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 Lauren E. Yaich
Samantha and her husband Brad have two children, conceived with the help of in vitro fertilization treatments. After viewing a TV program on stem cells and their potential medical uses, Samantha is convinced that they should donate the remaining froz...
By Sarah K. Huber, Paula P. Lemons
In this case study, students learn about introduced species and how they pose a threat to biodiversity by analyzing the impact of introduced species on the native bird populations of the Hawaiian Islands. Developed for an introductory biology course,...
By Alan Paul Price
In this dilemma case, Congresswoman Madeline Gibson must cast her vote on the fate of the lower Snake River dams. The stakeholders in this decision represent government agencies, small businesses, large industries, farmers, local tribes, environmenta...
By Thomas A. Cappaert
While backpacking in the Canadian Rockies, Joel loses his way and finds that his experience hiking and camping in his home state of Florida hasn't prepared him for springtime weather conditions in the mountains. This case study allows students to rev...
By David L. Evans
Students learn about the interconnectedness of the body, with a particular focus on the skin as one of the most important homeostatic organ systems, in this case study in which the protagonist sets out on a three-hour drive across the Arizona desert ...
By Herbert House (rr)
This case is based on the real-life incident of a boy whose arm was bitten off by a bull shark while swimming off the coast of Florida in the summer of 2001. After the boy’s arm was retrieved from the shark’s mouth, it was surgically reattached....
By Eleonora Del Federico, Steven T. Diver, Monika I. Konaklieva, Richard Ludescher
In this dilemma case, the central character, a museum curator, must decide whether or not to show a painting as a hitherto “undiscovered” Cezanne. The stylistic analysis suggests it is for real, but data obtained using different spectroscopic tec...
By Jennifer Hayes-Klosteridis
This dilemma case, designed for use in an undergraduate genetics course, explores the basic genetic concepts underlying the cloning process as well as the ethical, medical, political, economic, and religious issues surrounding human cloning. While th...
By Susan Holt
In this case study, students are asked to consider whether there is evidence to adequately support a series of scientific claims made in an advertisement for pheromones. The case teaches students about the scientific method and the process of science...
By Kate Rittenhouse-Olson
This dilemma case was designed for a junior level immunology course. It could also be used in a microbiology or bacteriology course where the emphasis is on treatment as well as disease....
Are You Blue? What Can You Do?
By Robert W. Grossman, Amy Pettigrew, Linda Walsh, Kathleen Boje
This case study introduces students to treatment alternatives for depression using a jigsaw method in which groups of students are divided up so that each member of the “home group” becomes the “resident expert” in one of five possible treatm...
By Karin Gastreich
In this case study, students are given the task of developing a recovery plan to protect a recently discovered population of Central American squirrel monkeys on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. In the process they must determine whether the populati...
By Tangi Mitchell, Cheryl L. Watson
In this two-part case study on the nervous system, students learn about neural pathways. The case scenarios are drawn from real life and require students to explain the physiological mechanisms at work. The first scenario is designed for freshmen lev...
By Alan Cheville, Misa Scepanovic
A motion picture company (circa 1950) is having problems with antiquated equipment. The director, actors, and crew all want the CEO of the company, who is notorious for being tight with money, to invest in a newly developed zoom lens. Students are as...
By Julia Omarzu
This dilemma case is based on the true story of Jack and Lisa Nash, whose daughter Molly was born with a rare genetic disorder, Fanconi anemia. By having another child with specific genetic markers, the Nashes hoped to cure Molly using stem cells fro...
Search for the Missing Sea Otters
By Mary Allen, Mark L. Kuhlmann
Using a progressive disclosure format, this case study teaches students how to apply ecological principles to a real-life ecological problem, namely, the decline in sea otter populations in Alaska. Students interpret data from graphs and tables and p...
By Christa Colyer
Developed for an upper-level undergraduate instrumental analysis course, this case actively engages students in an understanding of the abstract, often difficult to grasp, concepts of the van Deemter equation, important in the field of chemical separ...
By James A. Hewlett
This case involves the transfer of a food allergy to a patient who received a combined kidney and liver transplant from a donor who died as the result of an allergic reaction. In addition to learning about the various roles of immune cells, the physi...
The Effects of Coyote Removal in Texas
By Margaret A. Carroll
This interrupted case study presents published data on the effect of coyote removal in Texas. It was designed to help students in introductory level biology courses understand trophic level relationships and the role of keystone species. Students int...
Is a Mars Sample Return Mission Too Risky?
By Troy D. Wood
Following a public hearing format, this case study allows students to explore the scientific and public policy issues surrounding the advisability of a return mission to Mars for further sampling and, more generally, the question of whether or not th...
