JoinAll Case Studies
Cases (only) are freely accessible; subscription is required for access to teaching notes and answer keys.
Suggested Keywords, to help with your search (besides selecting subjects): clicker cases, directed cases, interrupted cases, discussion cases, intimate debate cases. As a reminder, all cases may be adjusted to meet the needs of your student level. See our case use guidelines.
Grade level filtering: enter desired grade levels in the Keywords box and click Apply.
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 Lisa D. Hager
In this case study, students are given information regarding an advertisement claiming that listening to the classical music in the advertised CD set will enhance a person’s cognitive skills and creativity. Students evaluate the claims and the evid...
By Kari E. Benson
In this interrupted case study, students work in teams to interpret behavioral data with respect to evolutionary biology. Specifically, the case examines the behavior of alarm calling in a certain type of squirrel, Belding's ground squirrel, wh...
Exploring Unintentional Racism
By Robert W. Grossman, Thomas E. Ford
This case study is designed to help students explore their attitudes about race and examine the complexity of racism. It also has been used to teach about the social psychology of unintentional racism, attribution theory, and institutionalized racism...
Is Guaiacum Sanctum Effective Against Arthritis?
By Eric Ribbens, Barbra Burdett, Angela Green
Dr. Beth Tonoany, a tropical population ecologist, is studying an unusual tree, Guaiacum sanctum, in the tropical forests of Central America. Interestingly, several local Ticos have told her that they use the tree for medicinal purposes. Students rea...
Not Just Another Day at the Beach
By Karen T. Lee
Students read about a case of melanoma that occurred over 10 years ago and then discuss issues faced by cancer patients and their families in making difficult medical decisions. Because the case presented is 10 years old, changes since then in the wa...
By Martin Kelly
At what point in evolutionary development does a group of individuals become two distinct species? This case addresses that fundamental question by asking students to decide whether apple maggot flies are distinct as a species from hawthorn maggot fl...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
The Honorable Judge Cellular is presiding over the case of The State vs.Egg Cell Number 6624223. As the prosecuting attorney calls each witness to the stand and the courtroom drama unfolds, students learn about the stages of mitosis and meiosis and t...
By Paul Welsh
Based on an actual event, this case study focuses on some of the problems associated with reproductive technologies. It tells the story of the "Joneses," who after in vitro fertilization treatment, discover that their fraternal twins are less similar...
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 Erica F. Kosal
In this case study, students speculate on what may have caused a major fish kill in an estuary in North Carolina. In the process, they explore how land runoff and excess nutrients affect aquatic communities, and learn about the complex life cycle of ...
The 2000-Meter Row: A Case Study in Performance Anxiety
By Doug M. Post (rr)
This case study is based on another case in our collection, The 2000-Meter Row: A Case in Homeostasis, which emphasizes the metabolic, respiratory, and cardiac responses of a young athlete competing in a championship rowing event. In this modified ve...
By Rosemary Martin
In this interrupted case, students examine the concept of unconsciousness and develop an understanding of how clinicians diagnose death. Developed for a freshman course in human biology, the case focuses on brain death, but raises related issues, inc...
By Sarah G. Stonefoot
This case, developed for a course in human biology, provides students with a context for discussing stem cells and cloning by exploring regeneration in salamanders and the ethical as well as scientific and health-related issues of applying what scien...
By Kari A. Mergenhagen
The parents of a six-week-old baby girl know there is something seriously wrong with their child, but it takes a number of frustrating visits to the pediatrician before they finally get a correct diagnosis. Once they do, the parents must decide wheth...
By Kathy Gallucci
In this case, students read a news article about a study of the effects of intercessory prayer on cardiac patients published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. After reading the case and discussing the questions in small groups, students evaluate ...
By Charles R. Bomar
This case explores conservation and social issues associated with the destruction of vast tracts of farmland in the Great Plains in the late 1800s caused by massive swarms of the Rocky Mountain Locust, Melanoplus spretus. The case was developed for a...
