Diffusing the Confusing

1. Diffusing the Confusing Mark Casey Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, Chicago Public Schools IIT Research Mentor: Dr. Eric Brey This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. EEC-0502174. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

2. Overview • Scientific Inquiry; Nature of Science; Diffusion; Diabetes; Gels; Polymers; Crosslinking • 9th/12th Grade Biology or Chemistry, Adapatable to Middle School Life or Physical Science • 360 minutes (9 40-minute class periods), excluding pre- and post-testing

3. Overview • Objectives • Content: Students will be able to explain diffusion, factors affecting the rate of diffusion, and the transport of materials in tissues. • Inquiry/Problem Solving: Students will understand scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Students will be able to analyze a problem, identify information needed to solve the problem, gather information and conduct investigations. • Design: Given a set of materials, resources and design constraints, student will design a formula to produce products to a set of specifications. • Ethics: Students will develop guidelines for group conduct to research and investigate solutions to problems.

4. Overview • Illinois Learning Standards: • 11.A.4a Formulate hypotheses referencing prior research and knowledge. • 11.A.4b Conduct controlled experiments or simulations to test hypotheses. • 11.A.4c Collect, organize and analyze data accurately and precisely. • 11.A.4d Apply statistical methods to the data to reach and support conclusions. • 11.A.4e Formulate alternative hypotheses to explain unexpected results. • 11.A.4f Using available technology, report, display and defend to an audience conclusions drawn from investigations. • 11.B.4a Identify a technological design problem inherent in a commonly used product. • 11.B.4b Propose and compare different solution designs to the design problem based upon given constraints including available tools, materials and time. • 11.B.4d Determine the criteria upon which the designs will be judged, identify advantages and disadvantages of the designs and select the most promising design. • 11.B.4g Using available technology, report to an audience the relative success of the design based on the test results and criteria.

5. Overview • Illinois Learning Standards: • 12.A.4b Describe the structures and organization of cells and tissues that underlie basic life functions including nutrition, respiration, cellular transport, biosynthesis and reproduction. • 12.A.5a Explain changes within cells and organisms in response to stimuli and changing environmental conditions (e.g., homeostasis, dormancy). • 12.C.5b Analyze the properties of materials (e.g., mass, boiling point, melting point, hardness) in relation to their physical and/or chemical structures. • 12.D.5a Analyze factors that influence the relative motion of an object (e.g., friction, wind shear, cross currents, potential differences). • 13.A.4a Estimate and suggest ways to reduce the degree of risk involved in science activities. • 13.A.4c Describe how scientific knowledge, explanations and technological designs may change with new information over time. • 13.A.4d Explain how peer review helps to assure the accurate use of data and improves the scientific process.

6. Background • List of topics covered by teacher notes and resources • Diffusion • Diabetes • Brownian motion • Ethics and codes of ethics • Extracellular matrix (ECM) • Transport of materials in tissues • Engineering • Technology • Labs and Demos • Preparations

7. Examples • List of examples • Detail a problem statement from an inquiry. • Know/Need to Know analysis. • Demonstrate Brownian motion/diffusion using a tray and marbles. • Investigate the Maillard Reaction in an engineering exercise. • Use Internet resources for information (ex. http://www.chemsoc.org/chembytes/ezine/1997/naughty.htm ) • (Video clips of IIT Research on Transport in diabetic tissue.).

8. Examples • List of examples • Various materials about diabetes, diffusion, wound healing, etc. • Videos of researchers, lab equipment and procedures. • Presentation by a professional scientist with Q&A. • Access to experts by email. • Design an experiment on the effects of protein concentration and solute molecular size on rates of diffusion using gelatin and food or fluorescent dye. • Present findings and suggestions for problem solution to an audience.

9. Project • Design project or experiment • Students will investigate factors that affect rates of diffusion. • How will you integrate inquiry or problem solving? A problem-based learning (PBL) approach will be used. Given some background information, students will be enlisted to investigate how transport is affected by diabetes, wound healing and how the condition might be treated. • How will you incorporate design? Students will use familiar materials (cookie ingredients) to design recipes that provide specific organoleptic properties. • How will you include ethics? Students will work in teams. Prior to team formation, we will discuss ethics and students will develop a code of conduct for team investigation and problem-solving.

10. Materials • Computer, Internet access, toaster oven, marbles, rulers, droppers, black light, bowls, storage containers, measuring cups and spoons. • Articles, pamphlets, and books relating to diabetes, transport of materials in tissues, protein crosslinking, wound healing, Maillard Reactions, measurements of diffusion, Brownian motion, ethics. • Illustrations and film clips related to content. • A suggested list of websites for investigation. • Consumables: Flip chart, markers, gelatin, Petri dishes, food dye, fluorescent dyes, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, crème of tartar, eggs, shortening, vanilla

11. Assessment • Assessment Topics Scientific inquiry, the Nature of Science, Diffusion, Brownian motion, transport of materials through tissue, primary research, secondary research, application of chemistry to biology, design of experiments, ethics, problem-solving • Assessment Tools Journal reflections, presentation of proposed solutions to the problem, peer evaluation, debriefing, student participation, content pre- and post-test.