UNIT I: INTRODUCTION TO THE CELL

Cell/Developmental BiologyGroup 4

Bryant Chase, Lloyd Epstein, Trisha Spears, Florida State UniversityJill Beyette and Brian Kinkle, University of CincinnatiKathy Miller and Kathy Hafer, Washington University

“The Bloom-ing Idiots”

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Context

• First semester, introductory biology class for majors

• Large lecture format (> 100 students)• The unit is designed to span 4-5 lectures• The tidbit is designed to be used the first day

of lecture

1. differences between living and non-living entities.

1a. list defining properties of a living entity

1b. evaluate evidence and decide if an entity is alive or not alive

2. the essential characteristics and defining properties of a cell.

2a. draw and label parts of a cell;

2b. describe the function of essential components of the cell;

2c. explain leading hypotheses on the origin of cells;

2d. explain the origin of extant cells.

3. an organism can be one cell or many cells.

4. not all the cells are the same.

3. name 3 types of uni- and multicellular organisms.

4a. list different types of cells (in a human).

4b. explain/suggest hypotheses for why some cells are different from others.

4c. compare & contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

5. scientific knowledge is incomplete and subject to change.

5. evaluate the ability of our current definition of life to accommodate new scientific and technological innovations

Understand: Be able to:At the end of the unit, students should…

1. differences between living and non-living entities.

1a. list defining properties of a living entity

1b. evaluate evidence and decide if an entity is alive or not alive

2. the essential characteristics and defining properties of a cell.

2a. draw and label parts of a cell;

2b. describe the function of essential components of the cell;

2c. explain leading hypotheses on the origin of cells;

2d. explain the origin of extant cells.

3. an organism can be one cell or many cells.

4. not all the cells are the same.

3. name 3 types of uni- and multicellular organisms.

4a. list different types of cells (in a human).

4b. explain/suggest hypotheses for why some cells are different from others.

4c. compare & contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

5. scientific knowledge is incomplete and subject to change.

5. evaluate the ability of our current definition of life to accommodate new scientific and technological innovations

Understand: Be able to:At the end of the unit, students should…

Learning Goals for this Tidbit

1. fundamental differences between living and non-living entities

Students will understand:

Learning Goals for this Tidbit

1. fundamental differences between living and non-living entities

2. that scientific knowledge is dynamic– the body of knowledge is currently incomplete– new knowledge can cause us to change our

theories about science

Students will understand:

Learning Goals for this Tidbit

1. fundamental differences between living and non-living entities

2. that scientific knowledge is dynamic– the body of knowledge is incomplete– new knowledge can cause us to change our

theories about science

3. categories and definitions that scientists use have limitations and may change over time

Students will understand:

Learning Outcomes

After completing this tidbit, students will be able to:– list defining properties of a living entity– analyze evidence and decide if an entity is alive– evaluate the ability of our current definition of life

to accommodate new scientific and technological innovations

Have you met Aiko?

YouTube video

Have you met Aiko?

Is Aiko alive?A)YesB)NoC)I don’t have sufficient information

Clicker activity:

What are the defining characteristics of life?

• On your own, take 1 minute and write down at least 3 characteristics of all living things.

• Assemble into groups of 4 and take 2 minutes to make a single combined list. Choose your top 3.

Defining characteristics of life

• Evolution• Organization (cells)• Growth (and development)• Metabolism• Reproduction (genetic material)• Regulation (homeostasis)• Response (to environment)

Try these: Which of these are living entities?

2 3

A: 1B: 2C: 3D: 2 and 3E: 1, 2 and 3

Clicker activity:

1

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Now it gets harder.

Which of these are living entities?

2 3

A: 1B: 2C: 3D: 1 and 2E: 1 and 3

1

Let’s imagine Aiko 10.0• real human skin • solar-powered • programmed to build Aiko 11.0, Ariko 1.0 (a boy)

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Clicker question: Thinking about the list of defining characteristics of life, is Aiko 11.0 now alive?

A) Yes B) No

Clicker question: Thinking about the list of defining characteristics of life, is Aiko 11.0 now alive?

A) Yes B) No

Food for thought: what would make Aiko 11.0 alive? Do we need to modify our list?

Homework assignment Venter Institute Scientists Create First Synthetic Bacterial Genome

http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/projects/synthetic-bacterial-genome/press-release/

Assignment: read the article and write a short paragraph evaluating whether Venter has

successfully created new life

Learning Goals for the Entire Teachable Unit

Students should understand the following:

• differences between living and non-living entities• the essential characteristics and defining

properties of a cell• not all cells are the same• an organism can be one cell or many cells• scientific knowledge is incomplete and subject to

change

Formative Assessments 1. Individual response clicker questions

2. Individual followed by group brainstorm

3. Group discussion

4. Repeat clicker question after evaluating new evidence

Summative AssessmentExam Question:

Assume a Mars probe brought back a sample with the following properties:

•It moves toward light

•It responds to sound by repeating the sounds

•It can pick up small objects and internalize them

The director of the Mars Study Group announces that life has been discovered on Mars. Do you agree? Explain your reasoning.

Addressing Diversity

Our classroom activities accommodate different learningstyles in the following ways:

•Visual (photographs)•Auditory (group discussion and listening to instructor)•Read/write (list and one minute paper homework assignment)

Group work encourages diverse students to work together and share ideas We use a variety of universally recognizable images in our presentation

Opportunities to expand teaching unit: 1. Define each item on the list generated by the class and take time

to address possible misconceptions. Example: Ask students, “Do you agree with this item on the list?

Why or why not?” 2. Expand on the following themes: the scientific process, scientists

form collaborations all the time, richness that diversity brings to science, the body of scientific knowledge expands as scientists evaluate new evidence.

Examples: a) Elaborate on the metacognitive process that the

students went through while they were generating their lists “How did you generate your list? What information did you draw on to do so?”, etc. b) Discuss the benefits of the brainstorming activity when performed alone or in groups. c) Address student interpretations of what life is outside of the biological perspective, and reinforce that science is based on evidence.

3. Continue the theme “is X alive or not alive?” with other examples in the course (red blood cell, viruses, etc.)

4. Address relationships between science and technology. Example: Ask students “Will new advances in our technology cause

us to re-think what our current definition of life is?” 5. Explore ethical issues that can arise for this topic. For example,

when does life start? What are the implications if “artificial life” and life become indistinguishable? Are we comfortable destroying artificial life?

6. Use a pre-post assessment to examine student’s attitudes towards

science and what it is that they think scientists do.