1. Recognize potential issues and major topics in the case. What is this case about? Underline terms or phrases that seem to be important to understanding this case. Then list 3 or 4 biologyrelated topics or issues in the case.

2. What specific questions do you have about these topics? By yourself, or better yet, in a group, make a list of what you already know about this case in the “What Do I Know?” column. List questions you would like to learn more about in the “What Do I Need to Know?” column.

3. Put a check mark by 1–3 questions or issues in the “What Do I Need to Know?” list that you think are most important to explore.

4. What kinds of references or resources would help you answer or explore these questions? Identify two different resources and explain what information each resource is likely to give that will help you answer the question(s). Choose specific resources.

As she drove back to the museum, Bryn considered the box and the tiny dress it contained. It had been worn by a child in a 19th-century portrait of a local family already owned by the museum. Discovered in a trunk in an unheated barn by descendants, the dress was in surprisingly good condition.

Once she arrived, Bryn went to the curators’ workroom to give the dress to Rob, the museum’s textile conservator. Seeing Rob working intently, she quietly knocked on the half-open door. He put down his tools and looked up.

“Rob,” she said excitedly. “Here it is! The dress I told you about from the painting! The donor was about to have it cleaned, but I’m so glad he called here first.”

“You’re not kidding. It’s easy to ruin old fabrics,” Rob said as he accepted the box with the tissue-wrapped dress. After putting on gloves, he unwrapped the old dress carefully and laid it flat on a clean table to examine it. He saw that the cotton dress was slightly yellowed and there was a small, stiff stain near the neckline. He wondered if that spot might prove troublesome. “This is terrific, Bryn. I’ll do my magic, and with luck these discolorations and spots should disappear.

” Bryn laughed, knowing that Rob’s work had nothing to do with magic or luck. As she left the workroom, Rob grabbed an Object Description and Restoration form and began to fill it out in pencil. Next he gently brushed the dress. Using a metal probe, he scraped the stain at the neckline and placed the sample on a microscope slide. Rob examined the slide with the microscope, noticing several granules mixed in with a few longer fibers. He was not surprised to see long cellulose fibers, which he knew to be cotton. The granules, though, which were smooth and oval-shaped with a diameter of about 75μm (micrometers), came from the stain itself. He added a drop of a weak, yellowish iodine solution to the slide. The granules turned dark blue. Under Treatment Plan he wrote “Neckline stain: use amylase cleaning solution”—an enzymatic solution specific for removing starch.