Adapted Biology Lab Manual

We are pleased to announce a new product to help science teachers and TVIs make traditional biology lab activities accessible to blind and low vision students. Available as a digital download, it includes twelve labs appropriate for high school biology courses (regular and advanced placement) as well as introductory college biology courses.

An advocate of inclusive STEM education, Dr. Erika Martin of Emporia State University has adapted standard biology labs and created some of her own to prepare students new to biology for more advanced courses. The labs are augmented with a set of illustrations for creating tactile graphics (with capsule or swell paper and a PIAF machine) to accompany some of the activities. For example, students with VI learn about compound microscope optics using tactile graphics depicting specimen orientation (with the letter “e”) and depth of focus (with three crossed threads).

Other labs use alternate senses to demonstrate natural phenomena. The movement of perfume molecules in the air in addition to the typical observation of dye movement in water are used to demonstrate the concept of diffusion. Tactile-friendly experiments with pill bugs demonstrate aspects of observable animal behavior. Instructors are encouraged to use live or preserved organisms that can be tactually explored as often as possible.

Each lab comes with an Instructor Protocol section, which provides tips and tricks for getting the lab activities set up but also includes information on how to obtain adapted and/or accessible materials. Dr. Martin strongly believes in making biology available (and fun!) to everyone, and thus she wrote this section with tight (or non-existent) budgets in mind, so while there are links to professional equipment and materials, there are also do-it-yourself options for teachers who do not have financial support.   

Designed for both sighted and visually impaired students, each of the 12 labs or modules describe the activities as well as lab preparation details for the instructor. All 12 modules are presented as fillable PDFs and UEB and Nemeth BRFs. The tactile graphic illustrations include print (PDF) and UEB and Nemeth BRF versions.  All labs are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.   

We encourage you to take a look at this new compilation of accessible lab activities and add some fresh ideas to your lesson plans. This new product is designed from the bottom up to ensure your students with VI learn biology, a highly visual science, alongside their sighted peers. 

The Adapted Biology Lab Manual is available now in the APH store.