The purpose of the manuscript is to present to academic teachers, doctors and nutritionists how practical online classes with dietetics students can be used to develop ready-made tools at work and for the education of phenylketonuria (PKU) patients and their caregivers/parents. During online classes in 2020, as part of the subject--diet therapy of…

The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") have attempted to make planning easier for teachers by creating a common resource bank, but there is no unit design process specifically created for science teachers in a project- and inquiry-based classroom. Without a common…

Invasive species, defined as exotic species that reach pest status, are major threats to global biodiversity. Although invasive species can belong to any taxonomic group, general characteristics such as rapid growth and reproduction are shared by many invasive species. "Invented Invaders" is a collaborative activity in which students…

One of the crosscutting concepts in science is cause and effect. A disease model can provide understanding of cause and effect, as teachers scaffold student thinking from molecular changes in the DNA to visible traits in the organism. The project described in this article uses Pompe disease, a rare recessive disorder, as a model of cause and…

This article is targeted to faculty teaching race and ethnicity, racism, diversity, and multicultural courses. Many students equate race with skin color. The premise of this article is that to teach students about the social construction of race, teachers must first know enough science to teach students that race is not biological. This article…

We incorporated a bioinformatics component into the freshman biology course that allows students to explore cystic fibrosis (CF), a common genetic disorder, using bioinformatics tools and skills. Students learn about CF through searching genetic databases, analyzing genetic sequences, and observing the three-dimensional structures of proteins…

Students often have an oversimplified view of biological facts, which may hinder subsequent understanding when conceptual complexity gives rise to cognitive conflicts. To avoid this situation here, we present a PBL approach for the analysis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), which integrates a variety of topics in cell biology, genetics, and…

I describe a quantitative approach to three case studies in evolution that can be used to challenge college freshmen to explore the power of natural selection and ask questions that foster a deeper understanding of its operation and relevance. Hemochromatosis, the peppered moth, and hominid cranial capacity are investigated with a common algebraic…

This article discusses how real research on Down syndrome, being done in a lab at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), was incorporated into a laboratory activity for middle school students. The activity asked students to evaluate real evidence from the research laboratory of a GK-12 fellow (a graduate student funded by the…

Personalized medicine refers to medical care that involves genetically screening patients for their likelihood to develop various disorders. Commercial genome screening only involves identifying a consumer's genotype for a few single nucleotide polymorphisms. A phenotype (such as an illness) is greatly influenced by three factors: genes, gene…

The purpose of this project was to provide innovative and cutting edge genetics materials for 14-17 year olds (Year 10-12) in Australian schools, which aimed to engage students and encourage evidence based decision-making. In 2008, an Australian School Innovation in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM) project called "Genetics…

Introductory biology textbooks often use the example of sickle-cell anemia to illustrate the concept of heterozygote protection. Ordinarily scientists expect the frequency of a gene associated with a debilitating illness would be low owing to its continual elimination by natural selection. The gene that causes sickle-cell anemia, however, has a…

The purpose of the present study was to examine agreement on childhood disability among the teachers and parents of children with cognitive delays in Vietnam. The participants were 57 teachers in kindergarten programmes (for children 2 to 6 years of age), and 106 mothers and 93 fathers of the children attending these kindergarten programmes. The…

This study sought to determine the prevalence of bruxism in a Mexican community of children with Down syndrome, and to evaluate bruxism's relationship with age, sex, intellectual disability level, and type of chromosomal abnormality of trisomy 21. Using a cross-sectional design, 57 boys and girls (3 to 14 years old) were examined. Three approaches…

Usher Syndrome is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by congenital hearing loss and gradually developing retinitis pigmentosa leading to the loss of vision. Approximately 25,000 people in the United States have some form of Usher Syndrome. Most of these individuals have either Type I (10,000) or Type II (15,000). Type I Usher…