Exploring the Roots of Stem Cells

A WebQuest Project for 10TH Grade Honors Biology

Patrick Rafter
prafter@minuteman.org

This image is taken from the University of Wisconsin-Madison website http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/illustration.html

Introduction

Welcome to the Exploration of Stem Cells WebQuest. Perhaps you have heard of Stem Cells. Do you know what they are? Do you know how they work? Why are they important to medical research? In this WebQuest, you the explorer will discover the amazing world of Stem Cells.

This image is taken from the University of Wisconsin- Madison website at http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/

The Task

Your assignment is to complete this WebQuest and discover for yourself the story behind Stem Cells. Along the way…

Your first task is to describe what you think you already know about Stem Cells.
You will next research some vocabulary you may find useful.
You will next be provided with some web links to sites that will educate you about Stem Cells. You will have to answer some questions that will answer what Stem Cells are, how they grow and are differentiated and what are the issues about them. You will then have to summarize you findings in a final report that will provide you with your final grade.
Your final project is to create a PowerPoint presentation about some aspect of stem cells that interests you.

The Process

Here is an overview of the process

You'll be working on individual assignments
We will first look at what you may already know about stem cells. You will be asked to complete a KWL activity that will introduce the topic after discovering what you already know. Link to KWL activity
Once you have established what you know/think you know you will next look up some vocabulary you will find helpful for this exercise. Vocabulary Activity
After completing the vocabulary work sheet you will enter the WebQuest and sequentially complete the 3 sections. Section 1 will introduce the basic ideas of stem cells and will address the differences between adult and embryonic stem cells. Section 2 will explore the uses of stem cells. Section 3 will address the ethical and legal issues around stem cells. Section 1 Activity Section 2 Activity Section 3 Activity
You are required to Create and present a PowerPoint Presentation on a topic in Stem Cells. This presentation should be 10-12 slides long with relevant graphics and references. PowerPoint Activity

This image is taken from the NIH website found at http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

Resources

Basic Information about Stem Cells.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

Vocabulary and Terminology

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/glossary.asp

http://www.isscr.org/public/glossary.htm

Ethics

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/ethics.asp

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/dispatches/050413.html

Animations

http://www.dnalc.org/stemcells.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3209/04.html

Evaluation

KWL activity 15%

Vocabulary activity 15%

WebQuest activity 30% (10% for each section)

PowerPoint presentation 40%

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have completed the Roots of Stem Cells activity. You should now be informed about what stem cells are and how they are used. You should also be more familiar with the ethical, legal and political issues surrounding this interesting area of research.

Credits & References

Images used

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/

Last updated on July 19, 2007. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page

Teacher Page

Introduction.

Welcome to the Roots of Stem Cells WebQuest. This is a research activity for students to learn and understand the ideas and issues around stem cells. I would recommend doing this as a semester project, assigning an activity a week until all the assignments are complete. Worksheets for each section are outlined below. Copy and paste them into a word document and print them for your students.

The Process

Here is an overview of the process to be completed by your students.

They will be working on individual assignments.
They will first look at what they may already know about stem cells. They will be asked to complete a KWL activity including a learning animation. Link to KWL activity
Once they have established what they know/think they know, they will next look up some vocabulary they will find helpful for this exercise. Vocabulary Activity
After completing the vocabulary work sheet they will enter the WebQuest and sequentially complete the 3 sections. Section 1 will introduce the basic ideas of stem cells and will address the differences between adult and embryonic stem cells. Section 2 will explore the uses of stem cells. Section 3 will address the ethical and legal issues around stem cells. Section 1 Activity Section 2 Activity Section 3 Activity
The students are then required to Create and present a PowerPoint Presentation on a topic in Stem Cells. This presentation should be 10-12 slides long with relevant graphics and references. PowerPoint Activity

Teacher Resources

Basic Information about Stem Cells.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

Vocabulary and Terminology

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/glossary.asp

http://www.isscr.org/public/glossary.htm

Ethics

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/ethics.asp

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/dispatches/050413.html

Animations

http://www.dnalc.org/stemcells.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3209/04.html

KWL Activity for “The Roots of Stem Cells” activity (Please print these sheets and answer the following activities

What do you know about Stem Cells (Write 3-4 things you know or think you know about Stem Cells)?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What would you like to know about Stem Cells (Write 3-4 things you would like to know about Stem Cells)?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What have you learned about Stem Cells? Go to http://www.dnalc.org/stemcells.html and proceed through the animation, then write 3-4 things you learned about Stem Cells)?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stem Cell Vocabulary Exercise

You must use the websites listed in the vocabulary and terminology section to look up the meaning of the following words. Write the definitions below each word.

Stem Cell ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Adult Stem Cell ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Embryonic Stem Cell ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blastocyst ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Differentiation ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pluripotent ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Multipotent ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Totipotent ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Proliferation ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cell Culture ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Plasticity ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ectoderm ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mesoderm

Endoderm ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An Introduction to Stem Cells

Instructions- using the following web sites answer the following questions that will introduce you to stem cells. Please print this document and answer the following questions.

Web Sites Resources

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

Questions

What are stem cells?

List the two characteristics that are important for defining stem cells?

A______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are the two different types of stem cells?

A______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Briefly describe the difference between adult and embryonic stem cells.

Adult Stem Cells

Embryonic Stem Cells

What is meant by cell differentiation?

How do stem cells differ from somatic cells?

Stem Cells

Somatic cells

How Stem Cells are used

Instructions- using the following web sites answer the following questions that will introduce you to the potential of stem cells. Please print this document and answer the following questions.

Web Sites Resources

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/patients.html

Questions

Why are stem cells being researched?

List the two characteristics that scientists are trying to discover about stem cells?

A______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are the two different types of stem cells?

A______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Briefly describe the following diseases.

Parkinson’s Disease

ALS

Juvenile Diabetes

Heart Disease

Spinal Cord Injury

Pick one of the above topics and explain how stem cells could be used to treat the disease.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Ethical Debate around Stem Cells

Instructions- using the following web sites answer the following questions about the ethical, political, and legal debate around stem cells. Please print this document and answer the following questions.

Web Sites Resources

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/dispatches/050413.html

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/ethics.asp

Questions

Is it legal to create new stem cell lines?

If it is legal to create new stem cell lines then how is the federal government of the USA controlling what scientists do to create new stem cells?

How have scientists overcome the restrictions placed on them by the federal government?

What has happened in states like California and Massachusetts to support stem cell research?

California

Massachusetts

What is the Dickey-Wicker Amendment and how does it affect stem cell research?

What is public opinion saying about stem cell research? (State the opinion poll statistics in your answer)

What is your opinion about stem cell research?

Resources

Images used

Teacher Resources

Stem Cell Vocabulary Exercise

How Stem Cells are used

The Ethical Debate around Stem Cells

PowerPoint Activity for Stem Cells