•    Simple to prep

•    Visually powerful

•    Aligned with NGSS and common biology standards

•    Appropriate for high school biology

•    Engaging enough that students remember the results

 

Whether you're introducing the topic for the first time or reviewing before an exam, this lab creates the kind of “aha!” moment every biology teacher hopes for. Good luck and happy teaching!