Using Advertisements to Teach

I believe in the value of using advertisements to teach. Firstly because of the proliferation of the mass media. Our students are constantly using the Internet, watching the TV, listening to radio, and advertisements exist even at the bus-stops and MRT and other forms of public transport. Hence, using advertisements can serve to bring in the real-world context to the students and help students to see the relevance of science to their daily life. The use of the more popular advertisements has the benefit of being more memorable and better remembered due to the jingles or whatever, thanks to the effort of the publicity company. This enables the teacher to leverage on the success and bridge the gap between science and the students.

By using the advertisements, the teacher can structure the lesson such that the information presented in the advertisement be investigated. This help students to become more questioning and critical about what they see and receive from the media. This addresses one of the goals of the science curriculum, which is to help students become more discerning consumers.

I came across an advertisement in Readers' Digest about Hypocol. Hypocol is a supplement said to contain Red Yeast Rice produced by fermentation rice with red yeast for lowering blood lipid levels and cholesterol.

The product of red rice fermentation will produce monacolin K, which is similar to lovastatin, which is used to lower cholesterol levels, in terms of its structure and function. The monacolin K can inhibit the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme that is responsible for cholesterol production in the liver and hence aids in lowering the cholesterol level.

Fermentation
- Consists of glycolysis + anaerobic respiration
- Glycolysis: Breaking down of glucose; 2 ATP, 2 NADH and 2 pyruvic acid formed
- Anaerobic respiration: Oxidation of NADH and transformation of pyruvic acid into a final waste product, which is either ethanol or lactic acid, depending on the organism doing the fermenting (yeast or muscle cell).
- When yeast or some types of bacteria is used, the end result is alcohol. This has applications in beer and wine.
- When other types of bacteria is used, the end result will be acids such as propionic acid or lactic acid or acetic acid. This has applications in cheese, yoghurt, soy sauce and vinegar.

Implication for teaching:
- Can be used to teach the chapter on fermentation, enzymes, biomolecules (chloesterol).

Guiding questions for students:

1. What is fermentation?
2. What are the conditions necessary for fermentation?
3. What other applications does fermentation have?

4. What are lipids?

5. What are blood lipid levels?

6. How can cholesterol affect our health?

7. How is HypoCol said to lower blood cholesterol levels?

8. What is the chemical structure of cholesterol?