free online life sciences education resource update 10/29/15
Mark Lasbury
Good morning,
Do you know why so
many people are scared of being buried alive – because it happens! There are
several conditions that can make it appear that you are dead. For that matter,
do you know that jut about everyone is a vampire – every culture has blood in
their culinary tradition. Finally, did you know that the record for time
between twin births is 3 ½ months, or
that twins can have different fathers or be conceived in different months. Biology
is weird.
These are some of the recent stories we have addressed on a
free online resource developed to increase learner engagement and educator
content knowledge. As Many Exceptions As Rules tells the stories of organisms that
break biological rules or norms in order to survive and thrive. Through these
stories, the core concepts of the science are reinforced.
The resource can be accessed at: http://biologicalexceptions.blogspot.com
Posted weekly, each story includes pertinent vocabulary with
etymology, interesting questions to spark discussion, links to the reports from
the latest research on the subject being discussed, and a list of online
resources for more information and classroom activities.
Upcoming topics will include
the story of number in biology, from the most to the fewest, from the smallest
to the biggest. Bacteria have to be small because they can’t move molecules
well, but two bacteria have found two different ways to become huge – one grows
75 fold during the course of one day! Finally, we will talk about the true hero
o Thanksgiving, the cranberry. They are sour because of th unique way they
spread there seeds – you need a yearly flood.
If you wish to receive weekly e-mail notifications of new
posts, reply to the sender individually.
Mark E. Lasbury, MS, MSEd, PhD
Indiana University School of Medicine
IUPUI School of Education
As Many Exceptions As Rules