Don’t Blame the Bees
Evaluated by Carrie Bidwell (Clay High School)
Product Information
· Don't Blame the Bees, Forensics for the Biology Lab Kit
· $79.00
· Carolina Science Item #212025
· This lab is part of the Forensics in the Biology Laboratory series
· The kit contains materials for six student teams, however, the lab can be easily replicated with common lab supplies
· This lab is intended to help students understand the principles of diffusion and osmosis.
· Prior to completing this lab, students should be taught the fundamentals of diffusion and osmosis.
·
The Case
The student guide outlines the following story for this lab.
A honey producer is suing a packaging company, claiming the company diluted the honey before bottling it and distributing it to the honey producer’s customers. A number of customers complained about the poor quality of the product and returned the honey to the producer. The producer examined the honey and agreed the honey was not of the same high quality as the earlier honey he had produced. The bottling company claimed they were innocent and blamed the poor quality on the bees. Fortunately the honey producer had a number of bottles of honey from earlier batches not handled by the packaging company. These bottles, in addition to some of the honey returned from unsatisfied customers, have been turned over to the lab for analysis. The honey producer stated any analysis of the honey by this lab must be based on the principle of osmosis. The honey producer wants to know if the honey was diluted, and if so, how much it was diluted.
Procedure Overview
This lab is designed to promote the students’ experimental designs. Prior to beginning the actual lab, students are to get into groups and discuss the scenario given above. Students will then design a procedure to compare the allegedly diluted honey with the honey from the earlier batches. The procedure the students develop should allow them to test the amount of dilution, if any. Students will then conduct a test necessary to determine whether the honey was diluted and if so, by how much. Students will use honey solutions and dialysis tubing with the understanding that all tubes need to be dialyzed for exactly the same length of time. Throughout the period of 3 days, students will take careful and particular observations. Data should be qualitative and quantitative. Upon completion of the lab, students will graph their data and complete the data analysis questions included with this lab.
· Materials Provided
o 6 bottles “pure honey”, 60 mL each
o 1 bottle “evidence honey”, 50 mL each
o 36 lengths of dialysis tubing, 31 cm each
o 36 dialysis cups (8 oz. cups)
o 36 small mixing cups (2 oz. medicine cups)
o 6 weigh boats
o 36 mixing rods
o 18 transfer pipets
o 1 Teacher Guide
o 1 Student Guide
· Materials needed but not provided
o Scissors
o Laboratory scale (minimum range 0-100 g)
o Paper Towels
o Graph Paper
Lab Evaluation
Forensics is a high interest topic and this lab will appeal to teacher and student alike. The real life business scenario presented by the lab will assist students with the connection of how concepts such as osmosis and diffusion are relevant to their lives. The lab activity itself is very engaging and the experiment design will easily lead to classroom discussions about the processes “real” forensic scientists use.
From a teacher’s standpoint, the lab is originally presented with too few guidelines for the students. All of the teachers that performed this lab agreed students needed to be given some additional guidelines and instructions to allow for a more positive outcome for the students. Some of the suggestions include the following:
1. Remind students to leave room in the dialysis tubing for particle movement.
2. Limit the number of variables in the experiment.
3. Cut the tips of the pipettes so that the honey is easily transported.
4. Dilute the honey before putting the solution in the tubing.
5. Pipette into the tubing.
6. Label all containers.
7. Allow for the students to complete the math of the experiment, but allow the students to make their own dilutions.