SBI4U0 Culminating Task: Current Issues Relating to Biology OVERVIEW Our culminating task for the course will revisit some of the learning done throughout the course

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SBI4U0 Culminating Task: Current Issues Relating to Biology

OVERVIEW

Our culminating task for the course will revisit some of the learning done throughout the course. The strands we will visit in our course content consist of the following:

1.            Biochemistry

2.            Metabolic Processes

3.            Molecular Genetics

4.            Homeostasis

5.            Population Dynamics

 

PROCEDURE

Follow these steps (detailed steps below) to write THREE different analyses:

STEP 1: Choose one of the above strands.

STEP 2: Choose a topic within that strand.

STEP 3: Find a research article that relates to your subtopic.

STEP 4: Write an analysis focusing on your topic’s application to technology, society, the environment, and yourself.

STEP 5: APA bibliography

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STEP 1: CHOOSE A STRAND

For example, for my first analysis, you may choose strand #2 Metabolic Processes.

NOTE: No repeating strands for analyses 2 and 3.

 

STEP 2: CHOOSE A TOPIC WITHIN THE STRAND

Browse our course content, the internet, etc to choose a subtopic within that strand that you would like to research. (For example, a subtopic for metabolic processes could be focusing on fermentation of yeast in Baker’s dough.) Here is a list of suggested topics for you to choose from. Feel free to find your own topics too!

 

?             Sleep Recovery and Metabolic Dysregulation

?             Importance of sleep on repairing DNA

?             Neanderthal diet

?             Obesity in House Pets

?             How Cardio Exercise Influences Hormones

?             Sleep Recovery and Metabolic Dysregulation

?             Food Intolerances

?             3D printing mouthguards for releasing medication

?             Prions (prion diseases)

?             Xenotransplantation and biotechnology

?             Virus DNA Replication

?             Role of Neuroscience in Robotics

?             Impacts of a Sunburn on a Cellular Level

?             Types of Cloning / Can Cloning Change Medicine?

?             CRISPR and Genetic Engineering

?             Circadian Rhythms in Outerspace

?             Epigenetics of Stress

?             Music and the Brain

?             Drug Addiction or Addictive Behaviours

?             Hormonal Changes During Pregnancy

?             Link between Fluctuating Hormones and Depression

?             Fluorescence Microscopy in the Kidney

?             Natural Disease Resistance in Plants

?             Weedy and Invasive Plants

?             Fertilizers and Influence On Plants

?             Human Industrial Activity & Climate Change

 

STEP 3: FIND & READ YOUR ARTICLE

?             Find an article for your chosen strand.

?             SOURCE OF ARTICLE:  Each article must be credible (reliable newspaper, magazine, scientific journal) and original (not a reprint or summary of an original publishing).

o             Please see me if you have any concerns about reliability.

?             LENGTH: Each article must be 1 to 4 pages long, excluding pictures, graphs, tables, etc.

o             If you find a credible online article, it should be of substantial length. Please check with your teacher to have articles approved if you are not sure of the article’s length.  

o             If you choose an article that is too short, it will be hard to have a quality analysis/reflection.

o             If the article is too long, you might become overwhelmed with the amount of reading and complexity of the content.

?             PUBLICATION DATE: Each article must be recent and published after January 1, 2015.

 

Where to Start Looking

Below are some excellent online resources to start finding appropriate AND credible articles for this summative task. 

?             Discover (http://discovermagazine.com)

?             New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com)

?             Nature Journal (http://www.nature.com)

?             Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com)

?             Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org) for free scholarly articles

 

Remember, there are great print resources to access such as reputable newspapers (eg. The Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, The National Post) and scientific magazines (such as the ones listed above) that you can find at your nearest library! However, past students have commented that the online scientific magazine articles were more relevant and far more interesting!

STEP 4: THE ANALYSIS

Once you’ve found one current article for THREE of the strands listed above, for each one you are to do the following:

A: Summarize (Maximum of 250 words, double-spaced)

?             Summarize the main idea(s)/main point(s) of the article

?             Do not use word-for-word quotations in the summary. If you need to reinforce an idea by using a direct quotation, use quotation marks and cite the quotation to the author of the article according to APA format.

