AP Biology - Cell Signaling Diseases Project

AP Biology Research - Cell Signaling Disease Project

Value: 50 points

Due Date: Friday December 22nd by 5pm (submit electronically to )

I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE SUBMISSIONS

Presentations will take place on Tuesday January 2, 2018

INTRODUCTION

Communication between cells is important in order to ensure that all cells are performing their required functions. Cell to cell communication usually takes the form of a signal transduction pathway. You can think of such a pathway as a row of dominoes, all standing on their ends. Push one domino over, and the rest fall, due their direct or indirect association with the first one you pushed over.

Some signals that cells send only work over a short distance. For example, in the brain, neurotransmitters allow one neuron to excite its neighbor. The signal travels no further. Other signals, however, do travel a further distance. Hormones, for example, are secreted by a source organ and travel to target cells, equipped with specialized receptors, in remote regions of the body. Unfortunately, signal transduction might go awry. Because there are so many players and so many steps in the process, it is easy to see how this might happen. To complete this project you will need to

Review information about how problems in cell signaling can lead to diseases:

Understand the methods of local and long distance signaling in animals.
Explain the stages mechanisms of a signal transduction pathway.
Understand the role of ligands in signal transduction.
Recognize the role of protein kinases, cyclic AMP or calcium ions (depending on disease) in the regulation of cellular biochemical pathways.
Describe what a cell does when it receives a signal (what kinds of cellular processes are altered upon receipt of a signal)

Share this information in a visual and oral presentation

Your responsibility is to develop a power point presentation that explains the basics of thedisease and its relationship to a faulty signal transduction pathway. Muchof this research is "cutting edge." Your PPT must explain both the"normal" pathway and the "faulty" pathway. Pictures and graphics are alsonecessary. I do not expect you to work at the graduate level on this projectbut I do expect you to be able to explain, in your own words, the basics ofthe mechanism and the way in which the failure of the mechanism leads todisease.

Grading: Total Points : 50

Power Point Format: 10 points

Pages must contain appropriate headings and font sizes
Pages must not have "data overload", ie., too much information on the page
Pictures and graphics must be included; at least three including
A picture of the chromosome showing the location of the affected gene.
A picture a person with the genetic disease or a picture of organs and/or tissues affected by the disease.
A picture of the type of cell signaling pathway(s) involved.
(working pathway andfaulty pathway)
Neat/colorful presentation - no spelling or grammatical errors
Include list of sources used for project (APA format) on last page of PPT

Content - 30 points

Disease - basics only - cause and core symptoms
Cell signaling pathway involved
Correct mechanism
Incorrect mechanism
Graphics of pathway
Current direction of research
Treatments- explain how they fix the faulty mechanisms

Presentation - 10 points

Five - seven minute presentation of PPT to class
Be able to put content into "own words" and explain slides
No direct reading off poster

Disease Choices (only one disease may be chosen person/class.)

Check with your classmates to make sure you each have a different disease.
Email me your disease choice by Thursday December 13th.

Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT)
Parkinson's disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Pancreatic Cancer
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
Alzheimer Disease
Tuberous Sclerosis
Neurofibromatosis
Alopecia
Diabetes (Type 2 - Insulin Resistance)
Cockayne Syndrome
Asthma
Cystic Fibrosis
Werner Syndrome
Norrie Disease
Glaucoma
Tuberous sclerosis
Waardenburg syndrome / Kostmann Disease
Ebola
Thrombasthenia
Cholera
Shigellosis
Ameobic dysentary
Wiskott - Aldrich syndrome (WAS)
Bernard-Soulier Syndrome
Chronic myelogenous leukemia
Botulism
Pertussis (whooping cough)
Bipolar Affective Disorder
Osteoporosis
Tourette syndrome
Hypertension
Arteriosclerosis
Flu (1918)
Bubonic plague

Some helpful resources:

Scoring Rubric

Power Point Format (10 pts)
10 / 8 / 6 / 4 / Points
Overall presentation of PPT / Slides are easy to read and not crowded
no spelling or grammatical errors, neat, colorful / Most slides are easy to read, not crowded, no spelling or grammatical errors, neat, colorful / Slides are crowded
Poster contains 1-3 spelling or grammatical errors, lacks neatness or color, or not all information is typed / Poster contains 4 or more spelling or grammatical errors, is messy and lacks color, not typed
Pictures & Graphics / Images include normal pathway, faulty pathway, and affected organs/tissues / Missing 1 of 3 required images / Missing 2 of 3 required images / Does not include any images
Citations / 3 or more sources cited properly using APA format / 3 sources cited, APA format not followed / 2 sources cited / 1 source cited
Content (30 pts)
30 / 25 / 20 / 15
Disease Information / The cause and core symptoms of the disease are clearly explained / The cause and core symptoms are present but missing 1-2 key details / The cause and core symptoms are present but missing 3-4 key details / The cause and core symptoms are missing 4 or more key details
Normal cell signaling pathway / All 3 components of the normal signaling pathway are present and fully explained / All 3 components of the normal signaling pathway are presenting but missing some details / All 3 components of the normal signaling pathway are present but no details / Missing 1 or more components of the normal signaling pathway and no details
Faulty cell signaling pathway / All 3 components of the faulty signaling pathway are present and fully explained / All 3 components of the faulty signaling pathway are presenting but missing some details / All 3 components of the faulty signaling pathway are present but no details / Missing 1 or more components of the faulty signaling pathway and no details
Current treatments & research / Current treatments and research present and fully explained / Current treatments and research present but missing some details / Current treatments and research present but with not details / Missing current treatments or research and no details
Presentation (10 pts)
10 / 8 / 6 / 4
Length / Presentation lasts 5-7 minutes / Presentation lasts 3- 5 minutes / Presentation lasts 2- 3 minutes / Presentation less than 2 minutes
Fluency / Presenter presents content in their own words and clearly understand the disease presented, can answer questions
Presenter does not read off slides during presentation / Presenter presents most of content in their own words, have some gaps in understanding the disease presented, have some hesitation in answering questions
Some reading off slides
Presenter occasionally reads off of the slides during presentation / Presenter presents ssome of the content in their own words, does not seem to understand the disease presented, strugglse to answer questions
Presenter reads off slides for most of presentation / Presenter presents little of the content in their own words, do not seem to understand the disease presented, struggle to answer questions
Presenter reads off slides for whole presentation