The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution (10th-12th grade)

A 6 day unit (adjustable) on the causes of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution and how it affected English politics. Unit focuses on the involvement of religion in politics, absolutism, and the emergence of Parliament gaining more power and the consent of the governed

Culture and Identity in Novels Centered Around Women of Color

Designed to actually utilize the summer reading for rising sophomores, this unit focuses on culture and identity in the novels White Teeth by Zadie Smith, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, and Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo. Students chose which of these books they wanted to read during the summer and the unit focuses on marrying the themes and characters of these books together. Students will be able to make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections through a persuasive one-pager and a creative final project where students will make connections from the novels to their world history class. Can easily be adapted to suit the needs of the teacher

Thinking Geographically Mapping Portfolio

This unit is designed to introduce the students to the foundations of thinking geographically. Students will create a map portfolio that applies to the big ideas of AP Human Geography. Students will critically analyze and reflect on the “why of where” to understand geographic perspective by utilizing quantitative and qualitative data. Students will turn in a map portfolio that will address purpose, patterns, and spatial relationships among places

Anti-cancer effects and mechanism of actions of aspirin analogues in the treatment of glioma cancer

INTRODUCTION: In the past 25 years only modest advancements in glioma treatment have been made, with patient prognosis and median survival time following diagnosis only increasing from 3 to 7 months. A substantial body of clinical and preclinical evidence has suggested a role for aspirin in the treatment of cancer with multiple mechanisms of action proposed including COX 2 inhibition, down regulation of EGFR expression, and NF-κB signaling affecting Bcl-2 expression. However, with serious side effects such as stroke and gastrointestinal bleeding, aspirin analogues with improved potency and side effect profiles are being developed. METHOD: Effects on cell viability following 24 hr incubation of four aspirin derivatives (PN508, 517, 526 and 529) were compared to cisplatin, aspirin and di-aspirin in four glioma cell lines (U87 MG, SVG P12, GOS – 3, and 1321N1), using the PrestoBlue assay, establishing IC50 and examining the time course of drug effects. RESULTS: All compounds were found to decrease cell viability in a concentration and time dependant manner. Significantly, the analogue PN517 (IC50 2mM) showed approximately a twofold increase in potency when compared to aspirin (3.7mM) and cisplatin (4.3mM) in U87 cells, with similar increased potency in SVG P12 cells. Other analogues demonstrated similar potency to aspirin and cisplatin. CONCLUSION: These results support the further development and characterization of novel NSAID derivatives for the treatment of glioma

Destabilization of the Dystrophin-Glycoprotein Complex without Functional Deficits in α-Dystrobrevin Null Muscle

α-Dystrobrevin is a component of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) and is thought to have both structural and signaling roles in skeletal muscle. Mice deficient for α-dystrobrevin (adbn−/−) exhibit extensive myofiber degeneration and neuromuscular junction abnormalities. However, the biochemical stability of the DGC and the functional performance of adbn−/− muscle have not been characterized. Here we show that the biochemical association between dystrophin and β-dystroglycan is compromised in adbn−/− skeletal muscle, suggesting that α-dystrobrevin plays a structural role in stabilizing the DGC. However, despite muscle cell death and DGC destabilization, costamere organization and physiological performance is normal in adbn−/− skeletal muscle. Our results demonstrate that myofiber degeneration alone does not cause functional deficits and suggests that more complex pathological factors contribute to the development of muscle weakness in muscular dystrophy

Earth: Atmospheric Evolution of a Habitable Planet

Our present-day atmosphere is often used as an analog for potentially habitable exoplanets, but Earth's atmosphere has changed dramatically throughout its 4.5 billion year history. For example, molecular oxygen is abundant in the atmosphere today but was absent on the early Earth. Meanwhile, the physical and chemical evolution of Earth's atmosphere has also resulted in major swings in surface temperature, at times resulting in extreme glaciation or warm greenhouse climates. Despite this dynamic and occasionally dramatic history, the Earth has been persistently habitable--and, in fact, inhabited--for roughly 4 billion years. Understanding Earth's momentous changes and its enduring habitability is essential as a guide to the diversity of habitable planetary environments that may exist beyond our solar system and for ultimately recognizing spectroscopic fingerprints of life elsewhere in the Universe. Here, we review long-term trends in the composition of Earth's atmosphere as it relates to both planetary habitability and inhabitation. We focus on gases that may serve as habitability markers (CO2, N2) or biosignatures (CH4, O2), especially as related to the redox evolution of the atmosphere and the coupled evolution of Earth's climate system. We emphasize that in the search for Earth-like planets we must be mindful that the example provided by the modern atmosphere merely represents a single snapshot of Earth's long-term evolution. In exploring the many former states of our own planet, we emphasize Earth's atmospheric evolution during the Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic eons, but we conclude with a brief discussion of potential atmospheric trajectories into the distant future, many millions to billions of years from now. All of these 'Alternative Earth' scenarios provide insight to the potential diversity of Earth-like, habitable, and inhabited worlds.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables. Review chapter to appear in Handbook of Exoplanet

Deconstructing Reconstruction: American Reconstruction from 1865-1877 (8th-11th grade)

This unit focuses on the time period 1865 – 1877, the era of American Reconstruction. The primary focus is on understanding the conflicts in American government that shape the progress of Reconstruction, and on understanding the social and political changes that accompany that era. Particularly there is a focus on the social and political changes to African-Americans and the South. Along with this the unit encompasses a significant amount of work on analyzing primary source documents in the form of political cartoons. The unit utilizes the HIPPO document analysis style to aid students in understanding and analyzing a variety of sources. To conclude the unit students will create their own document based on their knowledge of Reconstruction, and analyze peer work to demonstrate their understanding of the HIPPO system