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What Are the Most Important Safety Rules for Your School Science Lab?

Safety rules are essential in every school science lab because they help to prevent accidents and injuries. Working with chemicals and scientific equipment from Modern Biology, Inc. can be dangerous if proper precautions are not taken. Accidents in the science lab can result in serious injuries or even death.

Additionally, following safety rules helps to ensure that experiments are conducted correctly. It increases the likelihood that the results students get with their experiments can be documented and duplicated.

Proper safety measures also help to protect the lab environment and prevent damage to equipment and materials. Following safety rules is essential for ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone in the lab, as well as the integrity of the scientific work being conducted.

Here are the three most important safety rules for every school science lab.

1. Review the instructions before you start the lab.

There are several reasons why students should study their instructions before conducting a science lab:

  • To understand the purpose and objectives of the lab: Reading the instructions will help students understand the goals of the lab and what they are expected to learn or demonstrate. They won’t get into trouble by choosing the wrong reagents or trying to make the wrong equipment work.
  • To know how to set up the lab: The instructions will typically include information on how to set up the lab, including where to find the necessary equipment and reagents. Sticking to the supplies that come in the Modern Biology, Inc. experiment kit ensures that students are not exposed to toxic agents.
  • To follow the correct procedures: It is important that students follow the steps of the lab in the correct order to ensure that the experiment is conducted correctly and that the results are reliable.
  • To know what to do with potentially hazardous equipment. Students need to know how to use equipment so they don’t accidentally mishandle it. This is particularly important when working with electrophoresis equipment.
  • To know what to do in case of an emergency: The instructions should include information on what to do in case of an accident or emergency, such as how to properly evacuate the lab or how to seek medical attention.

Students need to understand what they are testing and how they will recognize results. Sticking to the script for the experiment reduces the risk of accidents.

2. Keep your workspace well-organized and clean.

Clutter-free workspaces are safer workspaces. Students who focus on the task at hand are not likely to waste materials, lose reagents or test samples, or ruin their notes. Cleanliness reduces the risk of chemical contamination and electrical shorts and increases the likelihood of getting meaningful results from the experiment.

3. Return reagents and equipment to their designated places.

Supplies cost money. It is important to keep them where the teacher can monitor their use. But even more importantly, it is important for students to be working with the right reagents for the experiment at hand, both to test their hypothesis, and also to avoid mishandling or inadvertently creating toxic or explosive materials.

Those rules are the big three, but they aren’t the only safety rules for the science lab. Students need to avoid eating, drinking, and (yes, it happens) smoking in the lab. That way, they do not ingest hazardous substances or ignite flammable chemicals.

Students must make sure electrical equipment is not plugged in when they are cleaning or repairing it. And there really is a need, in some cases, to remind students not to use their sense of taste to identify reagents.

Our individual biology experiments are designed with safety in mind. No toxic reagents or test materials are included in any Modern Biology, Inc. experiment kit.

Want to know more? Contact us for more information.

5 Ways to Be a Great Science Teacher

If you teach science in the public schools, chances are that you teach in one of the 40 states that have adopted Next Generation Science Standards. Guiding science curriculum since 2013, these standards emphasize real-world, hands-on experiences over rote recitation of vocabulary and facts. These experiences are intended to engage students with science and engineering practices, also known as SEPs. 

The Next Generation Science Standards are a great guiding principle for science education in the twenty-first century, but one simple fact stands in the way of implementing them:

Many schools prioritize math and language learning over science,

This is particularly true in financially distressed schools that desperately need to boost math and language scores to keep their funding. So, how can you be a great science teacher despite the limitations of time, budget, and administrative support?

The first rule may surprise you.

Maintain a line of sight with your students

Great science teachers keep a literal eye on their students, especially during laboratory work. Arrange the seats, desks, and equipment in your classroom and your lab so you can maintain eye contact with every student in your class. This modification won’t take a lot of time and it need not cost any money, but it can make a tremendous difference in how much your students learn.

Encourage a scientific mindset

Unless you are teaching at Hogwarts, your students can benefit from developing a scientific mindset. They can benefit from finding rational, repeatable, and testable connections between the events they observe in the natural world around them. This doesn’t mean that your job is to deflate any belief in the mysterious and the mystical. Use scientific method to make searching for the reasons exciting, always leading to the next question.

