Tips on how to simplify science by building concepts

I hear it all the time from students and non-scientist friends- "science is so hard to understand'' actually it's really not that hard! People get bogged down in the details and instead of learning concepts try to memorize facts. The best way to simplify science to teach the concepts and then add in the facts. For instance if you want to teach 'signal transduction' or basically how signals are transmitted in cells then it is not a good idea to have your students read a scientific article on the topic. Start them off with a simple 'layman' magazine article, a scientific article will only confuse them. Even before having them read up explain the basic concepts so that they can build on these concepts. For instance the way I do it in class is to have them actively engage in class through a very simple activity. There are 2 types of receptors for cell signals: cell surface receptors (that are in the plasma membrane) and nuclear receptors (that are in the nucleus). These receptors receive signals from small signaling molecules and ultimately these signals are passed along to cause the cell to respond in some way to the signal.

For this activity all you need is a soft inflatable ball (soft so that the students don't get hurt). The students in the front row are the cell surface receptors- throw the ball randomly to one student in the first row and tell them that the ball is the signal. The student has now caught the ball and is wondering what to do with it. Tell the class that the signal has to travel to the nucleus- the students in the back row are proteins in the nucleus. Now the student with the ball has to decide how the ball has to get to the nucleus. Most often the student will throw the ball from row to row until it reaches a protein in the nucleus. Now ask the class how the signal has travelled to the nucleus and ask them to explain it in simple terms. Next tell the class there are another class of receptors call nuclear receptors who receive the signal directly once it passes through the plasma membrane. Throw the ball to another student in the front row and ask that student to throw the ball to another student the student should then throw the ball directly to a student in the back row. Now you have successfully modeled the concept of signal transduction and also have the students engaged and ready to learn the details. I'm sure that you can think of other very simple and inexpensive activities to use in your classroom. Please share them in the comments section!

#Conceptbuilding #STEMteaching