By Lisa Marie Rubin, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This case teaches about the causes and effects of Type 2 diabetes by working through the various options available to a young Native American woman suffering from the disease. The case can be used in a variety of settings, including nutrition classro...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
In chronicling the life and death of a woman who developed diabetes as a teenager, this case study explores such basic science topics as metabolism, hormones, cell receptors, eye anatomy, and immunology as well as issues in nutrition, exercise, stem ...
Does a One-Size Drug Dose Fit All?
By Kathleen Boje
The purpose of this case study is to make students aware that some patients may require individualized drug dosing regimens based on a variety of patient variables. The central classroom activity consists of small group work in which students analyze...
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 ...
Gender: In the Genes or in the Jeans?
By William J. Hoese, Judith R. Gibber, Bonnie S. Wood
How are males and females different? Most people have a sex that is consistent on all levels: genetic, gonadal, internal genitals, external genitals. But sometimes there are discrepancies. This case explores the biology of human sexual differentiatio...
By Stephanie Vail, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This case presents a fanciful story about the origin of the eukaryotic cell, a major milestone in the evolution of life. The characters of the story are Mito, Chlora, Flag, ER, Nuc, Golgi, Ves, and Ly, all members of an extended cellular family. Writ...
By Lisa Marie Rubin
This directed case study focuses on the physiology of bone homeostasis and methods of prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. One of the overall purposes of the case is to show students that osteoporosis is not simply a disease that afflicts elderl...
By Merri Lynn Casem
This case study was developed for a first-semester foundations course for biology majors. It is based on two conflicting reports in the scientific literature on the status of nanobacteria as living organisms in order to explore basic concepts related...
By Lisa Marie Rubin, Clyde Freeman Herreid
This problem-based case focuses on the female menstrual cycle and early stages of pregnancy of an unwed teenager. Working in small groups, students identify the learning issues for each part of the story and research answers to their questions. They ...
Something’s Fishy in Paxton Lake
By Joan Sharp
In this interrupted case study, students explore the mechanisms of speciation while working in groups to design a series of experiments to determine whether two populations of sticklebacks in Paxton Lake in British Columbia represent separate species...
By Darlene Panvini
This case examines the biological, ecological, social, political, and economic factors surrounding exotic species as well as the role of resource managers in shaping public policy on environmental issues. In addition to conservation ecology courses, ...
By Wayne Seames
The characters in this dilemma case must balance personal financial considerations, their professional futures, and time constraints against ensuring that the new product they are proposing is safe. The case explores the issues surrounding ethical de...
The Case of the Newborn Nightmare
By Andrea C. Wade
Three newborns left in the care of "Dr. Mark Maddison" have developed a mysterious rash. Under increasing pressure from hospital administrators and distressed parents, the doctor must diagnose and treat the infants. Students are given discrete pieces...
All That Glitters May Not Be Gold
By Gerald F. Combs, Jr
In this decision case, a congressional staffer must weigh a number of competing concerns and issues, including popular reactions to genetically modified organisms, in deciding how to present information to her boss, an influential congressman draftin...
By Patrick R. Field, Thomas A. Cappaert
In this case study, students read about the injuries sustained by a young man hurt in a serious diving accident. To solve the case, they must determine the type of central nervous system injury described using their knowledge of the differences betwe...
The Cheerleader and the Football Player
By Malati M. Patil
As the result of a wager between the school football team and its cheerleading squad, one of the cheerleaders has to lift a 300-pound football player off the ground. In this directed case study, students learn about the mechanical principle of the pu...
To Vaccinate, or Not to Vaccinate
By Caren D. Shapiro
The case was prompted by a newspaper story about a couple who refused on religious grounds to have their son vaccinated even though vaccination is a requirement for admission to the public schools. It explores the issues surrounding the necessity and...
A Case Study of Memory Loss in Mice
By Michael S. Hudecki (rr)
This discussion case explores the scientific process involved in implementing an animal model in the study of Alzheimer’s disease. Students read a short paragraph describing a study in which the brains of “trained” mice were injected with beta-...
Dr. Collins and the Case of the Mysterious Infection
By Paula P. Lemons, Sarah K. Huber
In this case study, Dr. Collins must diagnose and prescribe treatment for a young patient with a serious infection. Students receive pieces of the case in a progressive disclosure format and answer questions about bacterial infection, antibiotics, an...
By Alease S. Bruce
In this case study, a forensic anthropologist must determine the age and sex as well as look for signs of trauma to a skeleton found in a shallow grave in a state park. Students simulate the actual procedures used in a forensics lab and learn to iden...