The Fruit Fly Drosophila as a Powerful Tool in Teaching Life Sciences in Middle and High School Classrooms

Abstract

Living organisms can be used as important didactic tools for students, and we report here for the first time the evaluation of a scientific laboratory on Drosophila. The aim of this work is to attract more students towards science disciplines and a real appreciation for animal kingdom. We aimed to capture students' interest, develop important educational experiences, and promote the basic and integrated science process skills that are involved in scientific inquiry, including direct contact to a living organism and authentic research on Drosophila melanogaster. We performed this experience in non-selective middle (100 students) and high school classrooms (200 students). The practical activities were carried out over three months. Initially, we decided to make homemade fly traps to catch flies, so that students could observe, recognize and have a direct contact with Drosophila. Several experiences were performed, such as the evaluation of different methods for immobilizing flies, and the observation of life cycle, sexual dimorphism, Drosophila mutants plus several species of Drosophilidae. Moreover, students prepared a procedure for fly food, and a method for anesthetizing flies. With sample questionnaires, we obtained a survey of the experiences and so we observed a general agreement and a broad consensus (82 %), since students considered the experiences very stimulating. As a final result we obtained that students improved their attitudes towards science.

Drosophila Melanogaster Utilization in Genetics Lectures: Innovations that Need to be Optimized

“…Another publication states that by ensuring that the flies crossed are still virgins, students can not only learn patterns of inheritance but can also improve their research skills (Venema, 2006). By positioning Drosophila melanogaster as a research subject in studying genetics, students' attitudes toward science are also reported to have increased (Intra & Pasini, 2016).…”

Virtual Reality Laboratory Laws of Inheritance Enhancing Students' Technological Literacy

“…The material of inheritance of traits is also supported by learning media; one of the media is D. melanogaster [21][22] [23]. The media is widely used in learning in foreign countries, such as the United States, India, Italy, Brazil [24][25] [26] [27]. But, in Indonesia, it is still rare to use D. melanogaster media.…”