McDougal Littell - Biology

Cool Connections to Biology
Ten Ideas For Engaging Your Students In Biology

One of the most effective strategies to engage and motivate students is to connect the subject to the student’s daily life. All too often, students think that success in a biology course comes from memorizing facts and terms, yet they have no personal connection to motivate their interest or engage their imagination. Biology offers a unique opportunity to get students engaged because almost everything in today’s world is affected by biological discoveries. But identifying “cool connections” and constructing meaningful bridges to the underlying biology takes time that many teachers don’t have.

As part of my author Web site launch, I have listed ten real-world events that will fascinate students. These “Cool Connections” will help students connect what they learn in school with their life outside the classroom and see that biology is more than just a collection of facts. Teacher support materials will be included in the discussion of each topic. These may include background reading, Web-links, and worksheets.

As a part of this feature, I will also be launching a teacher-to-teacher network that will enable teachers from around the country to share practical advice with using these Cool Connections. I envision that each topic will be expanded by input from teachers who have used the idea in their classroom, with Teaching Ideas, pit-falls, ideas for presentation, and online materials that can be available for classroom use.

This list, however, is just a starting point. I encourage teachers to contribute ideas of their own. The list will continue to expand as more ideas are added. Periodically, we will conduct a teacher poll to establish the “Top Ten” Cool Connections that are currently thought by teachers to be the best ideas.

• "I vant to bite your neck" (Ecology)
  Vampire bats drink the blood of their victims to survive, but they also share the blood they have consumed with less fortunate bats. Why?
  
  
• Building a better mosquito (Genomics)
  Mosquitoes will always bite, but genetically engineering the insects to prevent the spread of disease may be a way to maintain ecosystem balance while making a bite just itch.
  
  
• Me and my biological shadow (Diversity of Life)
  Imagine removing all of your cells, skin, organs, and bones. What is left? Bacteria. Billions of them. Without bacteria, our lives would be much more difficult, if not impossible. How does bacteria make our lives easier, and harder?
  
  
• Who's your daddy? (Animal Physiology)
  Is it possible for a lizard to clone itself? Learn the story of how one famous Komodo dragon did just that to keep her, er, his, family alive.
  
  
• What happened to Einstein's brain? (Human Biology)
  How could you lose a brain? After being preserved, Albert Einstein's brain has been lost and found numerous times. What could the structural peculiarities of this famous organ tell us about ourselves?
  
  
• CSI: Entomology (Ecology)
  How can the growth and development of insect larvae help convict a murderer? How does forensic science use nature to fight crime?
  
  
• How does that lizard walk on the ceiling? (Biology in the 21st Century)
  The wonders of natural selection have led to a tiny lizard, whose feet are made of millions of tiny hairs that allow them to defy gravity and walk virtually anywhere they want. Today, scientists are using this feat to create the "ultimate Velcro."
  
  
• The ultimate lie-detector? (Biology in the 21st Century)
  How is brain imaging being used to explore the physiological changes that take place when expressing emotions?
  
  
• Polar bears can't swim forever (Ecology)
  Polar Bears on a diet? Not by their own choice. Skinny polar bears are now the norm in the arctic because climate change is shrinking the ice patches the bears depend on for hunting, and they have to commute further for a meal.