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 Jane P. Sheldon, Susana M. Peciña
This directed case study follows two college roommates, Darrell and Anthony, who have just returned to school after winter vacation. They share that their ageing fathers are concerned about their declining faculties and are amused by their fathers' e...
By Megan M. Emge, Zenobia N. Okwunwanne, Raphinos Uragu, Johnna L. Yowell, Breanna N. Harris
This interrupted case study tells the story of Michael, a Harvard law graduate with a stressful job and a seemingly heavy drinking problem. Students are provided with background information, medical history, and lab results in order to guide them tow...
By Maria-Elena Conin, Lea C. George, Joshua D. Kumin, Philip J. Stephens
This interrupted case study follows the course of Cara, a high school athlete training for the state championships in cross country. She suffers from polycystic ovarian syndrome and her prescribed medication (spironolactone) greatly diminishes the ac...
By Helen S. Joyner, Brennan Smith
In this case study, students assume the role of a quality assurance team that is in charge of determining potential causes and solutions for potato chip bags that open during the shipping process. Students will use basic quality control tools to eval...
By Michèle I. Shuster
This case study was developed for an introductory biology course with the goal of integrating content (specifically, structure/function, signaling pathways, and homeostasis) while reinforcing general critical thinking skills and the scientific method...
Developing a Holistic Understanding of Hybridization and Resonance
By Manisha Nigam
This case study is the result of the author's efforts to help students master the complex concept of resonance by unifying multiple concepts across general chemistry and organic chemistry courses. Resonance is a key building block for students' under...
Why Did the Snake Cross the Road?
By Milton T. Drott, Mark A. Sarvary
Although Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a fundamental part of introductory biology classes, students often have difficulty understanding its implications. This interrupted case study places students in the role of small teams who are conducting prelim...
By Brynn F. Welch, Christine M. Fleet
This case study is centered on a real scenario from 2013 in which the Kickstarter fundraising platform included a fundraising proposal from a group wanting to use synthetic biology to make glowing plants. The proposal raised controversy because the G...
By Chaya Gopalan, William B. Kist
Hyper-IgM syndrome is an X-linked genetic disorder more commonly affecting males than females. It is caused by the lack of heavy chain class-switching from IgM to other isotypes. Patients with hyper-IgM syndrome are susceptible to a variety of infect...
By Helen S. Joyner
In this case study, students are asked to design a new refrigeration system for a company that stores produce. Students will need to consider various aspects of refrigeration system design, such as single- versus multi-stage, size, operating temperat...
By Qinxia Li, Xinyao Yang, Howsikan Kugathasan
This directed case study is designed for an intermediate algebra course, appropriate for high school mathematics and lower division college mathematics. The ideal class size for running the activity is generally between 16 and 20 students. The main o...
By Natalie G. Farny
In this clicker case, students are introduced to George, an undergraduate student who has been experiencing some odd symptoms. His roommate convinces him to see a physician who recognizes that George's symptoms are consistent with diabetes mellitus; ...
By Linda C. Fuselier
This case study is based on stories reported in the media and is used to examine biological and ethical dimensions of assisted reproductive technologies, specifically egg donation and gestational surrogacy. The case follows an Indian woman as s...
By Nadia Sellami, Julie A. Morris, Sheela Vemu
Lactose intolerance, caused by a lack of persistent lactase enzyme expression, is a trait commonly observed in adult humans, with varying geographic prevalence depending on dietary habits in different cultures. This case study follows a diverse group...
By Jessica L. Allen, Crystal E. Nyitray, Tejal A. Desai, Miquella G. Chavez
This case study applies problem-based learning to the field of biotechnology. Students assume the role of newly-hired bioengineers at a fictitious biotech company, Bio-Art. Students work individually to complete background research in the basic biolo...
By Ryan T. Neumann, Collin J. Quinn, Brittany A. Whitaker, Sean T. Woyton, Breanna N. Harris
In this interrupted case study, students pose as an intern of a neuromuscular/skeletal specialist and discover how sarin and myasthenia gravis influence muscle function. Students are given background information about the patients and their situation...
By Amanda J. Chunco, Jennifer K. Uno
This case study focuses on the relationship between the microbiome (the suite of species that live in or on the human body) and autoimmune and allergic diseases. At the center of the case is Amelia, a young woman living with Crohn's disease. As the c...
By Philip J. Stephens
In many physiology classes the frog neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is presented as the classic example of a chemical synapse, but many synapses show properties that are different. For example, in many chemical synapses there is a protein transporter in...
By Breanna N. Harris
In this interrupted case study, students shadow an endocrinologist as she tries to determine what is wrong with Angela Barber. Angela is a middle-aged woman presenting with symptoms suggestive of a thyroid issue. Students are given background informa...
It’s a Crocodile! No, a Fish! No, a Dolphin!
By Andrea Bixler
It is not uncommon to hear creationists argue that evolution is not science because no one saw it happen, or for students to wonder how we can know anything about the physiology or behavior of organisms that went extinct hundreds of millions of years...
