JoinAll Case Studies
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In keyword search, list the criteria you would like to find cases. Multiple criteria can be listed separated by commas (i.e. directed, high school)
Educational levels are defined as follows: Elementary, Middle, High School, College
Types of cases are defined as follows: Analysis/Issues, Clicker, Debate, Intimate Debate, Demonstration, Dilemma/Decision, Directed, Discussion, Interrupted, Jig-saw, Journal Article, Laboratory, Student Presentations, Mini-case, Problem-Based Learning, Public Hearing, Role-Play, Trial, Flipped, Game
By Nancy A. Rice
This clicker case introduces students to the biochemistry of lipids through the story of Pete, a college student who begins to consider his nutritional fat intake after watching a commercial for the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin. In this case, st...
By Ling Chen, Lalitha S. Jayant
It's Mother's Day and Dolly, a high school senior, is making a Mediterranean salad for her mom, who is a college chemistry major and who likes to take every opportunity to teach Dolly what she has learned in school. Today is no exception, as she guid...
By Ling Chen, Diane R. Wang, Jennifer Y. Anderson
This case reviews concepts of monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide and contrasts the structures of different pairs of carbohydrates as well as the structure of sorbitol, a sugar substitute. It also depicts stereo chemistry concepts such a...
By Ling Chen, Richard Hendrix
Focusing on the important role of water in living cellular chemistry, this case emphasizes the general solubility rule, "like dissolves like," which explains how water can serve as a medium for transporting the cell's soluble nutrients and wastes. Th...
By Jeffri C. Bohlscheid, Frank J. Dinan
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has claimed approximately one-third of the commercial honeybee population in recent years. A number of causes have been suggested for this phenomenon, including the consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) by the ...
A Case of Respiratory Distress
By Brahmadeo Dewprashad, Geraldine S. Vaz, Sharon A. Vaz (rr)
This clinical case study was developed to engage students by making connections between core concepts in chemistry and physiological processes in the body. The case pertains to medication-induced methemoglobinemia, its etiology, diagnosis, and treatm...
By Brahmadeo Dewprashad, Geraldine S. Vaz
This case study was developed to engage students by making connections between core concepts in chemistry and obesity related factors. The case is in the form of a story between two friends and their underestimation of the calories they consumed in a...
A Perfect Storm in the Operating Room
By Kelley W. Grorud
In this interrupted case study, a high school biology student shadows her uncle, an anesthesiologist, at a hospital for a school assignment. She witnesses a patient who has an unusual reaction to his anesthesia and nearly dies. As they try to d...
By Terry Platt
In this “clicker case,” a three-year-old girl gets into the medicine cabinet and ingests an unknown number of aspirin tablets. Her brother calls 911 and the girl is taken to a nearby hospital, where she is treated. The case is used to discuss the...
By Kristina Hannam
This "clicker case" is based on the General Biology edition of James Hewlett’s “Bad Fish” case in our collection. The case follows the story of biologist Dr. Westwood, who is accidentally poisoned, first while traveling in Asia and then in the ...
By Cheryl D. Davis, Nancy A. Rice
This case is a “clicker” adaptation of a similarly titled case by Merle Heidemann and Gerald Urquhart of Michigan State University, “A Can of Bull?” The story introduces students to basic principles of metabolism and energy through a biochemi...
One Headache After Another: Biochemistry Edition
By Ann T.S. Taylor, William H. Cliff
Topamax®, developed to treat epilepsy, is also used as a preventative for migraine. In this case study, students read about a woman experiencing a side-effect of Topamax and from there move to a review of acid-base balance in the human body. The cas...
By Maureen Knabb
This “clicker case” introduces students to a rare genetic disease in which an enzyme is deficient in a critical metabolic pathway—the first step in aerobic respiration. Based on a real-life situation, the case challenges students to make connec...
By Brahmadeo Dewprashad
This case study was developed to engage students by making connections between core concepts in organic chemistry and the health-promoting chemical, curcumin, found in turmeric. The case is in the form of a dialogue between a couple about the surpris...
Cats Have Nine Lives, But Only One Liver
By Brahmadeo Dewprashad
In this case, a college student gives her cat Tylenol not knowing its potential harmful effects. The cat survives, but the incident motivates her to research the reaction mechanism underlying the liver toxicity of acetaminophen. The case outlines pos...
By Celeste A. Leander, Robert J. Huskey
This interrupted case study begins with the construction of a pedigree following an initial encounter with a clan of “blue people.” After constructing a pedigree, students decide whether the condition (methemoglobinemia) is a heritable trait. Stu...
