|
The SUN (Students Understanding eNergy) Project develops physical and digital manipulatives to promote understanding of the biological energy transfer processes of cellular respiration and photosynthesis. These include nested trays with components that highlight common components and relationships within each process, and a mechanical ATP synthase. Digital materials include the new SUN Mitochondrial E-book and the SUN Chloroplast E-book. Please see: Batiza A.F, Gruhl M., Zhang B., Harrington T., Roberts M., LaFlamme D., Haasch M.A., Knopp J., Vogt G., Goodsell, D., Hagedorn E., Marcey D., Hoelzer M. and D. Nelson (2013). "The effects of the SUN Project on teacher knowledge and self-efficacy regarding biological energy transfer are significant and long-lasting: results of a randomized controlled trial," CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12:287-305. In addition the SUN Project has developed a new conceptual framework for understanding these processes. Matter and energy transformations are understood by analogy to a hydrogen plus oxygen explosion and the working of a hydrogen fuel cell. Attention is focused on similarities between cellular respiration and a hydrogen fuel cell and between cellular respiration and photosynthesis through explicit one-to-one correspondence in terms of:
Participants use these new models and digital resources to:
|
  Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the participants, and do not necessarily represent the official views, opinions, or policy of the Institute of Education Sciences nor of the National Science Foundation. |
Ann Batiza, Ph.D, is Director of the SUN Project Research Center at Milwaukee School of Engineering. She is the author of Bioinformatics, Genomics and Proteomics: Getting the Big Picture a trade textbook for young adults and also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Chemistry at MSOE. For inquiries related to the SUN materials, please contact Dr. Batiza at (414) 277-2825.
Who Funds the SUN Projects?
The development of the original SUN Project materials and the cluster, randomized controlled test of their effectiveness has been supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305E070443 to MSOE.
- IES-funded Secondary School SUN Project
Ann Batiza, Ph.D. (PI), SUN Director, MSOE
Mary Gruhl, Ph.D. (Co-PI), president of Gruhl Education Consultants LLC
Professor Dave Nelson (Co-PI) co-author of Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, UW-Madison
Tim Herman, Ph.D. (Co-PI), Director of the CBM at Milwaukee School of Engineering
- NSF-funded Undergraduate SUN Project
Ann Batiza, Ph.D. (PI), SUN Director, MSOE
Professor David Goodsell (Co-PI) The Scripps Research Institute and author of The Machinery of Life and the Molecule of the Month at the Protein Data Bank
Professor Bo Zhang (Co-PI) Department of Educational Psychology, UW-Milwuakee
Professor Dave Nelson (Co-PI) co-author of Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, UW-Madison
Who Are SUN Project Participants?
IES-funded SUN Project: High school biology teachers, largely from across Wisconsin, have partnered with us to assess the impact of a two-week workshop and these new learning tools in their classrooms. In addition, a small group of Advanced Placement biology teachers are using the newly developed SUN materials as a pilot study in AP classrooms. Click here to see a picture of all participants taken at the beginning of the 2010 workshop.
NSF-funded Undergraduate SUN Project: Scientists and educators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Milwaukee School of Engineering are incorporating SUN materials into biochemistry, biomolecular engineering and energy and the environment courses.