Ideas for Level 4 Investigations
(Included with Lab Books)
Bio Test 2
(Ecology - Food Chains, Food Webs, Energy Pyramid, Energy Balance)
- Strategies of Specific Organisms to Maintain Energy Balance
- Maintaining Energy Balance in Humans
- Energy Balance in the Animal Kingdom
- Calculating Energy Transfer in Animals
- Human Involvement in Food Webs
- Grasslands - Contribution to Food Webs and Ecosystem Sustainability
Bio Test 1
(Ecology - Biotic/Abiotic, Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Carrying Capacity, Sustainability)
- Endangered Species
- Pollution Effects on Specific Ecosystems
- Climate Change and Ecosystem Research
- Utah's Ecosystem
- Great Salt Lake
- Colorado River
- Antelope Island
- It's a Nasty Hungry Pest and Scientists Just Mapped Its Genome
- Biologist's Fears Confirmed on the Lower Colorado River
- This 500-Year Old Tree in California Has a Story to Tell
- Exposure to Certain Fragrances During Sleep Dramatically Boosts Cognitive Function
- Scientists Find A Whole New Ecosystem Hiding Beneath Earth's Seafloor
- Why a conservancy nonprofit purchased a 320-acre plot of land in Bears Ears
- Harmful algal blooms may have killed 30 ducks at Liberty Park, Utah wildlife biologists say
- Scientists Say Recycling Has Backfired Spectacularly
- Florida community ordered to quarantine due to invasion of giant African land snails
- Watermelon snow turns Utah mountains red
- These big spiders invading the U.S. have a secret weapon
- This bird is a survivor. Now she’s the 14,000th animal in Nat Geo’s Photo Ark.
- They planted a forest at the edge of the desert. From there it got complicated.
- Here's how many times you need to reuse your reusable grocery bags
- Peering Into the Frozen Desert
- Future of American agriculture a 'wild ride,' analyst says
- People who consume more ultra-processed foods are more likely to experience psychological distress later in life
- Massive ocean discovered beneath the Earth's crust containing more water than on the surface
- The remarkable resilience of Utah's state crustacean
- Green groups sue, say farmers are drying up Great Salt Lake
- Utah data helps researchers highlight how urbanization impacts wildlife
Bio Test 3
(Ecology - Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration, Fermentation, Carbon Cycle)
- How Cyanide Disrupts the Electron Transport Chain
- Detailed Analysis and Description of the Three Parts of Cellular Respiration
- Detailed Analysis and Description of the Process of Photosynthesis
- What is ATP and How is it Used?
- Mitochondrial Disorders - Choose a Specific Disorder to Research
- Fermentation Research
- How Cells Retrieve Glucose from Glycogen
Bio Test 4
(Structure & Function - Macromolecules, Enzymes)
- Lactose Intolerance
- Specific Enzyme Disorders
- Macromolecule Make-up of Organs and Organ Systems
- Diseases/Disorders Related to Specific Macromolecules
- In-depth Investigation on Differences Between Specific Large Carbohydrates (i.e. Amylose vs Cellulose)
- Methods of Studying Macromolecules
- In-depth Analysis of Glycogenesis and Glycogen Synthesis
- Best Foods for Building Glycogen
- Glycogen Metabolism for Athletes
Articles
- EVIDENT Image of the Year Award 2022
- Obesity changes the brain, with 'no sign of reversibility,' expert says
- Byproduct of sucralose, a chemical in Splenda, found to cause 'significant health effects' in new study
- Two new cancer pills show ‘unprecedented’ results in boosting survival rates and preventing recurrence
- Psychedelic medicine is coming - but who's going to guide your trip?
- A new way to kill tumors
- How your senses change as you age - and how to keep them sharp
- The groundbreaking promise of cellular 'housekeeping'
- What’s in melatonin—and is it giving you nightmares?
- Engineered ribosomes could make new polymers
- Stunning Images Reveal the Complex Beauty of Life Under a Microscope
- How Fat Signals Us to Eat More of It
- A synthetic embryo, made without sperm or egg, could lead to infertility treatments
- Dementia risk may increase if you’re eating these foods, study says
- 5 Lifestyle Factors Linked to Dementia
- Scientists Grew Stem Cell 'Mini Brains'. Then, The Brains Sort-of Developed Eyes
- New psychology research indicates that higher general cognitive ability is linked to reduced emotional responding
- Aggressive Cancer Cells Transformed Into Healthy Cells in Breakthrough
Bio Test 5
(Structure & Function - Organelles)
- Evolution of Plastids and Mitochondria
- Specific Mitochondrial Diseases
- Specific and Unique Cell Types and How they Function (such as neurons, osteoblasts/osteoclasts, smooth muscle, striated muscle)
- Specific and Unique Cell Structures (such as flagella, cilia, stomata, pistols, anthers)
- Evolution of Eukaryotic Cells
- In-depth Discussion of How Specific Types of Cells Function
- Striated Muscle Cells - How Do They Function?
