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
Vaccines, Social Media, and the Public Health
By Kim R. Finer
While the "vaccine controversy" has made headlines since the late 1990s, the emergence and popularity of social media has created a public opinion space bursting with pseudoscience, debatable claims and anecdotes regarding the value and importance of...
By Celeste A. Leander, Pamela Kalas
This case study focuses on the intersection of defining a scientific species and defining a legal species. The compelling story of Lolita, an orca whale in captivity, is used to highlight the legal significance of species declaration. Students will w...
Why Can’t We Build a Biosphere?
By Kathy Gallucci
This case study is designed to help students learn about the ecosystem services of Earth (Biosphere 1) by examining the challenges faced by the designers who tried to replicate its components in Biosphere 2. In 1991, four men and four women entered B...
By Andrew T. Johnson, Anna M. Jähn
This case study is about a German man named Fritz Jähn. Fritz was physically active in his youth and an achievement-striving individual who was academically and professionally accomplished. He distinguished himself as an anesthesiologist and a fathe...
Bioluminescence and 16th-century Caravaggism
By Yunqiu (Daniel) Wang
This case study looks at the probable connection between bioluminescence and Caravaggio's painting style in the 16th century in order to explore the mechanism of bioluminescence and its role in animal evolution and modern medicine. Recent studies hav...
By Jane P. Sheldon, Danielle Balaghi
This case study tells the story of Mo, an individual with social anxiety disorder who seeks mental health treatment. The purpose of this case is not to have students diagnose the central figure, but rather to help students gain insight into one way i...
By Kylee Grenis, Whitley R. Lehto, Shannon M. Murphy, Mayra C. Vidal, Robin M. Tinghitella
This group-based, interrupted case study challenges students' perceptions of "useful" scientific research. We present student groups with the methods used in two scientific studies that have been heavily scrutinized in the popular media. Both researc...
A Colorful Picnic with Photosynthetic Pathways and RuBisCO on the Menu
By David J. Grise
In this interrupted case study developed for use in a flipped classroom, students read about a picnic that takes place in autumn during the peak of fall color and along the way learn about light absorption by photosynthetic pigments, why leaves turn ...
By Chantilly A. Apollon
This case study challenges students to differentiate between anecdotal evidence and science-based evidence related to human health. The case uses a "flipped" approach in which students watch two preparatory videos prior to attending class. The f...
Giant Pandas, Hormones, and the Evolution of a Lazy Bear
By Patricia J. Moore
This clicker case study looks at the role of hormone cascades in homeostatic control of metabolism in a charismatic organism, the Giant Panda. The case explores how Giant Pandas have adapted to a nutritionally poor food resource, bamboo, throug...
By Sandra J. Connelly
This flipped case study is formatted as a PowerPoint presentation that uses group experimentation to encourage active learning in a large science classroom. There are options for using either wet bench experimentation or an online simulation, dependi...
A Botched Botox Party in the Hamptons
By Adam J. Kleinschmit
This flipped case study explores how the topics of membrane structure, transport, and signaling via membrane-bound receptors are intimately associated with the paralysis of muscle targeted by botulinum neurotoxin. The case scenario revolves around a ...
By Dan Johnson
This flipped case was designed to introduce students in a general introductory biology course to basic protein structure. The two videos and interrupted case use keratins in hair as model proteins. From the videos students learn how amino acids regul...
By Jennifer Jackson, Karen M. Aguirre
This flipped case study is suited for general education undergraduate level biology. Students prepare ahead of time for class by viewing a video created by the authors that reviews the basics of nutrition and digestion; in class, students then engage...
By Abigail R. Wilson, Ashley E. Rhodes, Timothy G. Rozell
This case study explores the topics of diffusion, osmosis, membrane transport, and the physiological significance of glucose and insulin in the human body. The story begins with a high school athlete, Timmy, who is incredibly efficient at metabolizin...
By Joan-Beth Gow, Lisa A. Carpino
This case study introduces Megi, an active teenager who has recovered from anorexia nervosa. The method of progressive disclosure is used to take students back in time as Megi recalls the physical and psychological aspects of her illness and th...
By Grace A. Farber, Amy T. Hark
This directed case study was developed to introduce students to the CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome editing. CRISPR-Cas9 has made numerous headlines in both the scientific and popular press, and thus serves as an excellent model for learning current bi...
By Michelle M. Homan
This case study presents a realistic example of drinking water contamination within a fictional local community and leads students through an abbreviated human health risk assessment. Students are provided background information about the extent of t...
What Should the Victor Do with the Vanquished?
By Justin A. Pruneski
Smallpox, the worst infectious disease mankind has known, represents a major triumph as the first disease to be intentionally and completely removed from the human population. Although the disease was eradicated in 1980, the variola virus remains pre...
Antibiotic Resistance in a Russian Prison
By Christian Angeles, Isabella Villano, Andrea C. Nicholas
In this case study, students will have the opportunity to model the spread of tuberculosis and development of antibiotic resistance in a hypothetical prison environment. After reading a brief handout and viewing a short video, students play a simulat...