By Ann Bisantz
The controversies surrounding the November 2000 presidential election, specifically the difficulties encountered in interpreting imperfectly punched ballots, provide the backdrop for this case. Developed for an upper-level undergraduate course in hum...
By Pauline A. Lizotte, Gretchen E. Knapp
This case is based on the controversy that surrounded harvesting of the Pacific yew from 1989 to 1997 to develop paclitaxel (Taxol), a revolutionary anti-cancer drug. The case was designed to expose students to basic conservation biology concepts by ...
By Robin Pals-Rylaarsdam
In this problem-based learning/role playing case, students apply their knowledge of the biology of HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy to developing foreign aid policy for the HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. The case was created for a non-majo...
By Stephen J. Shawl
What is a googol? Invented by Edward Kasner, an American mathematician who popularized the number in his 1940 book, Mathematics and the Imagination, it is a 1 followed by a hundred zeros. This directed case in estimation and very large numbers ...
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 Dayton J. Ford
A fight in a college town bar between the football player of one team and a drunken fan of a rival team results in a serious spinal cord injury. Students working in groups read the case and research the questions associated with it, which they then d...
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...
First in Flight, Last in Wetlands Preservation?
By John Petersen, Nancy London
Developed for an introductory environmental studies course, this case study explores the ecological, economic, and legislative issues associated with land development and wetland loss. Students role-play the points of view of four different stakehold...
Out of the Frying Pan and into the Grease Fire
By Ingolf Gruen
Late on a Saturday night, a fire in the kitchen of a popular restaurant results in almost a million dollars in damages. Fortunately, there is no loss of life or serious injury. Fire department officials think that a grease fire was most likely the ca...
By Patricia Schneider
This case is based on Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby,” a tragic tale of race and gender in antebellum Louisiana first published in 1893. Students read the story and then answer a series of questions about the genetics and evolution...
By Dennis Kingery
In 1958, black bass were introduced into Lake Atitlan in the highlands of western Guatemala as a way to attract tourism and boost the local economy, but unforeseen complications resulted in an ecological disaster. Developed for an introductory course...
By Traci E. Morris, Susannah Gal
In this case study, designed to help break down stereotypes about scientists and engineers, students research the personal and professional lives of researchers in their field. The case was designed for use in high school to graduate courses in a var...
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...
Bad Fish: Human Anatomy and Physiology Edition
By James A. Hewlett
In this version, developed for a course in human anatomy and physiology, 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 ...
Bad Fish: Cell and Molecular Biology Edition
By James A. Hewlett
In this version, developed for classes in cell and molecular 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 cas...
By Brian Rybarczyk
This case introduces students to HIV, its life cycle, treatment, and problems associated with treatment options. The case, which incorporates critical thinking skills, active learning, self-directed study, and peer-to-peer learning, was developed for...
By Ann Henninger
Nancy has been looking forward to her retirement and a chance to entertain and travel with her husband Jim. But she hasn’t been feeling well. She’s often tired, and recently she’s been experiencing a burning sensation in her lower chest as well...
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 Kari A. Mergenhagen
Although blind since childhood as the result of an accident, Lucy has never given up hope that one day she might see again. So, when her ophthalmologist tells her about a study being conducted at the University Medical Center that might help her rega...
By Dayton J. Ford
Alvin’s parents are worried about him. He has had a cough for almost a week, and he’s wheezing a lot more than they think is normal for a child with a cold, which is what their family pediatrician says he has. When they take him to the ER, howeve...
By Elaine M. Schamber, Paul A. Hammond
A possible act of industrial espionage is the backdrop for this case study, which introduces students to analytical techniques routinely used in most areas of biotechnology, including forensic science and patent lawsuits. In this fictional case, "Rog...
By Jennifer Lundmark
As an exhausted climbing expedition ascends a steep cliff, one climber in particular experiences severe difficulty breathing and quickly becomes the focus of this case study in which students are asked to assess the physiological changes that occur a...
By Eric Przykuta
The Cleaver family of television fame faces a dilemma—whether or not to clone their recently deceased dog Spot. Written for a high school introductory biology class, the case provides students with an opportunity to discuss animal cloning and its e...