Nurture curiosity

Don’t just lecture on facts. Encourage your classes to use scientific method to figure things out on their own.

The ability to nurture curiosity is the mark of a master science teacher. The reason this ability is more rare than one might think it would be is that students sustain an attitude of curiosity with successful experimentation. Teachers must choose topics that students have the scientific background, laboratory tools, and lab time to explore to a scientific conclusion.

Stay organized

How many of us have had a wonderfully engaging teacher who was hopelessly disorganized? Be engaging but stay organized.

This means you need lesson plans, and you need to know how much time to spend on each topic. It also means that everything needs a designated storage place in your lab, and you need to make sure reusable items and reagents are put back during every lab period.

Introduce your students to phenomenon-based assessments

It’s relatively easy to prepare students for standardized, multiple-choice exams—and the simple fact is that doing well on multiple choice exams is critically important to the success of students, teachers, and schools. But natural phenomena don’t conveniently present outcomes neatly arranged A, B, C, D.

Open-ended, phenomenon-based classroom assessments give students an opportunity to show their understanding. They don’t have to pose a stressful situation for students. For instance, a biology teacher may relate the story of buffalo on the Great Plains. Students can explain how buffalo maintained the Great Plains ecosystem, and changes in the Great Plains ecosystem affect modern buffalo.

Students used to fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice tests may be intimidated by phenomenon-based assessment. You can remove grade pressure. But students need to master skills of divergent thinking to thrive in their adult life.Modern Biology provides everything you need for hands-on learning experiences in the lab for students from middle school to college. Have questions about how Modern Biology can help you implement Next Generation Science Standards in your biology classroom? Contact Modern Biology weekdays at (765) 446-4220.

How Do You Set Up a School Science Lab?

Modern biology teaching incorporates laboratory experiences for every student. Lab work gives students vital opportunities to develop their skills in scientific method. Learning in the lab trains students to make observations, record them, and then organize and share them. But the success of hands-on education for biology students depends a great deal on how you and your school set up your school science lab.

We have identified five essentials for success in setting up school science labs.

Plan for safety in every aspect of your lab

Student safety is paramount in every laboratory experience. Lapses in safety don’t just harm the students involved in them. They also damage the reputation of your science program and can jeopardize your career.

What are the basics of school lab safety?

  • Make sure your lab is properly ventilated. All indoor spaces tend to accumulate carbon dioxide, making for drowsy students. Good air circulation helps your students and you stay alert.
  • Have a hood for those occasions your students use potentially toxic chemicals.
  • Invest in safety equipment. Students may need safety glasses, goggles, gloves, and lab coats.
  • Get into the habit of storing reagents, test materials, glassware, and other lab equipment in designated locations. Knowing exactly where you keep needed supplies helps you avoid time pressures that lead to accidents.
  • Have smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, CO detectors, and fire extinguishers strategically located for immediate use as needed.
  • Lay out your lab so you can see every student. Don’t have any work stations obscured by tables, lab desks, or bulky equipment.
  • Plan experiments that use non-toxic reagents and test materials. Every component of every experiment kit from Modern Biology is school-tested and safety certified.

Choose a room with good natural lighting

Many experiments involve color changes in reagents and test strips. Students need full-spectrum lighting, preferably natural lighting, to see what they are working with. When natural lighting is not possible, good natural lighting reduces the risk of accidents.

Plan your storage systems for ease of use

Extra care in planning your storage spaces reduces preparation time. It helps you avoid reordering chemicals and equipment you already have on hand. Labeling every item’s place on every shelf saves everyone time.

Keeping your storage systems organized, however, requires communicating the rules for using lab equipment to your students. Make keeping the lab clean, organized, and safe part of every student’s evaluation for their lab grade.

Have a line of sight to every lab station

It is important for every teacher to have a line of sight to every work station in the lab at all times. Teachers need to be able to monitor students to maintain safety. They also need to maintain a line of sight to students for purposes of pedagogy. Being able to interact with students as they work helps them complete the experiment successfully, gives them opportunities to demonstrate their understanding, and keeps tensions to a minimum.

