A virus is a small, infectious particle that lives inside a host. Today, viruses have an important role in our daily life. The reason for this is that viruses, including coronavirus (COVID-19), are affecting many people in the world. The most important measure that can be taken to stop the spread of the disease will be self-taken measures along…

Undergraduate biology education has changed over the past decade, incorporating an iterative and evidence-based approach. Many educational assessments have confirmed the effectiveness of integrating authentic research and open-ended inquiry into introductory biology courses, demonstrating a significant positive impact on students' learning and…

Germinating a seed is presumably the first experiment made by a child in his life. So, it has an important place both in child's scientific experience and understanding. Despite the significance of the experiment, the literature indicates that students possess various misconceptions related to the concepts of seed and seed germination. So, it is…

This study aimed to develop, introduce, and conduct an inquiry-driven creative drama activity. The activity, for elementary students, related to the transmission of light and full shadow. In the activity, which consisted of a warm-up, dramatization, and evaluation stages, two inquiry-based experiments were added to the dramatization stage. Thus,…

Approximately 1 billion metric tons of food are lost each year due to mycotoxins (FAO 2013), secondary metabolites produced by fungi (Marin et al. 2013) that contaminate crops (Placinta, D'Mello, and MacDonald 1999) and threaten the health of domestic animals and humans (Sobrova et al. 2010). The fungus "Fusarium graminearum" produces…

The primary learning objectives of this "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS; NGSS Lead States 2013) aligned activity is to help high school biology students experience firsthand the role of replication in scientific inquiry and food preference as a behavioral reproductive trait of the Madagascar hissing cockroach. The secondary…

Adsorption of methylene blue and malachite green was carried out using "Luffa cylindrica" sponges as adsorbing material. We provide a very illustrative exercise about the use of common natural materials requiring little preparation to solve environmental tasks in a routine laboratory situation such as using dyes. In addition, the…

Laboratory exercises for undergraduate biochemistry students are described in which changes in sugar content during fermentation of the trendy beverage kombucha are analyzed by three methods: thin layer chromatography, a 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid assay, and a standard commercial blood glucose meter. Each of the three analyses can be completed in a…

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) composed of polypropylene glycol and carbohydrates, two benign substances are proposed to separate two food colorants (E122 and E133). ABS are promising extractive platforms, particularly for biomolecules, due to their aqueous and mild nature (pH and temperature), reduced environmental impact and processing costs.…

Melton demonstrated a surprising disappearance using total internal reflection. When he put a Florence flask filled with marbles into a water tank and looked straight down from directly above the flask, he was only able to see marbles above a certain water level. When he added more water into the tank above the top line of the marbles, all of the…

"Catalase," an enzyme found in both plant and animal cells, prevents the accumulation of toxic levels of hydrogen peroxide (H[subscript 2]O[subscript 2]) by catalyzing its decomposition to water and oxygen gas. Because this enzyme is ubiquitous, it is frequently used in high school biology laboratories to explore enzyme reactions. This…

A multidisciplinary experiment for advanced undergraduate students has been developed in the context of extractive metallurgy. The experiment serves as a model of an important modern industrial process that combines aspects of organic/inorganic synthesis and analysis. Students are tasked to prepare a salicylaldoxime ligand and samples of the…

Integrative, research-based experiences have shown tremendous potential as effective pedagogical approaches. Pharmaceutical development is an exciting field that draws heavily on organic chemistry and biochemistry techniques. A capstone drug synthesis/analysis laboratory is described where biochemistry students synthesize azo-stilbenoid compounds…

A very simple protocol for teaching Beer's Law and absorption spectrophotometry using a smart phone is described. Materials commonly found in high school chemistry laboratories or even around the house may be used. Data collection and analysis is quick and easy. Despite the simple nature of the experiment, excellent results can be achieved.

An experimental protocol that provides an excellent way to discuss concepts at the crossroads of organic chemistry and biochemistry employing biocatalysis is presented. By evaluating several reaction parameters (enzyme source, organic solvent, and acyl donor), it was possible to conduct an enzymatic kinetic resolution experiment using…