Round Up: Learning is Fun!

The past few weeks of school my classmates and I studied cell signaling, mitosis and meiosis. We conducted a case study called, My Dog is Broken, trying to solve the mystery of what caused the dog to cease to have an erection. The case study showed the importance of the entire process of signaling working together to pass the response to the final destination. If one part of the signal is not working properly the entire signal will not be able to perform its function 

Overview of Cell Signaling                                Reece, Jane B., and Lisa A. Urry. Campbell Biology. Tenth ed. 2011. Print.

      Before the chapter test, we were assigned a project on the topic of meiosis. The rules were, the project must be in video format and the process of meiosis had to be seen dividing and crossing over. The rest was up to our creativity. I enjoyed the project because of the creativity needed and accessibility of the videos. My classmates and I were able to watch each others videos and they were a great review before the test. My favorite activity by far was the mitosis animal cell quiz. When you hear  quiz your brain automatically freaks out, but this was not a usual quiz. The first part of the quiz was creating each step of mitosis in an animal cell using arts and craft supply. There was really not limit to what could be produced, but it had to be in a 90-minute period of time. My classmates and I each chose one step of mitosis to complete. We had to work together cohesively to figure out what object was going to be used for the nucleus, the chromosomes, the spindle fibers, and so on. I had fun communicating and discussing what would work best with each aspect of mitosis. Since I am a visual learner, being able to see visually and in person what mitosis looks like (roughly) made the process so much easier to understand. We were having so much fun constructing our animal cells the time flew. By the end of class everyone was frantically gluing pieces. Luckily everyone finished before the bell rang. 

The great artwork AP Bio created. Mitosis in animal cells, minus a few chromosomes that fell off.

 The next day, after all the glue was dried, Team AP Bio got back together and had to explain what was happening in the different steps of mitosis while Mrs. Girard was filming us.  Being put on the spot was good practice for the test, because you have to answer questions quickly. Overall, I had a great time while at the same time learning more about the different processes of living organisms. When education is enjoyable it doesn't even seem like you are learning. It's magic!

 Here is the video Christine and I created!
https://youtu.be/bYnlM69QXig
  

Featured Image:  Bost, Kim. "Party in the Air." Flickr. Yahoo!, 2 June 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/bost/2545318262>.