SCIENCE
YEAR 11 VCE BIOLOGY EXPERIMENT - ERNIE’S EXIT
Over the past few weeks, students completing Year 11 VCE Biology learnt about Genetic Inheritance, specifically how codominant inheritance with multiple alleles can be related to real world science, with examples such as paternity testing and crime scene analysis.
As part of the course, students were exposed to the ultimate ‘whodunnit’ experiment, appropriately named “Ernie’s Exit”. The experiment includes many of the characters from Sesame Street, with the central tasks for students to investigate the untimely and potentially suspicious death of Ernie and try to determine who was responsible from a possible 3 suspects (Bert, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch).
Our students, now ‘novice forensic scientists’, were given 6 stations of ‘blood’ samples taken from various locations and suspects, with a supply of antibody serums to undergo blood typing testing in class, to determine the type of blood present in the sample (A, B, O or AB with +/-). A positive result showed the solution ‘clumping’ together, whereas a negative result showed no clumping in the wells - please see the image for a visual.
Once all samples were collected, our classes then had to determine who detectives should question further for their involvement in the death of Ernie.
Much to the dismay and surprise of many classes, it was determined that Big Bird was responsible and should be brought in for questioning immediately!
All of the Year 11 Biology teachers hope that this experiment, whilst a bit of fun, has given our students a glimpse of real world science and deeper connections to the genetic inheritance content learnt in class.
Ms Katherine Johnstone
VCE Biology, Psychology & Science Teacher
In Year 11 Biology, our class had the chance to become CSI investigators for the day to uncover the murder of our beloved Ernie! Since we are learning about codominance of genotypes, I found this experiment intriguing to put this knowledge into practice. By mixing the antigens of blood samples with the suspects' blood types, we soon found that our kind yet backstabbing friend Big Bird killed innocent Ernie! Overall, pracs like these that create engagement amongst students is what makes science at McKinnon so unique.
Amelia Tran
Year 11L Student
For just forty five minutes in Year 11 Biology, our class became CSI investigators with a mission to find the murderer who killed poor innocent Ernie. After weeks of learning and taking notes on genotypes and phenotypes, it was exciting that we could finally put all of this knowledge into practice and have some fun too. By mixing antibody serums with samples of blood from the crime scene, we discovered the blood types of suspects and that Big Bird was the evil killer! Despite the fact that some of us had a hunch that it was Big Bird all along, this prac was a great way for us students to engage with science and was one of the best biology experiments here at McKinnon.
Kate Nguyen
Year 10I Student
On Monday 28 February in Biology, we did a murder mystery Prac. It involved finding the suspect's blood types and matching them up with the victim, murder weapon, and murder site. We learned how to determine blood type by using the information we learned in previous classes and it was a very fun Prac that made us use our Biology knowledge.
Ben Bollas
Year 11B Student