Web Resources

 

Dragonfly Web Assignments

 

On the millerandlevine.com web site you will find a series of support resources for each Chapter of the Dragonfly Book. The "Web Assignments" on this page are designed as an introduction that will help you to explore the resources of the web site. Have fun with them, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Ken Miller

 

Assignment number: 1

Scavenger Hunt:

Locate the human genome scavenger hunt assignments, and choose the one for myoglobin.

 

Your Assignment:

• Find the gene for myoglobin.

• What is the symbol for the myoglobin gene?

• Where is it located on the chromosome (Answers in terms of chromosome band can be found right on the NCBI page. Answers in terms of base pairs can best be found with the aid of the UCSC genome browser)

• What is the function of myoglobin?

• Which gene appears just to the right of the myoglobin gene?

 

 

Assignment number: 2

Take it to the Net:

The "Take it to the Net" assignment for Chapter 12 is found on Page 308 of the Dragonfly text.

 

Your Assignment:

• Starting from the Chapter 12 page, find and print out a Science News article on possible therapies for sickle cell disease.

• Click on the "Take it to the Net" link on the Chapter 12 page, and make a note of the web links and their descriptions.

• The student assessment on Page 308 calls for students to make a concept map of the types of mutations that can occur in DNA. Use the web links to complete the concept map.

• Print out a diagram illustrating the "central dogma" of molecular biology.

 

Assignment number: 3

Take it to the Net:

The "Take it to the Net" assignment for Chapter 40 is found on Page 1044 of the Dragonfly text.

 

Your Assignment:

• Click on the "Take it to the Net" link on the Chapter 40 page, and make a note of the web links and their descriptions.

• The student assignment on Page 1044 calls for students to find out about 3 autoimmune diseases other than the ones mentioned in the book. Use the web link to complete the assignment.

• Using the Chapter 40 web pages, find a research project on anthrax performed by students in the Biology 160 class at Brown University. Use the information on this page to find out how many different types of vaccines have been prepared against anthrax.

 

Assignment number: 4

Take it to the Net:

A "Take it to the Net" assignment for Chapter 35 is found on Page 918 of the Dragonfly text.

 

Your Assignment:

• Click on the "Take it to the Net" link on the Chapter 35 page, and make a note of the web links and their descriptions.

• The student assignment on Page 918 calls for students to answer 4 questions about nerves and nerve cells. Use the web links to answer each of these questions.

• Find and print out a copy of a Science News article on the effects of sight on the brains of the deaf..

 

Assignment number: 5

Dragonfly Resources:

In November of 2001, a Worcester, Massachusetts biotech company claimed the first-ever succcess in producing cloned human embryos. Search the Dragonfly site to find a page of information about these experiments.

 

Your Assignment:

• Find the Scientific American article that reported on these experiments. Determine the source(s) of the nuclei used for the experiments.

• What were the criteria used to determine whether or not the research had actually produced viable human embryos. DO you think these criteria are valid? Why or why not?

• Didn't Congress pass a law banning human cloning? If this is the case, why didn't this law apply to this research work?

 

Assignment number: 6

Dragonfly Resources:

A link to Ken Miller's web page is found on the main Dragonfly page. Locate the link.

 

Your Assignment:

• Visit that page and find a photograph or other personal information about him.

• Locate Miller's Evolution resource page. A student has asked to research arguments pro and con on the scientific validity of evolution. Use the page to find a written debate between Miller and Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson.

• A parent asks you to consider adding excerpts from Michael Behe's book "Darwin's Black Box" to your class reading material. Locate at least two critical reviews of the book that you can print out and hand to the parent.

• What courses does Miller teach at Brown University? On what subject did he lecture on October 11, 2001? What was the reading assignment for his students on that day?

• A student in your class has a question about something in the Dragonfly book that you haven't been able to answer. Find a way to enable the student to send his question directly to Miller and Levine.

 

Assignment number: 7

Dragonfly Resources:

Locate a page of resources on the Dragonfly web pages dealing with the biology of anthrax.

 

Your Assignment:

• Find a detalied diagram showing how the anthrax bacillus infects and destroys human cells.

• Find out what the Department of Defense considers to be the number of lethal doses in a single gram of anthrax spores.

• According to the CDC, is anthrax spread from person to person?

 

Assignment number: 8

Dragonfly Resources:

Locate the human genome scavenger hunt assignments.

 

Your Assignment:

• Your assignment is the "INS gene" on the scavenger hunt assignment page.

• Find and record the answers to each of the five questions about the INS gene on the scavenger hunt assignment.

 

Assignment number: 9

Dragonfly Resources:

Locate the human genome scavenger hunt assignments.

 

Your Assignment:

• Your assignments are the "BRCA1 and BRCA2" genes on the scavenger hunt assignment page.

• Find and record the answers to each of the four questions about the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes on the scavenger hunt assignment.

 

Assignment number: 10

Dragonfly Resources:

Locate the human genome scavenger hunt assignments.

 

Your Assignment:

• Your assignment is the "Genes and Disease" question on the scavenger hunt assignment page.

• Find and record the answers to each of the three questions about Genes & Disease on the scavenger hunt assignment.

 

millerandlevine.com