Mitosis Revisited

Reviewing the mitosis dance before sharing video submissions at the beginning of class.  ​

Reviewing the mitosis dance before sharing video submissions at the beginning of class.  ​

The submissions are in.  In case you did not read the post entitled "Whatever it Takes...", I am referring to the impromptu "So You Think You Can Dance?" mitosis video contest challenge.  Though they had less than 36 hours to put their videos together, the results were highly entertaining. Included in the submissions were a dramatic interpretation, a playground montage to the tune of Tik Tok, a version of "I Will Divide" Gloria Gaynor style, and a dance club tutorial.  Voting will commence on Monday, but it seems that the current favorite according to Facebook buzz is this performance done to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger".  The best part of it all was that students were following each others submissions and then trying to one up each other, so the submissions kept getting more and more creative.  In fact, one student stole images from the other performances to illustrate her phases.  The sound is not great, but if you have seen the viral video, "I Will Divide", she actually delivers a song that is much easier on the ears.  I am going to have her record her song again with different equipment to enhance the sound quality so that you can hear the lyrics clearly, but here is a sample clip

"I Will Divide" is a great example of song lyric adaptations in biology.  The playground video was also an adaptation done to Ke$ha's song, Tik Tok.  Song adaptations are one way to go, and the applications for this are endless.  I have used some of the songs by Dr. Art​ in my biology classes before with great results.  However, having the kids write the songs is even better!  Here is a post from i Biology that describes a structure for this activity.  This could easily be adapted for any discipline or grade level, and since kids get the choose the music they want to adapt, the engagement factor is a given!

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