All of the following people have doctorates. Which one do you think has a Ph.D. in math?

A. B. C. D.

Introduction to Size and Scale

National Academies and HHMI Summer Institutes Gulf Coast Summer Institute 2012

Science and Math Interface Group Mary CarmichaelHarris McFerrin

Zen FaulkesErin SchuenzelSheri Glowinski

Context

Introductory biology class (1st semester) 50-100 students “Scale and Size” theme that will be

revisited throughout the semester Early in the semester Lecture and lab components Prior experience – High school math &

biology

Learning Goal

Understanding the effects of size in biology using graphing as a tool for visualization

Learning Outcomes Students will be able to:

estimate size of objects with biologically relevant size

measure lengths of the longest axis of different items

convert various measurements into different units using exponents and log transformation

create and describe graph with log-transformed data

understand importance of log scale in the biological world

Which of the following shows the units in correct increasing order?

A. centimeter, meter, millimeter

B. centimeter, millimeter, kilometer

C. millimeter, centimeter, kilometer

D. centimeter, millimeter, meter

Approximately how many meters in length is the blue whale?

A. 0.2 m

B. 5 m

C. 25 m

D. 75 m

Estimate the height of the largest tree.

A. 116 m

B. 16 m

C. 116 cm

D. 16 km

E. 1.6 km

Approximately how many water molecules will fit side by side in one millimeter?

A. 275,000,000,000

B. 27,500

C. 2,750

D. 0.0000275

Measurement & Graphing Activity #1A

Measure each of the following objects in number of millimeters:

a Higgs boson width of a hair head of a pin diameter of M&M

Graph each measurement on the graph paper in bar graph format.

Measure each of the following objects in number of millimeters:

width of doorway opening

width of student desktop

Graph each measurement on the 2nd piece of graph paper in bar graph format.

Measurement & Graphing Activity #1B

Measurement Group Activity #2

First, make a guess on the measurements for each of the following objects in millimeters.

What are the actual measurements?

a carbon atom a paramecium phospholipid deepest spot in the

ocean

The University of Utah Resource on Size and Scale

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

linear scale vs. log scale exponents / power of 10 log transformation calculation

Graphing Activity #2

Create graph with transformed data

Approximately how many water molecules will fit side by side in one millimeter?

A. 275 × 10-7

B. 275 × 102

C. 275 × 109

D. 275 × 101

Assessments

Clicker question answers

Item measurements

Graph creation with log-transformed measured items

Future Tidbits

Transition to 2-variable graphing exercises

Learning Goals

Understand correlations Create graph with 2 variables

Activity

Measure length of carapace and weight of large and small crayfish

Create graph with 2 variables Make predictions for unknowns