- Smooth Muscle Cells - How Do They Function?
- Electrochemical Process of Muscle Contraction
- How and Why Specific Digestive Systems Can Digest Cellulose
- LDLR Gene and Cholesterol Receptors on Cell Membrane
- Renal (Kidney) Tonicity Regulation
Bio Test 6
(Structure & Function - Cell Membrane, Cell Transport)
- Chemical Properties of Soap and Why it Dissolves Lipids and Cell Membranes
- How Viruses are Able to Get Past the Cell Membrane
- IV Fluids - What's In Them? Are they All the Same or Different for Different People? What are the Chemical Components?
- Endocytosis and Exocytosis
- Aquaporins - What Are They? When Are They Needed? In What Circumstances? In Which Cell Types?
- Carbohydrate Component of Cell Membranes
- Cholesterol Component of Cell Membranes
- Potassium/Calcium Pump
- Types of Protein Channels and their Specific Functions
- Types of Protein Carriers and their Specific Functions
- Cell Membrane Disorders
- Cellular Homeostasis: Metabolic and Signal Pathways
Bio Test 7
(Structure and Function - Mitosis, Homeostasis, Organ Systems)
- Cell Cycle and Mitosis Timing - How Often and in What Types of Cells?
- Why are they called "sister" chromatids and "daughter" cells?
- Centrioles and Spindle Fibers
- Motor Proteins
- Research on Growing New Brain Cells
- How the Brain Compensates for Damaged Neurons
- How Neurons Work
- Recent Research on Specific Organs or Organ Systems
- Cell Cycle and Mitosis Regulation - What Keeps a Cell from Constantly Doing Mitosis?
- Specific Cancer Types - Mechanisms, Current Research, Metastasis Rates
- Types and Mechanisms of Chemotherapy - Current Research
- In-depth Investigation and Explanation of Specific Organ or Organ System
- In-depth Investigation and Explanation of Specific Homeostasis Situation
Bio Test 8
(Genetic Patterns - Meiosis, DNA Structure, DNA Replication)
- Any topic that has to do with genetics . . .
- Specific genetic disorders
- Gene therapy
- Genetic manipulation
- Ethics of genetic manipulation
- In-depth history of genetics pioneers and their contributions to the discovery of DNA: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Erwin Chargaff, Oswald Avery, Linus Pauling, Friedrich Miescher, Richard Altmann, Frederick Griffith, Phoebus Levene, Colette and Roger Vendrely, André Boivin, Robert W. Holley, Har Gobind Khorana, Marshall W. Nirenberg
- Meselson-Stahl Experiment
- Mechanics of crossing over - chemistry component
- Genes that typically stay together during crossing over and why; where genes typically cross over - does it happen more often between some genes than others?
- Nondisjunction disorders
Articles
Bio Test 9
(Genetic Patterns - Transcription, Translation, Mutation, Protein Synthesis)
- Any topic that has to do with genetics . . .
- Specific genetic disorders
- Gene therapy
- Genetic manipulation
- Ethics of genetic manipulation
- Non-coding DNA - What is it? How does it work? What do we know and what don't we know?
- Epigenetics
- Where do amino acids come from? How/where are they manufactured? How does the tRNA find them? What is the chemistry/mechanism?
- Peptide bonds - what are they and how do they work?
- Role of mRNA in Covid vaccine.
- When is DNA not a double-strand helical molecule? When is RNA not a single-strand helical molicule?
- Nondisjunction disorders
Bio Test 10
(Evolution - Darwin, Evidence of Evolution)
- Research of evolutionary biologists, such as Thomas Henry Huxley, Barbara McClintock, Sean B. Carroll, Stephen Jay Gould, Peter & Davidson
- Hox gene examples and mechanics
- Genetic development programming
- Cis-regulatory elements
- Gene enhancement
- Signal genes
- D. melanogaster - use in genetics
- Maternal --- Gap --- Pair Rule --- Polarity --- Hox
- Comparing epigenetics between species
- Cascading genes
- Urbilateria in genetics
- Hedgehog genes
- Switch genes
- Gene sequences
- Molecular clock
- Snake vs lizard development/evolution - role of distal aminos
- Glow tags' use in genetic mapping
- Controlling gene expression with short oligo morpholinos
- How proteins steer the genome
- Veto mediation of genes
Articles