JoinAll Case Studies
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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.
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By Kirsten L. Hokeness, Stephanie Mott
This case study introduces students to the complex field of immunology and the wide variety of host-pathogen interactions that drive evolutionary change. The case begins with a basic overview of the phases of the immune response and how each co...
By Justin F. Shaffer
This flipped clicker case study explores the fascinating relationship between the Arizona Bark Scorpion (the most venomous scorpion in North America) and the Southern Grasshopper Mouse. Initially it would seem that the grasshopper mouse is no match f...
By Sarah A. Orlofske
This case study follows two beginning undergraduate researchers on a quest for a summer research project related to food web ecology. While writing their research proposal, the students receive feedback indicating that they have neglected an entire g...
By Justin A. Pruneski, Enya J. Granados, Kaylee M. Wilburn
In addition to traditional nutrition facts and ingredients, current food packaging frequently includes a wide variety of additional labels including: organic, antibiotic free, cage free/free range, gluten free, no added hormones, no MSG, non-GMO, and...
Applying High-Throughput Analysis to Biofilms
By Michael L. Homesley, Jr.
This case study describes a hypothetical scenario in which a dental practice is contaminated from an unknown source resulting in multiple patients contracting the same bacterial infection. Simplified procedural information is provided for students to...
By Breanna N. Harris, Wendy Saltzman
This case study introduces students to the true story of Caster Semenya, an outstanding female mid-distance runner from South Africa. Caster won the 800 m race at the 2009 Track and Field World Championships when she was just 18. Since then, sh...
By Hollie L. Leavitt
This directed case study follows a young woman, Samantha, on a routine visit to her eye doctor. While at her appointment, Samantha receives preventative care and a visual acuity exam while learning more about the anatomy and physiology of her e...
By Jacqueline C. Ruiz Harewood
This case study was written to help students understand metal reactivity and metal incompatibility before they start learning about redox reactions. The storyline is based on a real-life situation in which two children are interrupted by a power fail...
By Fred B. Schnee, Janine M. Idziak
This case study presents the mock trial of "Martin Miller." There is no question that Martin killed his girlfriend; he admitted to stabbing her in a violent rage. But what is the degree of his responsibility? By virtue of Martin having the MAOA-L gen...
The Ebola Wars: Mission Immune Evasion
By Tracie M. Addy, Derek Dube, Jonathan O. Nardolilli, Catherine Croft, Orville C. Paynter, Alex J. Sadowski, Michael Petersen, Rumin Aidun
Through a unique anthropomorphic view and the integration of game-based learning, this case study explores how the Ebola virus can evade the immune response. In working through the case, students are challenged to examine the first, second and third ...
By Anne Farewell
This case study was designed for use in teacher-education courses for both graduate student laboratory assistants and lecturers or professors in natural sciences at the university or college level. The case demonstrates how laboratory practice and de...
The Potential Perils of Pauline
By George E. Keller
This directed case study follows the story of “Pauline,” a 20-year-old college student who has just received results from a personal genetic testing kit she purchased online. The report shows a negative result for variants of the BRCA 1 and 2 gen...
Life Tables, Darwin’s Finches, and the Dynamics of Small Island Populations
By Whitley R. Lehto, Shannon M. Murphy, Mayra C. Vidal, Robin M. Tinghitella
This case study uses Darwin’s finches to teach students about life tables. Life tables are tables of statistics that relate to life expectancy and reproductive output for a population of organisms. Students are asked to tabulate traditional life ta...
The Demise of the Forest People
By Katherine A. Kurth, Tomika M. Haller, Annalisa L. Sharkey
In this case study, the complexity of the Malaysian palm oil industry is examined through the perspective of various stakeholders, namely, villagers, corporations, orangutans, smallholders, conservationists, and an average consumer. Students learn ab...
By Brianna S. Nelson, Kelsey N. Aguirre, Alee L. Adams, Emily E. Brodbeck, Breanna N. Harris
This interrupted case study tells the story of “Callie,” a 26-year-old baker from San Francisco who runs a successful new cupcake business with her fiancé, Jeremey. For some time Callie has not felt well, experiencing fatigue, difficulty breathi...
Animals Can Run Away, but Plants Must Stay
By Nicole D. Tunbridge, Carol Pollock, Joan Sharp
In this PowerPoint-driven case study, students consider the many challenges faced by plants and discuss which of these might induce a morphological response. Examples of phenotypic variation within a plant species are presented and students discuss i...
By John G. Cogan, Emily Hill
There are many adaptive and evolutionary behaviors displayed in an organism's use of water. Although students generally have a superficial understanding of the importance of water to life (i.e., without water life cannot persist), this directed case ...
Could Grazing Be Dangerous? Ask the Cows!
By Kevin Pyatt, Michelle C. Pyatt, Michael I. Rule
This case study introduces important issues related to invasive species and noxious weeds that have particular ecological and agricultural importance. The realistic storyline follows a rancher, Elmer, who has recently purchased a 180-acre parcel of l...
By Jason W. Ho, Scott M. Leighow, Sylvie Lee, Philip J. Stephens
This interrupted case study follows the progress of Julius, a singer in a rock band who suffers from severe headaches and pressure in his ears. While visiting his doctor he loses his balance and hits his head as he collapses to the floor. Julius reco...
