Symposia, Conferences, MeetingsFast Plants/C-Ferns
Dynamic
Plants for Teaching and Investigating Biology Principles
Inquiry and HandsOn Workshop For
Middle/High School Biology Teachers
Ferris State University
August 1619, 2000
Fast Plants and C-Fern are Instructor and User Friendly
Fast Plants and C-Fern are unique teaching tools for middle and high
school biology teachers. Their unique features make them easy to grow and
maintain in the classroom They are excellent systems for inquirybased instruction
and student initiated research.
Learn From the Experts who Helped Develop these Unique Plant Systems!
Paul Williams,University of Wisconsin and developer of Fast Plants,
and Stephenie Baxter, C-FernProject, University of Tennessee will travel
to Michigan to show you how to establish and maintain these plants, and
then guide you through a series of lab activities that you can easily use
in the classroom to liven up and improve your science teaching. Don't miss
this unique opportunity to learn from the experts who developed these plants
to meet the needs of biology teachers for addressing the national Science
Education Standards.inquiry, for implementing handson activities, and for
addressing the national Science Education Standards.
Major in One, Learn About the Other
Participants will register for a 3-day workshop in either Fast Plants
or C-Fern, but will have opportunities to explore both systems during several
openlab demonstrations.
Resources are Readily Available
Plants/spores, culture supplies, educational kits and manuals are available
through Carolina Biological Supply Company. The C-Fern (http://cfern.bio.utk.edu/)
and Fast Plants (http://www.fastplants.org/
) web site contains information that instructors and students can use,
including: background information, general culture and manipulation instructions,
a photo gallery and examples of research questions.
Fast Plants Workshop
Experience Fast Plants as a vehicle for modeling inquiry, for implementing hands-onn activities, and for addressing the national Science Education Standards. Explore the life cycle by measuring the impact of environment on plant growth, development and reproduction. Investigate the relationship of variation, selection and inheritance among individuals and populations. Learn friendly and engaging ways of introducing genetic principles which are adaptable for various grade levels. Ease into the variation and diversity of the plant kingdom. Explore tropisms for gravity and microgravity situations. And wrap up everything in the genre of Bottle Biology. Participants will construct the versatile Plant Light House your own lowcost environmental chamber, and receive a manual that includes model lab activities, instructions for growing and maintaining, and resource information.
C-Fern Workshop
C-Fern, a specially derived strain of the tropical homosporous fern Ceratopteris richardii, offers a dynamic approach to teaching many basic aspects of biology. Students can explore general biology, cell biology, genetics and ecology using handson activities, inquirybased investigations and independent studentinitiated research. C-Fern has rapid gametophyte and early sporophyte development which allow for investigations that can be completed typically within a two week period. All phases of gametophyte growth and differentiation, fertilization, embryo development and sporophyte growth can be easily observed using low power microscopy. The rapid development, compact growth and simple, inexpensive culture requirements make C-Fernan excellent research organism that is both instructor and studentfriendly! Participants in the C-Fern workshop will learn how to prepare cultures, complete investigations and analyze data involving gametophyte and sporophyte development, germination, fertilization, chemotaxis and mono and dihybrid crosses. Wild type and mutant cultures at various stages of development will be available for observation and experimentation. A wide variety of mutant strains are available, ranging from striking visual types like polka dot to developmental mutants and types resistant to environmental stresses from agents such as herbicides and salt. Students can use readily visible C-Fern sperm for controlled crosses between various strains or to demonstrate chemotaxis and fertilization. Large numbers of individuals can be cultured in a very small space. This allows students to work with populations and to obtain large quantitative data sets (e.g., growth rate, germination rate, population sex ratio). Participants will receive a C-Fern Manual, basic culture supplies and will `make and take' a CFern Growth Pod which allows easy maintenance of cultures.
Registration Specifics
Location: Science Building, 2nd Floor, Ferris State University,
Big Rapids, MI
Lodging: A block of rooms at a special rate of $50 per night plus tax for workshop participants is available at the Super 8 Motel, located just a few blocks from FSU campus. Please call 231.796.1588 and indicate you are attending a workshop at FSU.
Registration Fee $425 (Eligible under local Eisenhower Funds) Wednesday, August 16, 1:00 p.m. to Saturday, August 19, 12 noon. Fee covers food (except Friday evening), manuals and lab supplies. Graduate credit available: 1 or 2 semester hours$230 per hour. The workshop is consistent with the Michigan Standards and Benchmarks which are directly related to the Michigan Core Curriculum, and Michigan's Essential Goals and Objectives for Science Education in K12. SBCEU's will be available at no charge.
Registration Deadline: June 16, 2000
The number of participants is limited for this special workshop!
Participants are encouraged to send ASAP via email to hoerterj@ferris.edu or fax 231.591.2540 their intent to register (indicate either Fast Plants or C-Fern) before mailing their completed registration form and fee.
For additional information, telephone Jim Hoerter at 231.591.2550 or email hoerterj@ferris.edu.
Register early! A letter of confirmation and map will be sent upon receipt
of paid registration. Please submit one registration form per person. Tuition
is nonrefundable after the registration deadline date of June 16 but may
be transferred to another person. All refund requests prior to the deadline
date will be given minus a $25 administrative fee. Ferris State University
reserves the right to cancel the course due to insufficient enrollment.