Plan your labs around Modern Biology materials

Modern Biology offers complete learning experiences for over four dozen laboratory topics. Not only will you have all the materials you need for each experiment (assuming you have the basics, like laboratory balances and microscopes), but you will also have a lesson plan, test materials, and student guides. There is no need to requisition supplies, and you can easily set your budget to incorporate Modern Biology affordably into your curriculum.

Modern Biology provides everything you need for hands-on learning experiences in the lab for students from middle school to college. Have questions about how Modern Biology can help you implement Next Generation Science Standards in your biology classroom? Contact Modern Biology weekdays at (765) 446-4220.

3 Easy Biology Experiments Related to Plants

If you’re a biology teacher for students K-12 and you’re currently or will soon be focusing on lessons about plants, then you may want to engage your students in some fitting experiments. The sky is the limit when it comes to choosing some experiments that pertain to plants. However, if you want to choose the absolute best biology experiments related to plants, then here are three possibilities.

Creating Oxygen in a Jar

Your school-age students will truly enjoy creating oxygen with this exciting plant-themed biological experiment. This experiment will show how plants undergo the process of photosynthesis in order to create their own food by utilizing the sun. Students can also learn how the leaf uses energy from the sun to change the water into oxygen from carbon dioxide, making the bubbles of oxygen visible. Here is an overview of this particular experiment that your students will find fascinating:

Materials needed:

  • Water
  • A wide-mouth glass jar
  • A freshly picked green leaf
  • A Magnifying glass

Instructions:

  1. Place the water into the jar and add the leaf
  2. Place the jar in a sunny location.
  3. Allow the jar to become warm before using a magnifying glass to examine the leaf
  4. Your students will be able to see thousands of tiny bubbles that have materialized on the leaf and inside the jar. The tiny bubbles are the oxygen that is being excreted from the leaf.

After performing this experiment with one leaf, you can have your students try the same experiment with other types of leaves and vegetables. You could even have them add salt or sugar to the water, use a straw to blow bubbles into the water before adding the leaf or vegetable, and more.

Growing Plant Seeds in a Jar

This is another biology lab experiment that your students will enjoy, and here are the materials that you’ll need as well as the instructions:

Materials:

  • A quart-sized glass or plastic jar/container
  • Water
  • Several paper towels
  • Various seeds of your choice (you can use dry beans from your kitchen, apple seeds, or any other type of seeds that you believe your students would enjoy watching grow.)

Instructions:

  1. Fill the jar with paper towels.
  2. Moisten the paper towels with water and make certain that you saturate them without filling the jar with water.
  3. Carefully place the seeds in the jar. Make certain that they are in a position that allows you to watch them as they grow. Ensure they’re in a comfortable position and cannot move.
  4. The more seeds you decide to experiment with, the more seeds your students can watch grow. Your students will also be able to determine which seeds thrive in this type of environment, and which don’t.

If you desire, you can vary this experiment in order to make it more interesting. You could ask your students to explain how the seeds obtain their water in order to grow. You can also have them write down the results that they find, which can be used for future reference.

Growing a Colony of Mold

Your students are likely to find this experiment extremely fun and interesting. Mold is usually a biological item that people want to refrain from growing but growing a full colony of mold for experimental purposes could be quite fun. Here is an overview of this experiment:

Materials:

  • A lemon
  • A jar
  • Water
  • Some aluminum foil
  • A magnifying glass

Instructions:

  1. Place the lemon in the jar and add a small amount of water.
  2. Using the aluminum foil, cover the lid tightly before placing the jar in a warm, dark place.
  3. Allow the container to remain in the chosen area for a week or more.
  4. Remove the lemon and use the magnifying glass to inspect the mold that has grown.
  5. Once you have finished inspecting the mold, throw the lemon in the trash and wash your hands thoroughly. Return the aluminum foil cover.

This experiment can be performed using different fruits in order to see if there are any differences. Your students will learn how mold is useful in breaking down organic material, as mold consumes the decaying fruit for food. You can also instruct your students to add salt or vinegar to the water to determine if this slows down the rate of decay.

These three plant-based biology lab experiments are just some of the many possible choices available. If you’re struggling to find new ideas for the latest and the best biology lab experiments and possibly even materials and equipment, then you should visit Modern Biology, Inc. Modern Biology, Inc. is a comprehensive online store that offers biology teachers and instructors access to a wide variety of everything needed in order to teach effectively and keep students interested and engaged. You can find unlimited biological experiments, supplies, equipment, and much more. Contact us and order yours today!