By Giovanni Casotti
This case study describes the daily osmotic struggle for survival faced by hummingbirds. The narrative is written from the viewpoint of a human observer who sees an Anna's hummingbird feeding on flowers outside of her window. She notices that t...
By Conrad Toepfer
A common misconception is that Darwin suggested that something as complex as the eye could not have evolved through natural selection. While the misunderstanding often comes from an incomplete reading of his argument, we have long known that intermed...
By Joan-Beth Gow
This interrupted case study for the flipped classroom introduces the human microbiome from the perspective of one of its occupants, Heidi Helicobacter (Helicobacter pylori). Heidi lives in the gut of Kristen, a college student, and discusses he...
By Charlie W. Zhao, Kevin Xo, Tom L. Haffie (rr)
This case study follows a young cystic fibrosis (CF) patient named Lucas. Through Lucas's story and interactions between his parents and pediatrician, students learn about the scientific background and basis of CF. By reviewing email correspondence b...
By Amy B. Dounay, Lori L. Driscoll, Phoebe M. Blessing, Hallie M. Comfort, Joshua M. Mares
This interrupted case study explores the scientific, legal, and societal complexities of repurposing an illicit substance, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as "Ecstasy" or "Molly," into a clinically accepted medicine for treating ...
By Stephanie J. Toering Peters
This interrupted case study is designed to introduce beginning biology students to the process of science by exploring a question that is accessible to students with limited scientific background. The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardialis) is the tallest ...
By Orianna Carter
This case study addresses several concepts related to water hypoxia including physical laws governing dissolved oxygen levels and impacts to living systems during hypoxia. A survey of different factors causing reduced oxygen saturation levels on smal...
An Unusual Case of Hypertension
By Robert Ortiz, Sunil Nityanand
This case study examines the interaction between the endocrine, cardiovascular and renal systems. The case narrative details Mr. Smith's high blood pressure that does not seem to respond to treatment. Although he takes good care of himself and follow...
By Qinxia Li, Xinyao Yang, Lauren S. Gollahon
This directed case study examines differences between the exponential and logistic growth models in biology and how they are applied to solve real life problems. The narrative follows a student returning to the United States as he tries to assess his...
Bringing Home More than a Medal
By Tracie M. Addy, Kathryn A. Phillips, Maura O. Stevenson
This case study was inspired by the Zika virus outbreak that occurred around the time of the 2016 Olympic Games. Many athletes were fearful of attending because of the link between Zika virus infection and microcephaly in infants. This concern, howev...
By Mariela Cruz Calderón, Annie Prud’homme-Genereux
Why is the North American population of monarch butterflies declining? In 1999, a study published in the journal Nature suggested that a variety of genetically modified corn was killing these iconic butterflies. While it was later shown that the cond...
By Karen K. Bernd, Cindy D. Hauser, Kristie L. Foley
The first day of class is often a reading of the syllabus, even when active learning approaches are used throughout the rest of the term. This interrupted case uses the first day to model the expectations of a course that uses case method approaches....
By Tracie M. Addy, Catherine E. LePrevost, Courtney L. McGinnis
This case study was inspired by a real-life scenario, and follows the story of Roberto, a migrant farmworker whose health is impacted by the usage of pesticides on a farm. With the help of a health care provider, Roberto becomes aware of the ef...
By Gary L. Patterson
This flipped case study was written to provide foundational understanding of woody stem (tree) anatomy and to illustrate how scientific support is used to determine the age of objects made of wood, which in turn may affect an object's value. The narr...
By Justin F. Shaffer, Sha Sun
This case study explores the recent (2010 - 2016) outbreak of neural tube defects, specifically anencephaly, in a rural three-county region of Washington state, particularly Yakima, WA. The case study focuses on the biological aspects of teratogens t...
By Khadijah I. Makky, Audra A. Kramer
This interrupted case is based on a genome wide association study (GWAS) that identified the genetic variation causing some inhabitants of the Solomon Islands to have blond hair. The case illustrates the connection between genotype and phenotype, and...
Gastronomic Gastroenteritis at The Fat Duck
By Nienke E. van Houten
This interrupted case study was inspired by and uses data from one of the largest commercial restaurant associated outbreaks of norovirus reported in the literature. It applies basic principles of epidemiology and outbreak investigation to a shellfis...
By Angela K. Hartsock
This case study takes place at a fictional biotechnology company developing herbicides against invasive plant species. The case study focuses on five herbicides with different effects on photosynthesis. Students play the role of lab interns and explo...
By Gary H. Laverty
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the major vector for transmission of numerous viral diseases, including yellow fever, dengue, and now, Zika. Interestingly, different subspecies of A. aegypti are known to exist in close proximity but with considerable g...
By Teresa C. Weglarz
This interrupted case study tells the story of Miles, a freshman in college, who volunteers to help with the composting program on campus. Miles is excited about composting but his mother is hesitant to try it at home. Miles learns about the key ingr...