JoinAll Case Studies
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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 Joanna K. Hubbard
In the 1950s, a Brazilian geneticist set out to develop a hybrid honey bee that would be both hardy enough for the tropical climates of Central and South America and highly productive. This case study follows the story of that experiment—and how it...
Saving Trees to Save Cancer Patients
By Reina Kim, Neva L. Laurie-Berry
In this case study, students assume the role of new hires at a fictional research company developing cancer treatments. A PowerPoint presentation (see Supplemental Materials) is used to deliver the informational content of the case, followed by stude...
By Wendy A. Dustman, Sharon King-Keller, Alexandra M. Kurtz, Rebekah J. Ward
This case study presents an example of the progression of disease involving a deadly pathogen. The narrative follows an undergraduate student who interns for a wolf recovery program. During his internship, he finds and interacts with the den of a dec...
Combatting the Southern Pine Beetle
By Ann T.S. Taylor, Rebecca L. Leuschen-Kohl
This case study begins with the story of a young biologist who belongs to an Indigenous community in rural Virginia where southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) are wiping out the pine trees sacred to her native culture. She wonders if RNA in...
How Failing in Science Helped Solve the Coho Salmon Mystery
By Meghan Ward, Krystal Nunes, Nicole Laliberté, Fiona Rawle
This PowerPoint case study examines a series of coho salmon die-offs in the Pacific Northwest to introduce students to the importance of learning through failure in science. Such failures are an important part of the scientific process as they lead t...
By Matthew L. Simon
This case study serves as an extension to another case study originally published in 2006, “Can Suminoe Oysters Save Chesapeake Bay?” The original case provides students with a solid foundation for understanding the complexities of resource manag...
By Ariadna Mondragon-Botero, Susan M. Galatowitsch
In this case study, board members of a private forest reserve on the island of Madagascar seek funds for a forest restoration aimed at preserving endangered lemurs. During their monthly meeting, they discuss the details of a grant proposal that would...
The Name’s Bond, Chemical Bond
By Katie McShea, Kari Fleuriet, Fatmah Alamoudi, Deana Jaber
This case study is designed to help students better understand chemical bonds by introducing them to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to as “forever chemicals.” The unique structure of these substances renders ...
Does Jazmyne Need a New Chair?
By Melissa S. Kosinski-Collins , Ariana L. Hinckley-Boltax
This directed case study follows the story of the diagnosis and treatment of “Jazmyne,” an elderly feline patient with hyperthyroidism. The case asks students to practice the skills of observation and inference while making a diagnosis based on J...
Can Birds “Keep Up” with Earlier Springs?
By Casey Youngflesh, John C. Withey
The timing of seasonal ecological events, known as phenology, plays an important role in how ecosystems function. As a result of rapid climatic change, many ecological events associated with spring are now occurring earlier. This has prompted concern...
By Daniel Elias, Jadejah Robinson, Aazah Daniel
In this case study, students explore the impacts of atmospheric events such as El Niño and the trade winds on water scarcity. Set within the geographical and socioeconomical context of Jamaica, students discuss strategies and solutions to improve wa...
Environmental Disaster in Honolulu Harbor
By Prescott C. Ensign
This case study illustrates the importance of decision-making based on sound science, business practices, engineering standards, and ethical principles. In 2013, approximately 1,400 tons of molasses spilled into Honolulu Harbor, wiping out sea life a...
Deep in the Weeds of Organic Farming
By Matthew S. Taylor, Mariëlle H. Hoefnagels, Mark E. Walvoord
Deciding between organic or conventional produce is one of the many choices that consumers make when buying food. Is organic produce worth the extra cost? Is it healthy and good for the environment? This case study challenges students to gather evide...
The Stakeholders of Gorongosa National Park
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema, Sara D. Miller, Claudia E. Vergara
Working through this case study, students explore the intersection between scientific and information literacies and consider how authority (scientific or otherwise) is represented in information sources through examining stakeholders and how their v...
Bringing Mammoths Back from Extinction
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema, Sara D. Miller, Claudia E. Vergara
The focus of this case study is on the development of scientific and information literacies. Working on activities that address audience, purpose, language, authority, and use of evidence, students examine how the ways in which information sources ar...
Are Oxpeckers Friends or Foes?
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema
Symbiotic relationships are interactions between species that live closely with each other and are commonly separated into three types: parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism. Students are often under the impression that these types are distinct and...
By Ruth S. Bowers-Sword, Jack C. Doss, Bruce A. Wiggins
This interrupted case study focuses on a biological phenomenon known as temperature-dependent sex determination to guide students through the scientific method. Using the endangered green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, as a model, students prepare for c...
By Matthew L. Simon, Nathan A. Quarderer
Consider evidence that we are in a period of rapidly warming climate, likely with anthropogenic causation. Understand that humans can be severely impacted by short-term climatic events. Understand that the functioning of global ecosystems reli...
By Tyler C. Leary, Whitney E. Smith, Tara T. Francis
Bear bile is a prized ingredient used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects, but the means by which bile is collected from live, captive bears has recently become a topic of contro...
Using the Scientific Method to Understand the Brilliant Colors of Male Jumping Spiders
By Michael E. Vickers, Lisa A. Taylor
This interrupted case study presents the work of biologists who are trying to understand the functions of bright color patterns in jumping spiders. It is designed to guide students through the steps of the scientific method, while also exposing them ...
