Interactive Lessons for Your Classroom
ISCRM faculty and graduate students have developed interactive learning modules to help teachers and students explore a range of regenerative medicine concepts. Our scientists are available to lead these lessons in your classrooms. You can also check out curriculum resources that support these lessons here.
Heart, Lungs, and Brain
Students interact with human tissues to learn about the important structures for the major organs, understand the functions of organs and how structure contributes to healthy function, and compare the gross anatomy of healthy and diseased organs.
Pancreas and Diabetes
Learn about the physiology of the pancreas and how the loss of insulin-producing beta cells gives rise to type 1 diabetes. Three activities allow students to explore how the body balances blood sugar and how wearable technology helps people with type 1 diabetes.
Neuromuscular System
Using a suite of interactive neuroscience learning kits designed from classrooms, students will view and record heart and brain rhythms and experience first-hand how electrical signals from the brain command muscle movements.
Engineering Blood Vessels
Learn about blood vessel structure and dynamics by measuring the time for flowing water to be displaced through different sizes of tubing. The activity allows students to investigate which factors change the flow.
Neuroplasticity Cornhole
Learn about the purpose of the central nervous system and the meaning of neuroplasticity. In the cornhole activity, students experience visuo-motor plasticity as prism goggles alter their relationship between their sense of sight and how they move their bodies.
Building Kidney Organoids
Learn what organoids are and explore how and why scientists make them to model tissues and test potential drugs. In the stem cell differentiation activity, students walk through the decisions involved in growing organoids.
Epigenetics
Model a eukaryotic cell nucleus while learning how DNA is packaged within the nucleus and wraps around histones to form nucleosomes. In the activity, students model activating and repressive modifications to help initiate the opening or condensation of chromatin.
Cheek Cell DNA Extraction
Collect cheek cells and lyse (rupture the cell membranes) them with salt and detergent to release the DNA. The DNA will then be precipitated (crashed out of solution) with alcohol. Students will have the option to leave with a DNA necklace.
CRISPR Gene Editing
Review what genes are, how genetic transcription works, and how scientists edit genes in the lab to study genetic diseases and edit mutations that cause diseases. The game allows students to go through the steps of making a mutation in DNA.
BiomaterialsScientists use 3D biomaterials to create engineered environments that allow them to study how cells behave in the human body. In this activity, learn how to design materials that mimic the body using a variety of substances and chemicals.
Measuring Cardiac Force
Learn how cardiac cells generate force and how scientists use engineered heart tissues (EHTs) are a 3D model for studying the human heart in the lab. The activity allows students to see how different factors impact deflection of posts used to measure cardiac force.