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| Sort | Discussion topic | Brief description | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | ATP and how to be an enzyme | Where the 'energy' is in ATP, what an enzyme is, and how an ATPase works | structure-function, energetics, ATP, enzyme |
| 10 | Cytosine, Uracil, Thymine | How evolution works: the horrid mistake of Cyt, Ura; the abysmal solution that is Thy | evolution, DNA, RNA, coding |
| 2 | Blue eyes vs. Lactose intolerance | DNA sequences allow deduction that one originated but once; the other, multiply | DNA sequence, deduction, literature, human history |
| 5 | Honors DNA deductions | Extended version of Blue eyes/milk; adds sickle cell multiple origins and short-legged dogs | DNA sequence, deduction, literature, building learning |
| 3 | The flu! | Flu virus is 'trojan horse', gaining entry to cell by phagocytosis, but pH triggers membrane fusion and 'escape' | pH, structure-function, virus, organelle, phagocytosis |
| 15 | Opsin and Color Vision | How did (some) primates 'rediscover' color vision? By adding new information via gene duplication & mutation | Mutation, evolution, structure-function, genetic code |
| 24 | Roleplaying I: Translation | From simple things doing mindless chores, one of the greatest 'discoveries' of evolution: making nucleotide sequences 'mean' proteins | [Teaching guide available] |
| 25 | Roleplaying II: Lac Operon | Learning the lac operon by living it | |
| 26 | Roleplaying III: Protein Trafficking | Helping students understand how traffic is 'directed' by sequence tags and receptors... via taking on roles of proteins | |
| 30 | Skin color variation: competing selections | Look at the trade-offs between vit. D synthesis and UV protection | Integrated thinking, mutation, selection, evolution, pathways |
| 1 | An eBook/eModule proposal | Philosophical + rough outline of how I think a semester of IntroBio should be taught More recent & detailed version |
My attempt to identify content, order, and delivery |
| 65 | Readable papers | Exposing undergrads to scientific literature is a good goal, but finding ones that beginners can get their heads around is hard | 'Interesting' papers with technique, vocab lists that can be managed |
| 60 | Great papers | I hope the next course I get to create is 'Great Papers in the history of molecular biology/genetics' | Big ideas without the distraction of an excess of difficult background, vocabulary and methods |
| -1 | Ideas, problem-solving | Studies & tools on creative thinking, multi-tasking, etc. | Both logical and creative tools |
| 0 | Study/Learning resources | A collection of studies, guides, and apps | Cornell note-taking, modern flashcards... |
| 70 | Wrong ideas | Great ideas aren't always right. If we're teaching students about the REAL process, shouldn't we feature thoughtful ideas that didn't pan out? And how they fell? | A collection of resources to explore 'good' wrong ideas and (sometimes) their demise |