Biology Innovative Uses

We recently visited Dr. Deborah Schenberger’s biomechanics research lab at the University of Portland in Portland, OR. She has designed some experiments to look at issues related to barefoot running, a running trend popularized by Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run. Without the padding provided by traditional running shoes, barefoot runners minimize their heel strike,…

Subjects: Biology, Human Physiology

John Melville, our Biology Staff Scientist, has developed a laboratory exercise that investigates proteins using our SpectroVis Plus spectrophotometer or our Colorimeter. This is an excellent exercise that contains several extensions that are appropriate for college courses. This laboratory experiment is designed to introduce the student to the study of macromolecules. The Bradford assay is used to…

Subjects: Biology

We’ve all heard of the age-old Bennet-Clark/Rothschild debate about flea jumping, right? Just to refresh your memory, Henry Bennet-Clark, the researcher who discovered in 1967 that fleas store the elastic potential energy for their jump in a material called resilin, made predictions on the mechanics of flea jumping. Bennet-Clark hypothesized that fleas take to the…

Subjects: Biology

A key concept in biology is how the structure of a protein determines its function. All proteins are made up of amino acids. The primary structure of a protein refers to the sequence of amino acids of which the protein is composed. The primary structure determines how the protein will fold, which will in turn…

Subjects: Biology

Neurons communicate with each other and the rest of the body by releasing neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are small chemicals that bind to receptors on other neurons, cells, or tissues of the body. It is very difficult to study neurotransmitters directly. In many cases, the activity of an enzyme that produces or breaks down a neurotransmitter is…

Subjects: Biology

With its increased frequency response and external grounding pin, our new and improved Instrumentation Amplifier can now be used to record the electric signal from an electric fish. Many animals can sense things that humans cannot; for example, some fish create and sense electric fields. Weakly electric fish, such as the black ghost knifefish, create…

Subjects: Biology

Enzymes are molecules that regulate the chemical reactions that occur in all living organisms. Almost all enzymes are globular proteins that act as catalysts, substances that speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes catalyze reactions by reducing the activation energy for a specific reaction to occur and yet are neither destroyed nor altered during this process. Understanding…

Subjects: Biology

Robert O’Connor, biology teacher at Kenmore East High School in Tonawanda, NY, worked with student, Michael Starr, to set up a reptile enclosure to house a black and white tegu. The activity was Mike’s senior independent study project. The enclosure included a waterfall and various shelves for basking spots. The lights and waterfall were equipped…

Subjects: Biology

Ben Carter, a 12-year-old from Nashville, TN, captured a beautiful time-lapse video of a monarch caterpillar pupating into a chrysalis using Logger Pro and a ProScope HR camera (order code BD-HRB, $275). After planting milkweed obtained from www.livemonarch.com, the monarch caterpillars began showing up in their yard. Ben used the 1-10X lens on a ProScope…

Subjects: Biology

Finding examples of osmosis for the biology laboratory that promote student inquiry and offer relatively quick results have been hard to come by. A new osmosis investigation has been developed by Mike Collins, one of our staff biology teachers, that helps students understand this essential concept of cell homeostasis. In this easy to perform experiment,…

Subjects: Biology