Exploring Osmosis: Evaluating Alternative Experimental Protocols for the BIOL 2110K Lab Course

Abstract 

One of the earliest concepts students learn in BIOL 2110K, Human Anatomy and Physiology 1, is osmosis. Osmosis is the process in which water moves from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration across a semi-permeable membrane. Cells within our bodies can gain or lose volume based on the osmolarity of different extracellular solutions. Currently within the BIOL 2110K labs, students perform an experiment using dialysis membrane “cells” to investigate how cells within our bodies may respond to different extracellular solutions. This experiment has been problematic due to inconsistent student results. The current project explores alternate osmosis experiments with the purpose of finding a better alternative.