By Thomas A. Davis
To what extent should corn be used for the production of ethanol? Are we better off producing corn for food or producing corn for fuel? This case study uses a technique called "intimate debate" (also known as "constructive controversy") in order to e...
By Rebecca K. Wilson
This case study is targeted to the middle school science student and written especially with female students in mind. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it combines content from physical science and areas of biology (bacteriology, pathology) to tel...
By Charlie W. Zhao, Jasper C.H. Wong, Tom L. Haffie (rr)
This case study was originally developed for undergraduate science students as part of an extracurricular competition, but it could also be delivered as a directed case. Accordingly two versions of the activity are included. Each version requires stu...
By Patrick R. Field, Kelsey L. Logan
This interrupted case study traces the football career of Anthony "Tony Tonka Truck" Williams, and the types of brain trauma that he suffers from youth league through high school, college and his draft into the pros. In order to be successful d...
Mini Cases on Choosing Appropriate Statistical Tests for Ecological Data
By Alyssa M. Gleichsner, Elizabeth A. Flaherty
This set of mini cases on the ecology of eastern cottontail rabbits is designed to give students practical experience using statistics in a scientific context. Given a dataset and experimental design, groups of students are asked to play the part of ...
By Christine R. Dahlin
This case study was developed to teach students the importance of understanding the behavior of wildlife, explore the difficulty in making management decisions when the public is invested in a species, and to help students develop critical thinking a...
The Mystery of the Missing Martens
By Elizabeth A. Flaherty, Carolyn A. Eckrich, Merav Ben-David
This interrupted case study introduces basic modeling to investigate a decline in an American marten population on an island in Southeast Alaska. Two summer field technicians working on a long-term field ecology project for one of their professors no...
By Kendra S. Mell, Breanna N. Harris
In this directed case study students follow a nurse practitioner and work with a diagnostics team to determine what is wrong with Tristan, an infant who comes to the clinic with multiple bruises. Students are given background and patient history, and...
By Claudia Stein, Eleanor A. Pardini
In this case study students are provided with information for piecing together the story of how forest fragmentation and biodiversity loss can affect the risk of Lyme disease transmission to humans. The case introduces the dilution effect, a widely a...
The Never-Ending Contamination
By Lior M. Burko
This case study discusses a possible national security crisis of a terrorist group stealing radioactive materials in an attempt to build and detonate a dirty bomb over a densely populated metropolitan area. Specifically, this case discusses radioacti...
By Karobi Moitra
This case study examines the molecular methods that were used to reverse engineer the 1918 influenza virus strain in order to try and solve the mystery of why it was so deadly. The story starts in the 1950s with the unsuccessful attempts to culture t...
By Breanna N. Harris
In this directed case study, students shadow Dr. Lee in diagnosing two patients with osteoporosis. The students are given patient history and an initial panel of test results, which they discuss in small groups. After diagnosis, they are asked specif...
By Helen S. Joyner
In this case study, students assume the role of a quality assurance (QA) technician who is working on finding the root cause of customer complaints for apple cider. Students will critically examine the sampling practices for the apples used for...
By Susan E. Gass, Laurie S. Eberhardt
This interrupted case study, designed for an introductory biology or environmental science course, introduces students to the complexity of ecosystems by examining changes in trophic interactions and abiotic factors in a freshwater ecosystem as a res...
Why Is He Different from Both Parents?
By Jun Liang, William J. Rice
This case study was developed to teach the topic of human ABO blood type and genetic inheritance in biology courses at the lower undergraduate level or upper high school level. It is suitable for entry level biology, genetics, and physiology courses....
Cancer Cluster or Coincidence?
By Jaclyn E. McLean, Ram S. Veerapaneni
In this interrupted case study students analyze the complexities surrounding identification and confirmation of cancer clusters. The case challenges students to consider the evidence from two different perspectives; a local family physician represent...
By Akasha M. Faist
This case study in restoration ecology utilizes two peer reviewed articles that ask a similar question about the effects of grazing in temporary wetlands, yet the articles have different conclusions about these effects. Students are challenged ...
By Kristen H. Short
This clicker case study follows a dialogue between two college students, Lucy and Dan, as they discover how alternative splicing of mRNA molecules can allow a single gene to code for multiple proteins. Dan is participating in a clinical trial for a d...
Unlucky Chucky and Toxins of the Neuromuscular Junction
By Andrew M. Petzold, Jennifer Wollschlager, Robert L. Dunbar
Signaling at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a complex process that is required for many actions that sustain life within humans. Toxins that act upon the NMJ, both natural and synthetic, act in a variety of ways to inhibit this function. This ca...
By Ann T.S. Taylor
Taylor must write a report about a natural toxin while she is home from college on break. After a family dinner conversation about the latest attempt to poison a politician via a letter, Taylor decides to explore how ricin acts as a poison....