B: Make Connections (Maximum of 250 words double-spaced)

?             You must detail exactly how this article fits into the learning done in the course – be specific (use specific key terms and concepts). If the article is more of an extension of an idea covered in the course, then specifically state what idea(s) the article is based on.

C: Reflect (Maximum of 500 words double-spaced)

?             This is where MOST of your MARK will come from!

?             Describe and explain your thoughts and opinions about the article and the main idea(s)/implications it raises

?             This is a chance for you to prove your ability to think critically.

?             Show that you understand the larger picture that results from the scientific issue.  Draw connections from science to: 

o             society

o             technology

o             the environment. 

?             Do you think the content is valid or credible in a scientific sense, based on what you’ve learned? If it is a report of findings, are these findings reputable and can contribute to the field? Are there ethical implications? Is this a topic that needs more awareness or careful consideration, etc.

STEP 5: APA BIBLIOGRAPHY

You will submit a bibliography in APA format to show the citations of your 3 articles. This will be placed at the end of the submission package. This website should help you: https://www.mybib.com/

 

EVALUATION

Below you’ll find the success criteria and a rubric for your culminating task. During the course, your teacher will provide suggested topics to get you started on your article research. If you are not sure if your article is applicable to the strand, ask your teacher for approval!

 

SUCCESS CRITERIA

1.            Analyze technological applications in some industrial processes, and evaluate technological advances in the field of cellular biology.

2.            Analyze the role of metabolic processes in the functioning of biotic and abiotic systems, and evaluate the importance of an understanding of these processes and related technologies to personal choices made in everyday life.

3.            Analyze some of the social, ethical, and legal issues associated with genetic research and biotechnology.

4.            Evaluate the impact on the human body of selected chemical substances and of environmental factors related to human activity.

5.            Analyze the relationships between population growth, personal consumption, technological development, and our ecological footprint, and assess the effectiveness of some Canadian initiatives intended to assist expanding populations.

 

 

The Role of Biotechnology in Our World

Overview:  Applications of biotechnology are used in various ways in the food, environmental, agricultural and health industries. For instance, the process of fermentation that you see take place as cheese and yogurt is made, is one example of biotechnology.  In this assignment, you will do research to find out about an application of biotechnology. You will also be given the opportunity to present your findings to your classmates.

1.            Choose an application of biotechnology either in the food, environment, health or agricultural industries. Examples of biotechnological applications you might choose include the following: 

Industry               Type of Biotechnology

Agriculture          Development of transgenic crops, bio-pesticides, cloning, golden rice, Bt corn

Food      Fermentation, Beyond Meat, bovine somatotropin, cheese making

Laboratory Techniques  Electrophoresis, Tissue Culture, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Western Blot, ELISA, flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, confocal microscopy, recombinant DNA Technology

Environment      Bioremediation, phytoremediation, biofiltration, biosensing, enzyme therapy

Health   In-vitro Fertilization, CRISPR, human genome therapy, xenotransplantation, genetic fingerprinting, 23andMe, mRNA vaccines, engineered organs, Kymriah, Biotech Beauty

 

2.            Research and gather information about the following:

a.            What is the biotechnology that you’ve chosen? How does it work?

b.            What is your chosen biotechnological application? 

c.             Why is this application of value? 

d.            Ethical and social implications of the biotechnological application that you have chosen.

i.              What are the social advantages and disadvantages of this application? 

ii.             What are the ethical advantages and disadvantages of the application? 

e.            What careers are associated with the industry that produces the product you chose?

3.            Summarize and  decide on a general reporting style (e.g., radio show, video presentation, TV style interview, etc.) using any media format (i.e., infographic, poster, video, etc.) of your choice. Your report should highlight the ways in which this biotechnology is used in the environmental, agricultural, health or food related industry and its importance.

4.            Post your presentation to the discussion board. If your project doesn’t include a presentation component, please record a presentation and post it with your visual. Be prepared to answer questions and participate in classroom discussions based on your topic.