Why is That Dog Paralyzed? a Problem-Based Case & Laboratory Exercise about Neuromuscular Transmission

• Published in: The American biology teacher 2013-01, Vol.75 (1), p.36-39
• Main Authors: Milanick, Mark, Graham, Kerri, Wessel, Melissa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Autoimmune diseases; autoimmunity; Biology; Case Method (Teaching Technique); Clinical Diagnosis; Design of experiments; Diseases and pests; Dogs; Education; Enzyme activity; Enzymes; Experiment design; Experimental design; Familiarity; Fluorescence; fluorescence measurement applications; Immune system; Inquiry & Investigation; Laboratories; laboratory skills; Learning; Methods; Motivation; Muscles; Myelin; Nerves; nerve—muscle communication and function; Neuromuscular diseases; Neuromuscular junctions; Neuromuscular transmission; Paralysis; Pesticides; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Problem Based Learning; Problem Solving; problem-solving skills; Research Design; Science Activities; Science education; Science experiments; Science experiments (Education); Science Instruction; Science Laboratories; Student Motivation; Students; Study and teaching; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Teaching methods; Turmeric; Veterinary laboratories; Veterinary Medicine
• ISSN: 0002-7685; 1938-4211
• DOI: 10.1525/abt.2013.75.1.8

Students are provided with a mystery concerning dogs that are paralyzed. This motivates a laboratory exercise to measure parameters from the dog's “blood” to determine whether the paralysis is due to pesticide poisoning or an autoimmune attack on nerve myelin. Most of the materials are available from the grocery store. The real-world nature of the problem, and the mystery, engages the students in thinking about nerve, muscle, and immune system function. Alternative versions require less familiarity with physiology and can be used as engagement activities to encourage learning laboratory skills and experimental design or as motivation for learning nerve and muscle physiology.