Unsustainable Use of the High Plains Aquifer
By Christine M. Carson, Casey A. Pennock
This case spotlights Great Plains water shortages by focusing on the High Plains Aquifer. This groundwater reservoir provides nearly a third of groundwater used for irrigation in the heartland of the United States and is linked to surface flows (e.g....
Everyone Knows Girls Are Bad at Math, Right?!
By Maureen Leonard (rr)
This case study explores the biology and culture of sex and gender, and focuses on the science and pseudoscience that surrounds this topic, especially focusing on math performance. The case leads students to seek out and evaluate popular cultur...
By Mackenzie A. Hahn, Hannah C. Schake, Ryan T. Schalles, Sarah R. Shioji, Breanna N. Harris
Was the "Brooklyn Butcher" of 1926 a cold-blooded killer or was something less sinister at play? This interrupted case study introduces students to hemoglobin binding and carbon monoxide poisoning by working through the details of a fictionalized acc...
By Pragathi Balakrishna, Sary O. Beidas, Sriharsha C. Athota, Seung G. Yoon
Medication reconciliation (MR) is the process of identifying the most accurate list of all medications a patient is taking, including the name, dosage, frequency, and route of each medication, and using this list to provide correct medications for th...
By Clyde Freeman Herreid
This interrupted case study for the flipped classroom examines the interaction of plants and their mycorrhizal partners. The latter is one of the most widespread and vital symbiotic relationships in the world and can be seen in the videos that studen...
By David W. Kelley
This case study reviews the hydrologic cycle and uses a water balance equation to examine the hydrology of White Bear Lake, a 2,531-acre natural water body near St. Paul, Minnesota. Since 2004, lake water levels have fallen five feet below their ordi...
Keeping to the Straight and Narrow
By Jody L. Vogelzang
This case study tells the story of a group of ten men, recently released from federal penitentiaries, who are housed in a residential reentry center for the remainder of their sentences. Their stay is intended to bridge the gap between incarceration ...
By Janet A. De Souza-Hart
Scientists and healthcare professionals initially exhibited little concern over the Zika virus even after evidence of human infection was first identified in 1952; Zika appeared to be both rare and unassociated with morbidity or mortality. Around 201...
By Monica L. Tischler
This case study for the flipped classroom introduces the discovery process used to elucidate how cells make ATP. Data from three seminal primary literature papers and novel (for their time) methods are used to illustrate how scientists determined the...
By Hollie L. Leavitt
This interrupted case study follows the progress of a pediatric patient who experiences an acute asthma exacerbation brought on by an environmental trigger. Students completing the case will synthesize their understanding of respiratory system ...
No Matter If You’re Black or White
By Srikripa Chandrasekaran, Linda Niedziela
Human populations have adapted to varying intensities of sunlight with varying tones of skin coloration. The balanced interplay between melanin content and UV absorption allowed populations to successfully migrate from sub-Saharan Africa by influenci...
By Ying Guo
This case study explores how intermolecular forces affect the solubility of substances. The story line presents a scenario in which specialists in a marketing department are investigating three types of makeup removers. They want to generate a short ...
By Susan Nava-Whitehead, Kerri W. Augusto, Korryna A. Finkelstein, Shianna Cruz, Joel Clark
This interdisciplinary case study uses the format of a progressive disclosure to explore certain advances in biotechnology and evaluate them within the framework of societal needs, concerns and pressures. When faced with a heart valve transplan...
By Maryuri Roca
In this interrupted case study, two friends find unanalyzed mass spectra of a green rock suspected to be a meteorite. Students are tasked with identifying the elements present in the meteorite by analyzing the mass spectra. The purpose of this case i...
Testing for Grazer Adaptation to Toxic Algae
By Michael B. Finiguerra, Hans G. Dam, David E. Avery
The intent of this interrupted case study is to present a clear example of both the scientific method and evolutionary adaptation in a model system consisting of marine grazers (copepods) and toxic prey (phytoplankton). Briefly, a certain toxic phyto...
By Elizabeth C. Leininger
This case study uses the discovery and molecular structure of penicillin to teach basic chemistry concepts as they apply to biological and biologically-active molecules. Topics covered include the elements found in living things, electronegativity an...
Why Homeostasis Is Important to Everyday Activities
By Brian J. Dingmann
In this case study, a college student named "Blake" winds up in the emergency room after he experiences a panic attack brought on by drinking a mixture of beverages containing caffeine and alcohol. His panic attack results in a severe episode of hype...
Responding to a Changing Climate
By Christopher J. Javornik, Akasha M. Faist
This case study uses a jigsaw activity to introduce students to four specific plant responses to climate change: elevational range shifts, phenology shifts, community shifts, and changes in biodiversity. Students become "experts" on one of these resp...
By Michèle I. Shuster
This case study synthesizes students' knowledge of the central dogma and cell structure by examining a rare health disorder in order to understand protein targeting and its medical consequences. Students first identify the molecular alteration in aff...
Indigenous Knowledge and the Search for Medicine
By Angela C. Oviedo, Patrick R. Field, Daniela J. Shebitz
This case study is based on a real scenario in which a high-profile ethnobotanical study in Chiapas, Mexico, ended when local and international organizations accused the managing researchers of biopiracy. Students will explore how the Maya Internatio...
The Evolving Genetics of Disease Resistance
By Jennifer M. Dechaine
This interrupted case study for the flipped classroom applies evolutionary genetics research to human health. Students learn about a naturally occurring, but rare, allele of the CCR5 gene, CCR5-Δ32, which provides resistance to HIV. They use data fr...