Assessing Habitat Suitability for Squirrels on Campus
By Ivan A. Mendoza, Jason R. Courter
Squirrels are frequent and beloved residents of college campuses throughout the United States, but oftentimes less welcomed by campus maintenance officials who report squirrels nesting in buildings, interfering with airflow from heating and cooling u...
From Strawberry Fields to the Chemistry Classroom
By Simone N. Walker, Quyen T. Doan, William J. Heuett, Deana Jaber
This case study investigates the use of methyl bromide as a pesticide and methyl iodide as an alternative pesticide in strawberry fields in California. By 2005, methyl bromide should have been completely phased out under the Clean Air Act and the Mon...
Equal Parts Sleeping and Eating
By Scott J. Donnelly
Every year during the foodless winter months, bears enter their den and lapse into a state of extended dormancy and slumber (called hibernation). For the next 130+ consecutive days they do not drink, eat, defecate, or urinate. Rarely do they die from...
By Ashlee E. Nelson, Sarah R. Sletten
This directed case study explores the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus and its impact on human health. The case is based on a true story of a woman who fell ill after eating raw oysters while visiting family in New Orleans during the month of August....
The World’s Worst Industrial Disaster
By Roshan Lamichhane, Betsy B. Ratcliff, Mark W. Schraf, Anitha S.L. Gowda
In this directed case study, students first watch a brief video and then read a short passage about the 1984 Bhopal, India, disaster in which a Union Carbide pesticide plant released 30 metric tons of poisonous gas throughout the city....
An Investigation into Ocean Acidification
By Diara D. Spain, Vanessa M. Mendoza
This directed case study covers fundamental information about ocean acidification using relevant examples from general science news articles as well as data excerpted from scientific research. It was developed for general environmental science classe...
Boreal Forest Dynamics at the Hardwood Ecotone
By Charles J.W. Carroll, Miranda D. Redmond
This “clicker” case uses a handout and a PowerPoint presentation to guide students through the interpretation of three key traits of two dominant boreal species in the high elevation regions of northern New Hampshire to develop hypotheses concern...
By Aggie Veld, Emilie R. Janes
This case study takes the reader deep into the cloud forest of San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica. While searching for a destination for the best spring break ever, five students in an ecology class happen upon a story of sustainability that inspi...
By Tracy J. Terry
This laboratory-based case study is designed to train students in using the scientific method to explore chemical equilibrium in the context of ocean acidification. Students are given information, based on which they are asked to develop hypotheses, ...
By Adela M. Acosta
In this case study, “Tatiana,” a college student, introduces psychrometry to her younger brother as she explains the physical phenomenon of dew. This everyday scenario is used to demonstrate the relationship between moisture content in the air an...
By Ashley E. Rhodes, Timothy G. Rozell
This interrupted case study looks at heat stress through the eyes of “Nelly,” a chatty, country Holstein. Although focusing on dairy cattle, the case can be used to teach the physiology of body temperature regulation in any number of homeothermic...
Which Elephant Population Would You Protect?
By Andrea M.-K. Bierema
This case study has students analyze real population and climate data to address a problem in conservation. Many elephant populations exist in Africa, but if a conservation group had funding to supply a grant to just one population, which one should ...
By Kathleen A. Nolan
This case study examines the population dynamics of the horseshoe crab, which is sometimes described as a “living fossil.” Students are shown PowerPoint slides that are interspersed with clicker questions about the biology, life history strategie...
The Canadian Canola Controversy
By Susan E. Gass, Danielle Scriven
This case study reviews a controversial court case that took place in Canada in 2002 concerning an allegation of patent infringement and a genetically modified (GM) canola crop. The multi-national company Monsanto, which produces GM canola seeds call...
By Krista E. Slemmons
This interrupted case study introduces students to the complexity of understanding natural variation in ecosystems through time in the absence of long term data sets. In particular, students explore the interdisciplinary nature of ecology and examine...
By Betty Jo Chitester, Weslene T. Tallmadge
This directed case study uses a fictionalized story about a family that has recently moved to the Washington DC area and is confronted with a situation involving lead contamination of the municipal water supply. Students learn how basic chemical prin...
By Janice P. Wittstrom
This case study tells the story of a 14-year-old boy, "Danny," who wants to go on a snowboarding adventure with his friends, but is unable to provide any details when asking his parents for permission. Danny is understandably excited, although comple...
Evolution by Natural Selection in Oldfield Mice
By Katherine S. LaCommare, Peter A. Van Zandt
The theory of evolution by natural selection is simple, elegant, and profound. Yet, a large number of undergraduate students including biology majors, medical students, and pre-service science teachers maintain a large set of misconceptions that inte...
Electric Cars and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
By Jack F. Eichler
This “clicker case” provides students with an overview of batteries and fuel cells and the oxidation-reduction reactions used in these devices. The context for this overview is a comparison of battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehi...
The Polar Bear of the Salt Marsh?
By Beth A. Lawrence, Christopher R. Field
Polar bears are an iconic symbol of climate change, but regionally relevant examples of susceptible biota are needed to highlight how global forces impact local environments. In this interrupted case study, students follow a young naturalist as she e...