What Are the Best Biology Topics for Lab Experiments?

Whether you teach biology to middle school, high school, or college-level students, performing lab experiments is likely to be an important part of your curriculum. Lab experiments have the ability to stimulate your students’ interest as well as their level of comprehension through exciting hands-on experience. However, choosing the most successful biology topics for lab experiments can sometimes be a challenge for many different reasons. One main reason why it might be such a challenge is that you may not know your students well or what topics they might be most responsive to. Regardless of why you might experience difficulty determining the best biology topics, here is an overview of some of the most popular topics to choose from, courtesy of Modern Biology, Inc.

Nurture a Butterfly from Birth to Adulthood

Butterflies undergo a fascinating metamorphosis from a hatched egg into adulthood, as this beautiful and amazing insect hatches into a caterpillar, before becoming a chrysalis, and finally a butterfly. Each stage is absolutely amazing, and your students, regardless of age, will learn a great deal while thoroughly enjoying the entire process. You definitely want to give your students the pleasure of participating in this particular lab experiment, as it will be a memorable one.

Learn About Flowers Through Dissection

Nothing is more beautiful and captivating than a flower, which is why springtime is a favorite season for many. Instead of dissecting animals, which could be gross for some students, dissecting flowers can be a very pleasing alternative that can allow your students’ love of flowers to flourish even more. Not only will your students learn about the composition of a flower, but they will be able to examine the flowers step-by-step, which will enable them to gain a great deal of knowledge about them and how they grow.

Create a Seed Board

Your students are likely to find distinguishing the differences between various seeds of a multitude of plants very intriguing. There are numerous different seeds that your students can collect and compare in order to determine which seeds are similar, and which aren’t. Each student can choose which seeds they want to add to their board, as well as how they want the seeds positioned.

Examine Your Own Fingerprints

There aren’t many students that wouldn’t find examining their own fingerprints interesting and fun. Since everyone’s fingerprints are unique and unlike another person’s, your students will delight in examining each other’s prints, which will inspire them to learn as much as they can about anything related to their fingerprints.

Create a Habitat Diorama

Not only will your students enjoy choosing an animal to focus on, but they will also enjoy creating a habitat diorama. What exactly is a habitat diorama? A habitat diorama is a 3D model showing the specific details of an animal’s specific habitat. Habitat dioramas can be as detailed or as basic as a student desires. For your students who are extremely creative and artistic, you can expect that their habitat diorama will be so high quality that it might appear like an actual habitat.

By choosing the animal of their choice and then creating the habitat diorama of that animal, your students must conduct an immense amount of research. While they’re conducting research and building the habitat diorama, your students will learn a significant amount, and much of it will be retained, since they must gather some in-depth information in order to create a suitable habitat diorama.

Consume the Model of a Cell

A biology experiment that you can consume? This will almost always cause your students to become very enthusiastic as well as curious about the makeup of a cell. In addition to being curious about the overall makeup of a cell, tasting it will take their curiosity to the next level. What will the texture be like? The taste? The smell? Your students will discover the answers to these questions, and more. You can give the students a choice of different cell models to sample, such as gummy bears, Jell-O, or even lemonade or candy crystals.

Not many students are interested in the outdated biology lab experiments like dissecting worms, fetal pigs, or similar animals. Fortunately, the lab experiment ideas recommended in this article are fresh, contemporary, and extremely exciting. As a result of offering more interesting experiments, your students will be more eager and engaged. So, if you’re looking for additional biology lab experiment ideas or other ways to keep your students engaged, then you should visit Modern Biology, Inc. Modern Biology, Inc. offers an extensive selection of science-related equipment, experiments, and much more, which can dramatically improve your student’s level of engagement, as well as your access to stimulating, new material that will make teaching biology as enjoyable as it should be. Contact us today to order yours!

What Are the Best Resources to Learn About Biology?

