Digestion is a fundamentally important process for an individual's life. However, the physical process of digestion is hidden inside the body, making it challenging to understand and a particularly difficult topic for students to learn in the classroom. Traditional approaches to teaching body processes include a mixture of textbook teaching and…

Metals enable numerous physiological processes ranging from respiration to nitrogen fixation. However, the role of metals in biology and biocatalysis is not appreciated by the general public. This lack of knowledge around biological metals can lead to misinformation, especially regarding vaccines and health products. Here, we present a series of…

In the present article, we describe a 3-day experimental workshop on glycemia regulation and type 1 diabetes that engages students in open-ended investigations and guided experiments leading to results that are not already known to them. After an initial questioning phase during which students observe PowerPoint slides depicting the glycemia…

In biology education which is an inseparable discipline of medical and veterinary education, it is of great importance that enabling students to make practice in real conditions and gain knowledge and skills related to their professional fields during their education. It is necessary to adapt the new technologies rapidly to education rather than…

In the present study, a preparation of frog skin was presented, which can be used to demonstrate the basic concepts of blood flow regulation in a very clear and attractive way to high school and university students. In a freshly euthanized "Xenopus," a patch of abdominal skin was exposed from the internal side and viewed with a USB…

An educational device was created to develop a hands-on activity to illustrate how atherosclerosis can dramatically reduce blood flow in human vessels. The device was conceived, designed, and built at the University of Coimbra, in response to a request from the Exploratorio Infante D. Henrique Science Centre Museum, where it is presently…

Hands-on activities with live organisms allow students to actively explore scientific investigation. Here, I present activities that combine guided inquiry with direct instruction and relate how nutrition affects the physiology and behavior of the common housefly. These experiments encourage student involvement in the formulation of experimental…

Evolutionary history and structural considerations constrain all aspects of animal physiology. Constraints on invertebrate locomotion are especially straightforward for students to observe and understand. In this exercise, students use spiders to investigate the concepts of adaptation, structure-function relationships, and trade-offs. Students…

Two of the most frustrating things for me as a teacher are the way units and jargon can get in the way of understanding concepts. When I teach pre-nursing and medical students about blood pressure, they end up memorizing a lot of information that would be obvious if they had remembered some of their basic physics--particularly the ability to…

We describe a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol suitable for use in secondary schools and colleges. This PCR protocol can be used to investigate genetic variation between plants. The protocol makes use of primers which are complementary to sequences of nucleotides that are highly conserved across different plant genera. The regions of…

Fully opened leaves of potted plants of "Oxalis corymbosa" DC. closed completely by folding their leaflets downward after being kept in the dark for two hours. The folded leaflets, then moved upward gradually after exposure to light. We developed a simple method to measure the leaf movement. A paper protractor folded every 10[degrees] was devised…