The Best Way to Build a Strong Biology Background

What can high school biology teachers do to make sure their students get the foundations they need for further study of biology and for a better understanding of the living world around them? How can high school biology teachers instill an appreciation for the social context and significance of biology in the modern world, along with the confidence in the ability to continue to learn?

The challenge high school biology teachers face is that many of their students come to them with an understanding of biology they gained from watching nature shows on television and science fiction thrillers online. It's fun to watch television programs and YouTube videos about exotic creatures in exotic places. It's even better to observe nature in person There is no doubt that it is still important to understand living things as whole organisms in ecological communities, but modern biology is also a quantitative science.

Students sometimes openly rebel against math in biology class. Should the biology teacher write an equation on the board, they look for ways to flee the class.

These students do not have an intuitive understanding of the most basic concepts of biology that can't be easily pictured, like the production of energy at the cellular level, or the relationship of genotype and phenotype, or the use of DNA to explain the characteristics we share and the characteristics that make us unique.

So, give them a picture. Let Modern Biology Inc. provide the lab experiences that make the key concepts of modern biology real.

Modern Biology Inc. packages the hands-on laboratory experiences that make biology memorable. Over 8,000 teachers reach over 500,000 students with our experiments, programs, and full courses for biology that include everything you need — lab ware, instructions, instructor guide, and study questions — to teach biology as a laboratory science.

Modern Biology Inc. makes it possible for your students to take a biological process they understand, such as planting a seed and waiting for it to germinate, and relate it to cellular respiration at different temperatures by measuring O₂ and H₂ release (our kit for Effects of Temperature on Cellular Respiration). With products from Modern Biology Inc., your students can handle strands of actual DNA (Properties of DNA). They can even modify the DNA of a common, harmless strain E. coli so that it delights students by glowing in the dark (Producing a Strain of E. coli That Glows in the Dark) and perform electrophoresis, a basic step in sequencing the genome (An Introduction to Electrophoresis).

Each Modern Biology Inc. kit provides everything 16 students need, working in pairs, to do fun and fascinating experiments that tie into teaching the essential elements of basic biology. Everything in every experiment package is non-toxic and safe. We even developed some of the technology now widely used for DNA staining just so we could provide safe reagents to students.

We didn't choose the topics for your experiment kits randomly, and our products are experiments, not demonstrations. We specifically selected experiments that not only tie into important social issues, but that also are backed up in the literature of science education and that have real-world relevance to students.

Consider our experiment on sickle cell anemia, for example. Students use electrophoresis to test for variants of the sickle cell gene in real blood samples from the students themselves.

This one experiment can be used to teach concepts of genetics, physiology, biochemistry, and evolution. It can be used to teach about the relationships of genotype and phenotype, about balanced polymorphisms, and about developmental gene regulation, cooperative binding, and protein polymerization. But it also can be used to teach the social context of biological science so students gain an accurate understanding of allele frequency and distribution, and the importance of understanding this concept for people in the real world. And by helping students explore three genotypes in their own blood, this experiment reinforces the concept that there is no single "right answer" in experimental biology, especially in the study of DNA.

Modern Biology Inc. also reinforces the one common concept that unites the field of biology, evolution. Students cannot proceed with further study of biology without understanding the core concepts of evolution, such as cell theory, germ theory, and energetics We give students the laboratory experience that illustrates A Molecular Approach to the Study of Genetics and Evolution that your students can complete in a single lab session.

We help teachers infuse social context into hands-on experiences. We help biology teachers instill curiosity about living organisms that students will carry with them no matter the course of their academic careers.

Modern Biology Inc. helps you guide your students in creating their own stories of discovery at the same time you promote the development of critical thinking skills while keeping students in their comfort zone with regard to developing lab skills and asking questions.

Best Method for Building a Background

What's the one best way to build a strong biology background in your high school biology students?

Let Modern Biology do the heavy lifting of planning laboratory and learning experiences for your biology students.

Half a million students every year learn biology with the help of Modern Biology Inc. products. Over 8200 teachers use Modern Biology Inc.'s products. We want to encourage you to give our products a test run. We want to show you why thousands of teachers trust Modern Biology Inc.