If you are a biology teacher at a junior high or high school, if you homeschool your children, or if you are simply a student who is fascinated by biology, you may be looking for some of the best resources to learn more about biology. Fortunately, the Internet has made it easier than ever to find out a lot about biology, including websites that offer very specific information or can even help with experiments. Read on to learn more about some of the best resources that are available for people of all ages to learn about biology.

iBiology

iBiology is a website that is committed to bringing the world’s best biology to you for free. The website has many different features on it which can be helpful to individuals of all ages, regardless of where they are in their biological journey and understanding. There are many free videos that help to teach you about modern biology. There are many features that help to show and explain how recent scientific discoveries were made. There are also forums where people can interact and ask specific questions and conduct their own research. In many cases, leading biologists chime in with their opinions and perspectives.

Microbes.info

Another great website that is a great resource for learning about biology is Microbes.info. This website has a focus on microbiology. If you are looking to learn more about microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, this is definitely the website for you. The site has many resources, including articles that you can use to study or cite information from, images so you can see exactly how microorganisms grow and look under microscopes, and a news section, which provides information on new case studies and experiments. This website is one of the best resources when you need information pertaining to microbiology.

The Biology Project

The Biology Project is a website that is maintained by the University of Arizona. The website is designed to be an interactive online resource to help people of all ages learn about biology. While many of the resources are geared toward biology students who are at a college level, there are some resources that younger individuals, including middle schoolers and high schoolers would find interesting. There are also higher-end pieces of information that can help medical students, teachers, physicians, and science writers. The website has a lot of information, including real-life applications related to biology, up-to-date research findings, and recorded experiments, ensuring students can watch along if they cannot participate in the experiment themselves. One of the features that this website has that most of the others do not is that it also has a careers section. This is a great resource for students who have a love of biology to learn about the various careers available to them in which they can use biology. This can help them find a career path that they may wish to go down in the future.

Allen Institute Resources for Teachers

The Allen Institute Resources for Teachers is a website that is primarily geared toward high school science teachers and college biology instructors. The website provides customizable lesson plans that help to introduce students to some of the most fundamental concepts in biology. These lesson plans also include guided experiments and real research experiences that students can use. This is a great resource because a lot of the lesson plans actually use information from the Allen Institute’s ongoing research projects. This ensures students are learning about biology in real time, as scientists are conducting experiments and research.

Modern Biology

Modern Biology is a website that is dedicated to helping science come to life. The website features all of the equipment that you will need to conduct science and biology experiments in a classroom setting. While the website is primarily geared toward teachers who are teaching large classes, there are also kits that individuals can buy to perform science experiments on their own. In addition to selling the equipment needed for these experiments, the website also provides resources to help you find experiments that you can perform in your class to teach.

Contact Modern Biology Today to Get the Equipment You Need to Conduct Experiments

There are many online resources that make learning about biology and teaching biology easier than ever. If you are a teacher who is looking for new ways to teach your students, or you are a student who is looking to learn on your own, these resources can make learning helpful and easy. Here at Modern Biology, Inc., we sell all of the equipment that you will need to conduct science and biology experiments in a classroom setting. Visit our website or contact us today if you need to order science equipment for science experiments.

How Can We Use Botany in Our Daily Lives?

You may not realize everything plants bring to our lives. Yes, we see how they beautify our landscaping, enjoy the shade of a tall tree, and enjoy eating them in our favorite recipes. Plants are a very important source of life in our world. They are the reason we have oxygen to breathe thanks to photosynthesis, food to eat, and many raw materials that are used to manufacture everyday products we rely on.

The study of plants is called botany. It’s a scientific term in biology that comes from the root word, botanic; a Greek word, botane. Someone who studies plants is a botanist. Botany is the world’s oldest natural science and has evolved throughout the years to include structure, properties, and biochemical processes. Botany also studies how plants interact with the environment and plant diseases.

Six Reasons We Need to Study Botany

Agriculture

Farmers are constantly facing issues with their crops and livestock. Too much rain, not enough rain, disease, insect infestation, animal illnesses, etc. These problems are not just on the farm. They affect everyone in the food chain including right down to the consumers. Understanding plants and what issues are encountered, botanists can recommend solutions to help create better seeds for better crops, give advice on healthier food for livestock, offer scientific based knowledge for organic gardening and help prevent future outbreaks and infestations.

Gardening

Gardening is part of agriculture but focuses on plants. Questions for landscapers and other gardeners include what plants will grow and thrive in what environment and climates? Botanists study everything about plants and their individual needs so we can eat fresh, healthy foods throughout the entire year.

