Week 3: Ask a Scientist

My first comment about the 'Ask a Scientist' web site was the difficulty I had in getting an answer in response to my question. I was inquiring about evidence for the endosymbiotic theory. I typed in my question many times, rephrasing it each time. I kept getting "no results" in response. Finally, I changed my original question to just simple typing in the terms "prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells". So I would first like to say that if I really was lacking knowledge and needed to learn more, I may not get results because I would not know how to phrase my question.

Once I finally got a response, I had to go through the information to determine which best answered my original question. Only one response specifically addressed my question. I read the response from a pre-doctoral fellow named Dennis Chang. He described what the endosymbiotic theory was and what cell organelles consisted of. He was very clear and concise when explaining the differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. As far as my specific question, which was to determine whether or not any evidence existed of a cell undergoing endosymbiosis, I did not receive my answer. His response stated that the origin of the other organelles (besides the more well-known mitochondria and chloroplast) was still unknown.

I would have to say that my answer just created more curiosity for me since I did not really get the answer I was looking for. It did add clarification as to how the process took place (endosymbiosis) but I did not get the evidence I was looking for.

If I were to use this web site in the classroom, it might be as an inquiry tool that my students can use periodically throughout the school year. I do not think I would use this as a part of any particular lesson. I might have students use the site periodically to ask a question that they might have as we move through the school year. At the end of the year, we could analyze their questions from over the months to see if they have learned necessary information, how they could add to their answers, or what they still want to know.

I like that my students would be getting responses from actual scientists. It would be beneficial for them to see that there are real people out there that have knowledge of science and that their teacher is not the only person they can rely on for information. It involves them in the internet in a manner other than pure socialization, which is what most of my students are doing these days!