Does Aflatoxin-contaminated Peanut Butter Cause Liver Cancer?
Students learn about cancer (what is it?) and the cell cycle by studying the ways in which food toxins may lead to cancer by disrupting normal cell cycle mechanisms.
Topic: Fungi, aflatoxins, and cancer
Developer: Priscilla Van Wynsberghe
Primary Learning Goals
- Understand what cancer is
- Understand the function of p53 in the cell cycle and why it is commonly associated with human cancer
- Gain insight into the scientific process by using the available data to decide if aflatoxin-contaminated peanut butter causes cancer
- Connect the concepts of cell growth and cancer to intracellular pathways of the central dogma
Secondary Learning Goals
- Enhance understanding of the scientific method and the difference between causation and correlation
- Enhance communication and group work skills
Diversity
- Reading peanut files on their own time at their own pace
- Mini-lecture about the material
- Pair work and discussions about questions related to mini-lectures
- Group work generating concept maps
- Individual write-up at the end of class
Scientific Teaching Themes
- Active learning methods like group work, concept map generation, experimental design, and class discussions are integral parts of this lecture
- Exploration of the scientific process by experimental design and data analysis
Active Learning
- Small group work to design concept maps
- Class discussions of small group work
Assessment
- Pre-quiz – assess prior knowledge and misconceptions
- Group work & class discussions – assess understanding
- Homework – assess student learning, assign grades