Crowd-sourced, crowd-pleasing activities using the HAPS listserv

A note from the Blog Master: the work that led to this blog post initially occurred in the 2019-2020 academic year, but its publication got delayed by that whole pesky pandemic/emergency online instruction situation. Last week, HAPS member Karen Groh shared how she utilized the HAPS listserv to quickly plan an activity for a group of visiting high school students. If you missed it, check out her High school histology (on short notice) post.

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Sometimes HAPSters are asked to provide a science experience for visiting high school classes. The goal of the visit varies. The visit could be used as a recruiting tool, a chance for the college to give potential students a positive experience of the college, or an enrichment field trip for a class that wants to get more experience in a particular topic. Whatever the reason, it’s always good to have a bag of tricks available to use for these visits. When Karen Groh asked the HAPS ListServ for some ideas for a high school visit, the ideas below were generated. Ultimately, Karen elected to create a histology activity that was highlighted in a previous blog post. HAPS member Leslie Stone-Roy then took the remaining ideas and hunted down links to protocols, pictures, and instructional videos to share.

Maybe one of the ideas on this list will be your answer the next time you need to provide a science experience for a high school class!

Genetics: extract DNA from a strawberry

• Demo video from the National Human Genome Research Institute
• Pre-made slides and written instructions from the Wellcome Genome Campus
• Instructions from Scientific American
• An instructional poster from the National Institutes of Health

Chemistry

Perform a safe acid/base reaction using NaHCO₃ and vinegar

• Instructions, supply list, and pictures from Stanford

Simulate the transfer of a disease across a population using clear liquids and a pH indicator

• Instructions, supply list, and pictures from Northern Arizona University

Dialysis tubing to model osmosis and diffusion

• Video protocol from Collin College
• Osmosis and diffusion video from Science North

Bones

3D Forensic craniofacial reproduction

• Instructables tutorial written by a physical and forensic anthropology Ph.D.

Estimating stature using long bone landmarks

• Sample drawings and formulas from the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology

Sex differences in skeletons

• Handout/activity from the Smithsonian Institute

Physiology

Vital signs and homeostasis

• Normal vital signs from Medline Plus
• Vital sign information from Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Instructions with pictures on how to measure vital signs from UC San Diego School of Medicine
• Lung capacity, heart rate, and blood pressure activity from Stanford
• Heart rate changes with exercise from Scientific American

Diving reflex simulation

• Materials, protocol, data analysis, and sample data from Advances in Physiology Education

Dissections

Eyes

• Cow eye instructions with pictures from The Exploratorium
• Sheep eye video and diagrams

Pig heart

• Video with descriptions from South Dakota Public Broadcasting

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Leslie Stone-Roy is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. She spends most of her time developing, improving, and teaching neuroscience courses at CSU, including lecture, lab, and research-based courses. In addition, she runs a large outreach program each year during which she recruits and trains about 100 CSU students who help her teach local middle and high school students about neuroscience and the brain. She also has a small research project centered on sensory substitution and is interested in expanding her scholarly activities in teaching and learning. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, hiking, and doing yoga.

Karen Groh is a Biology Instructor at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in Cincinnati, Ohio where she teaches Anatomy and Physiology. She is a POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) facilitator. In 2021 she was awarded the Gail Jenkins Teaching and Mentoring Award from HAPS. She works to keep students active and engaged in the classroom and is always seeking new ideas for guiding her students to fully understand complex topics.