Plant Based Textiles

Most fabrics you are familiar with are plant-based. Cotton and linen are the most common. However, through the years, plants have been used in creating modal and lyocell, newer blends. In addition to clothing, other everyday items are possible thanks to botanists and the study of plants. This includes furniture, shoes, bedding, flooring and so many other products. Botanists study and research new ways to improve these everyday household products that make our everyday lives better.

Construction

It’s common knowledge that most of the wood used in constructing homes and other structures comes from trees and hardy plants like bamboo. Many home improvement products rely on plants as their foundation. Botanists study how to sustain our forests, while coming up with innovative ways to grow trees and other plants more rapidly to keep up with the demands of a growing population. They are also responsible for providing information that assists other branches of science to maintain forests and the ecosystems within.

Energy

Plants are now playing an important role and are essential in providing the world with a new source of energy. As we become more dependent on the depleting fossil fuels and other countries for energy sources, plants are coming to the rescue. Botany is key to studying how to develop biofuels to use as alternatives to fossil fuels. Studies are ongoing that have proven photosynthesis can be converted into electrical energy. Botanists and researchers delve deep into a plant’s composition and find innovative ways like this for future generations.

Medicine

Plants are a key ingredient in medicine for hundreds of years and date back to prehistoric times. Botanists study how plants, especially herbs, grow and synthesize different chemicals that work to improve health, treat ailments and illnesses, fight off diseases, prevent cancer and other autoimmune disorders. The bark of willow is responsible for creating aspirin, the most notable pain reliever. Plants are also used to create products that prevent insect and pest infestations. As new illnesses enter the world and common ones evolve, plants will play a key role and function in creating effective medicines. Botanists also study what plants are poisonous, also critical in creating medicine.

How Did Botany Improve Life on Earth?

Botany constantly plays an important role in improving life. Learning more about plants can make life better and could save one too. As mentioned earlier, plants not only provide oxygen for the air we breathe, and medicine to keep us healthy but they also provide ingredients for the food we eat and clothes we wear, cosmetics for beauty, and the list goes on and on. Botanists study and research new innovate ways that plants can continue to play an important role in our lifestyles in the future. The bottom line is that plants nourish us with food, provide us with shelter, fuel, energy, clothing, beauty and so much more.

Best Ways to Learn Botany

Modern Biology, Inc. has a variety of quality educational courses, experiments, and equipment to help any student learn about botany. Have questions about throw to get started with our educational materials? Contact us today and let’s get started.

7 Ways to Be an Even Better Biology Teacher

There has never been a better time to teach biology.

Biology is unquestionably relevant. Students want to understand pandemics, genetic differences, the effects of climate change, and the potential for biology to change their lives.

Biology labs are all about planting beans in cups and dissecting frogs anymore. Modern Biology, Inc. brings the equipment every school lab needs to keep biology teaching on the cutting edge. Even in high school, students can have hands-on experiences with Western blotting, electrophoresis, and enzyme kinetics.

And there have never been as many avenues for biology students at all levels to pursue careers in the life sciences.

So, what can biology teachers do to be even better? Great biology teachers make sure every student participates in the learning process. Here are six ways they can do that.

1. Give your students time to think about what you are teaching.

There is value in the pregnant pause. Students often struggle to keep up with difficult concepts. Give them time to take notes, reflect on what you are teaching them, and ask questions. For some teachers, this means curbing your excitement over your topic just enough to make sure every student can keep up. On that topic,

2. Make sure your lessons are inclusive of every student.

Every class has shy students. These are students who aren’t sure enough of their knowledge, or their vocabulary, or that they know the lesson well enough to sound informed. Some students just aren’t comfortable asking questions in front of the whole class.

So, make sure students participate in a different way. Get a pack of index cards. Chances are that you can find them for under $1, at least in the continental United States. At critical points in the lecture, ask each student to jot down three facts, or three open questions, about your discussion topic. Then have the students pass the index cards to the front. Answer questions and acknowledge understanding without revealing the name of the student who turned in the card.

3. Encourage students to raise their hand before they speak.

Graduate biology seminars have a way of becoming discussions. There should be an easy exchange of ideas as students “read” each other’s body language to know when to speak.

