In the Tube Where it Happens: Using Models to Support Understanding of Biotechnology

Presenter - Keri Shingleton, Ph.D., Holland Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Saturday, April 2nd - 11:00am

Educators will use models, both physical and conceptual, to experience strategies that engage students in making sense of patterns in molecular structures and functions that have led to advances in biotechnology. Strategies will include collaborative sense-making, using models as explanations, and reflection on learning. Teachers will describe the structures of DNA and enzymes that researchers capitalize on to create biotechnology applications such as restriction enzymes and PCR. Teachers will identify how models, conceptual and physical, can be used by students to reveal their ideas and understandings. Teachers will identify formative assessment opportunities in the modeling process.