By Michèle I. Shuster, Karen Peterson
This case study takes a combined directed and discussion approach to explore risk factors for breast cancer. After a preparatory reading assignment, students assess various medical histories derived from actual women with breast cancer and rank their...
By Jacqueline Washington, Anne Zayaitz
When a newborn develops symptoms eerily similar to those of an older sibling who died shortly after birth, his Mennonite parents are understandably alarmed. They soon discover that their son has Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), a recessively inherit...
By Frank J. Dinan
This case study explores the unintended side effects of chemicals introduced into the environment, specifically organic compounds that can act as environmental estrogens (chemical castration agents that can interfere with the sexual development of em...
By Dan Johnson
When chronic pain forces a top student to withdraw from college, biology instructor Dr. Sharpe learns that medications (in this case, Vioxx) may be removed from the market for many reasons, including safety concerns. As the case unfolds, students lea...
By Wendy Heck-Grillo, Andrea Novicki, Brian Rybarczyk
Since caffeine is a widely used substance, especially by college age students, this case on the effects of caffeine on the human body serves as a real-world connection to many students’ lives. The case is divided into sections covering background i...
By Kathleen A. Cornely
In the weeks following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, anthrax-laced envelopes were mailed to individuals in government and the news media. Thousands were treated for exposure, and five people wer...
By Merle K. Heidemann (rr), Gerald Urquhart
This case study is designed to teach students at various levels about large biomolecules, nutrition, and product analysis. Students conduct a biochemical analysis of several popular energy drinks on the market, which many students purchase at fairly ...
By Peggy Brickman
These days it seems like everyone is counting carbs. About 24 million Americans report they have cut carbohydrates from their diet, and 44 million more say they may try a low-carb diet in the next two years. But what do people really know about carbo...
An Adventure in Stereochemistry
By Frank J. Dinan, Gordon T. Yee
Playfully alluding to Lewis Carroll’s tale of Alice Through the Looking Glass, this case study considers the problems that would arise if a person were to cross over into a mirror-image environment. Students read about a drowsy undergraduate studyi...
The Case of the Tainted Taco Shells: General Edition
By Ann T.S. Taylor
This case discusses some of the issues associated with the use of genetically modified plants, including ecological risks, resistance, and allergenicity. The case has two versions, or editions. This edition (the "General Edition") emphasizes th...
The Case of the Tainted Taco Shells: Advanced Edition
By Ann T.S. Taylor
This case discusses some of the issues associated with the use of genetically modified plants, including ecological risks, resistance, and allergenicity. The case has two versions, or editions. The "General Edition," also published on this site...
By Frank J. Dinan
In this case study, two students meet a professor who surprises them by telling them that a biochemically important molecule’s structure has been incorrectly represented in the published literature - in an article in the Proceedings of the National...
By Claudia Bode, Allison Jablonski
In this directed case study, students investigate the cause of death in an incident that occurs late at night in a research lab. The overall goal of the case is to make the abstract concepts involved in cellular respiration more accessible to student...
By Preeti Dhar
In this directed case study developed for a biochemistry class, students read about the differences in the dietary preferences and practices for preparing and consuming rice among the three major communities of Malaysia, the local Malays and the immi...
Bad Fish: General Biology Edition
By James A. Hewlett
In this version, developed for a course in general biology, the protagonist of the case, Dr. Westwood, survives an accidental poisoning-not once, but twice. Students read about each incident, applying what they learn in each part of the case to the l...
The Chemistry of Cooley's Anemia
By Christopher T. Bailey, Mohammad Mahroof-Tahir
Young parents, Max and Andrea Forest, learn that their child is suffering from the genetic disorder, thalassemia. Treatment requires a lifetime commitment to whole blood transfusion and chelation therapy, both of which must be administered on a daily...
By Linda L. Tichenor
This case study on the immune system, cell cycle regulation, and cancer biology explores the role that serendipity plays in new discoveries in science, how scientific research is funded, and the personal and professional implications of unexpectedly ...
By Debra L. Stamper
In this case study on sickle cell anemia, students are introduced to some of the key researchers responsible for determining the molecular basis of the disease and learn about the functioning of erythrocytes as well as the notion that changes in the ...
By Jessie W. Klein
In this case, students are shown the relevance of chemistry in daily decision-making by taking a look at the popular dietary supplement, s-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), widely used in Europe for depression, arthritis, and liver disease and now available...