Teaching with Toys and Analogies

Jacalyn Newman, Ph.D.Department of Biological Sciences

University of Pittsburgh

Foundations 1 & 2

• Introductory biology course• 2 semester sequence, C or better

required to take part 2• All sections curve mean to 75% (C)• Lab is a separate class! Not all students

take lab

Foundations 1 & 2

• Mostly freshman, undeclared majors~1,500 students per term – multiple sections 200-350/section

• Serves future biomajors, pre-X majors, gen. ed. science requirement for non-majors

• 4 midterm MC exams, 45 Q in 50 min. Drop lowest

• Cumulative 50 Q final.

L9 Clapp

• Seats 409 students• Multimedia (overhead, projector, VCR,

DVD player)• No sink, gas line, vacuum line• Nearly continuous use during the day• 10 minutes for class changes

Why toys and analogies?

• Compensate for constraints:– lack of lab, stadium seating, large

class, inability to do real world demos• Make the invisible visible• Bridge between their experience

and new information• Bring fun into learning

My personal favorites

• Cell signaling– bubbles, balloons, and Mousetrap®

• Macromolecules– Barrel of monkeys®, pop beads, quick links

• City of a Cell• Country wide defense - Immune system

Bubbles for paracrine signaling

• Plant a student in the back of the room. Start blowing bubbles once we start topic of cell signaling

• Local reaction, other students are unaware b/c too far away

Balloons for endocrine signaling

• Blow up 4-5 balloons• Send into class, tell them to share and

keep them moving. • Get attention, put up an overhead:

If you made contact with a balloon:

…and skipped breakfast this morning: stand up

…and you’re left handed: stand and face the back of the room

…and are bilingual: raise your hand

Contact with a balloon- ONE SIGNALReceptor 1 skipped breakfastResponse 1 stand up

Receptor 2 left handedResponse 2 stand and face the back

Receptor 3 bilingualResponse 3 raise your hand

No Receptor- No Response!

The 4 stages of cell signaling

1. Receive Signal - Someone called 911 to report a fire

2. Transduce - Sirens go off, firefighters get trucks, go to house

3. Respond - put out the fire4. Reset - clean up, go back to

station in prep for next call

Cell signaling is Mousetrap

1. Receive - mouse lands on cheese, other lands on “turn crank”

2. Transduce - everything from turn crank up to cage dropping

3. Repond - trap the mouse!4. Reset - put everything back into ready

mode

Macromolecules

Bonds via dehydration reactions– monomer concept– monomer orientation– number of bonds to make a polymer

Barrel of monkeys + sharpie marker, pop beads, Quick links

Cellulose vs Starch

...and the diagram of celllulose’s structure here

I put the textbook diagram of starch (linear chain) here...

Protein Structure

• Primary doesn’t change when you twist, coil, or zigzag the chain.

• Models for secondary structure• Models plus quick links for tertiary and

quaternary structure

City Cell

Government Nucleus

City limits Plasma membrane

Structure i.e. Buildings, roads

cytoskeleton

Recycling/ trash lysosomes, export to blood

Power plants Mitochondria, chloroplasts

Communications Signal transduction

Transportation microtubules, vesicles

The city of the cell part 1

City Cell

Manufacturing Ribosomes

Maintenance Proteins

Good neighbor relations

Intercellular junctions, extra cellular matrix

Police/ anti-Crime Chaperonins, Lysosomes

Imports/exports Vesicles, endocytosis, exocytosis, secretion

The city of the cell part 2

Country DefenseA.K.A. The Immune System

Nonspecific Defense Nonspecific DefenseSpecific defense

mechanisms of the immune system

First line defenses: skin, mucous membranes, secretions

Second line defenses:

complement proteins, inflammatory

response

Third line defenses:B & T cells

Canadian border

Local police FBI