But in undergraduate and high school biology classes, there are students who have to work up the courage to speak so the entire class can hear. These students need to have the time to phrase their questions and comments without the interruption of an over-eager student’s speaking over them. Setting a policy of having students raise their hands to get your acknowledgement and permission to speak makes participation easier for students who are in the process of gaining self-confidence.

4. Multiple hands, multiple voices.

Good teachers don’t let the same student answer every question. 

Encourage multiple students to answer questions. Tell your students that you would like several of them to raise their hands to answer your question. Then, invite the participation of every student who responded to you. Confirm the right answer but call on other students to amplify and clarify the discussion.

5. Set up a participation lottery.

Whether you have a class of 7 or 70 or 700, one way to ensure participation is to take a lottery approach to student participation. Write each student’s name on a popsicle stick. Place all the popsicle sticks in a jar. Reach into the jar to pull out a stick, calling the student whose name is on it, when you want student participation. Reward participation with points toward final grades.

6. Around the class.

Assign open-ended questions for homework. Then ask every student in the class for the answers they wrote for their homework assignment, going around the class, making sure every student is called on to participate.

On the first day of class, you could ask each student what their prior experience of studying biology has been. Or you could assign every student to find an example of how understanding biology can make their own lives better. Going around the class, making sure students spend only a few seconds giving their answers, increases each student’s sense of belonging in the class.

Great biology teachers encourage verbal exchanges of facts and ideas, and they also reinforce what they teach in their lectures with their lab work. 

7. Integrate Modern Biology, Inc. into your biology curriculum.

Modern Biology, Inc. helps students use scientific facts to learn scientific method. Every Modern Biology, Inc. experiment is designed to give students an opportunity to state and test a hypothesis, based on your lectures. Then your students go into the lab, all the materials needed for the experiment provided by Modern Biology, Inc., and exercise scientific thinking to answer their own questions.

Modern Biology, Inc. reinforces verbal learning with kinesthetic learning. It teaches your students essential laboratory skills and laboratory techniques they will use through every course they take in high school or as an undergraduate. And Modern Biology, Inc. offers these learning experiences and individual biology experiments at a price you can fit into your budget.

Do you have questions? Call Modern Biology, Inc. at (765) 446-4220 or send us an email today!

How To Make Teaching Biology Interesting

If you expect to grab the attention of your students so they can become enthusiastic about learning biology, then you need to make it interesting. If you find that your students are distracted, disinterested, and bored while you’re teaching class, then you obviously need to make some changes, and fast. Once you’re able to capture the attention and the interest of your students, regardless of grade levels, they will be anxious to get to your class and see what you’ll be teaching next. 

What Strategies Can Be Used in Teaching Biology?

There are numerous strategies that can be used in teaching biology, but if your intent is to make it as fun as possible, then there are some great ways to do so. First of all, you need to incorporate a variety of materials to support your teaching. You can’t expect to maintain the interest of your students if you insist on lecturing the class on a daily basis. However, if you use videos, interactive apps, field trips and hands-on experiments in your teachings, then your students will show a lot more interest. You will also increase their chances of retaining what you’re teaching.

Another great teaching strategy for use in biology is to promote discussion among your students. If you come up with interesting topics and ask your students questions and for their opinions about the lessons, they will likely respond favorably. Students enjoy sharing their opinions, and it can make learning more fun than simply taking notes as you drone on about atoms. 

A third teaching strategy that you should incorporate into your biology class is creating some fun and interactive experiments for your students to participate in. Nothing is more fun than actually participating in something hands-on. If you come up with regular experiments, your students will look forward to coming to biology class, and you will soon see them thriving.

What Are Some Good Science Projects for 7th Graders?

If you teach seventh graders and you’re trying to come up with some fun and interesting science projects to assign them, then there are many to choose from. One good choice is a project demonstrating the length of time it takes painkillers to dissolve in the body. This project is simple, fun, and can teach your students a great deal about how painkillers work as well as which ones work the fastest. 

Another great science project to assign to your seventh-grade class is making eggs explode. What seventh grader wouldn’t love conducting a science project that actually explodes? This project teaches students about chemical reactions, which they are guaranteed to find interesting and extremely fun.

A third science project that would be fun and appropriate for seventh graders is designing a solar oven. Your students will have fun using household items to build a real, working solar oven. 

