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Hi Paul, 

I am fairly new to TBL and am still learning, but I am happy to share what I 
have learned and used.  I have been using TBL in my biology courses for the 
past 2 semesters.  I also teach Biology for Non-Majors in our Evening Adult 
program at Southern Wesleyan University.  This class is 5 4-hour sessions 
which covers all of Essential Biology (20 chapters).

I am currently in the 'chemistry' section of a traditional Biology for Non-Majors 
course and have a couple of activities that I have used with my class.
-Our first activity was to make a poster showing covalent, ionic, and hydrogen 
bonds.  I wanted them to describe these bonds in a way that an elementary 
school student would understand.  We then posted all of the posters, 
observed them, and talked about what we did and did not like.  
-Our last class period, I had my TAs build fatty acids, glycerol, glucose, amino 
acids, and water with molecular models.  Each team worked as a member of 
the FDA to tell me if a fat-free cake mix could yield the monomers in front of 
them.  This activity required them to identify each molecular model and 
determine which monomers were part of a lipid.  We then had class discussion 
after teams revealed their 'decision'.

Another tip I received from a wise instructor was to use 'muddiest-point' 
papers.  The students take a minute at the end of class to write the 1 thing 
they are most confused about.  It is great information for me to know what I 
can help them with - either by posting information online or by addressing it 
during our next class period. 

I hope this information is helpful to you.  If you have a great idea of what to 
use in your class, I woud love to know about it.  Good luck!

Staci N. Johnson
Adjunct Professor of Biology
Southern Wesleyan University
Phone - 644-5218
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Office - Brower 123