Best Biology Experiments for High School

When it comes to high school students, you will need to come up with some experiments that will hold the interest of older learners. Fortunately, there are plenty to choose from, so there should never be a shortage of ideas. One biology experiment that might be especially fun and informative for high school-age students is extracting DNA from a strawberry. By enabling your students to actually extract DNA from this popular fruit, it will not only expand their learning, but it can also help them to understand how DNA analysis works. It will definitely be memorable for your students, and it could even spark an interest in pursuing a career in biology.

High school students might also enjoy making plants move with light. Again, actually conducting a hands-on analysis of this phenomenon can make understanding it a great deal easier as well as fun. You can instruct students to work as a team or individually. Either way, they are likely to enjoy this biological experiment immensely. 

Yet another experiment that high school students might like participating in is testing the five-second rule. Many people go by this rule and will quickly pick up a dropped piece of food and eat it. Students will find out if this is accurate or not, or if they need to throw away food that has fallen on a contaminated surface. 

So, if you’re looking for some easy ways to make teaching a lot more exciting so you can entice your students to become more interested in science, then you need to check out Modern Biology, Inc. When you contact us, you can access an abundance of exciting biology materials that can help you to spice up your biology class in no time. You can purchase supplies for science experiments, programs, equipment, and so much more. Check them out today.

Differences Between a Northern Blot and a Southern Blot

Lab technicians utilize a variety of different blots to identify the presence of whichever molecule they are focused on, including RNA, DNA, or protein, when they are testing a complex combination of related molecules. The process of blotting refers to the transfer of macromolecules, including proteins and nucleic acids, from a gel that is placed onto the solid surface of an immobilized membrane so that the specific molecules can be detected. All blotting techniques share a very similar workflow, which is why different methods have to be used to differentiate them from each other. Those methods are referred to as the Northern Blot, the Southern Blot, and the Western Blot methods.

The Western Blot: A little explanation

Western blotting is used to locate specific proteins in a substance, while the Northern Blot is used to determine the size and the number of RNA transcripts from a gene the lab technician is interested in.

Southern and Northern Blotting

Southern blotting was first developed in 1975 by Edwin Southern, hence its name. It was created as an analytical technique used in molecular biology research that allows users to measure the amount and size of very specific DNA sequences that are located in a complex combination through the immobilization of the target sequence to a solid support. It is then sized with a complementary DNA prep. Northern blotting was created not long after the Southern blotting method, so the two could be used in conjunction with each other, since they both share a similar workflow. This workflow includes using a sample preparation of a very purified and high-quality RNA within a substance and utilizing gel electrophoresis to separate the nucleic acid fragments by their sizes before then transferring, or in this case will refer to it as blotting, to a solid support area that will immobilize the isolated nucleic acid that has been targeted. The preparation and hybridization phase then occurs in the nucleic acid probe so that the detection of the nucleic acid probe can be determined.

The Processes

When lab technicians or students prepare a sample to be used in this experiment, keep in mind that Southern and Northern blots can both begin nearly the same way. The target DNA or RNA is purified from the samples by using nucleic acid extraction. The most common techniques to be used in this process are filter-based, spin basket extraction, and magnetic particle methods.

Gel Electrophoresis

The next step in both the Northern and Southern Blotting processes is the gel electrophoresis phase. It is used to isolate different proteins and their markers along with RNA and DNA bands. This system separates it out.

Blotting

After the electrophoresis is done, the DNA or RNA is transferred over to a membrane of nylon that is positively charged. The kit by Modern Biology, Inc. has everything you need to complete the entire process and allows for a much quicker outcome of the process. You will not even need any liquids or buffers, which will make the whole thing come to completion even sooner.

Next Steps

The next step in the process is probe labeling. In this step, a probe is used on the nucleic acid to facilitate the homologous to the sequences that are targeted. They are then labeled with a dye, an enzyme, or through radioactivity which generates a chemical signal to let you know that it is luminescent after incubation.

Next up is the hybridization process in which the labeled probe is incubated with the DNA or RNA fragments that are on the blot so that hybridization can occur. This process within the kit by Modern Biology, Inc. takes less than two hours to complete.

The last step is to go over your results to see if the marker that you were looking for has been detected.

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