This Practical Guide in the Bringing Bioinformatics into the Classroom series introduces the idea of computers as tools to help understand aspects of biology.

This module discusses mental and physical aspects of field safety. The module contains resources for supporting students and technicians in the field and guides supervisors as they write their own Right to Know document.

Genome Solver began as a way to teach undergraduate faculty some basic skills in bioinformatics; no coding or scripting is required. This pre-lesson introduces the BLAST tool.

In this lesson, learners will hear about research that focuses on bacterial antibiotic resistance and biofilm production. Students will see how antibiotic resistance is measured and interpret a graph measuring biofilm production of these bacterial soil isolates. Then, learners view and reflect on an interview with microbiology researcher Dr. Danielle Graham, who collected the data that they interpreted.

Decades of evidence support the premise that undergraduate research experiences are valuable endeavors for science students; however, a lack of knowledge about research and how to get involved can preclude equitable participation. We developed two in-class workshops to teach introductory biology students about undergraduate research experiences. In the first workshop, students are introduced to various types of undergraduate research, including faculty-mentored research, Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), summer research experiences and research-related jobs and internships. Students hear first-hand accounts about research from undergraduates actively performing research and learn about the benefits and challenges associated with participating. In the second workshop, students learn how to effectively identify and secure research opportunities and engage in an exercise that teaches them how to write a professional email to potential research advisors. Students also work together to develop strategies for building resilience if faced with rejection from a faculty member or internship/job opportunity. The workshops utilize student speakers, think-pair-share activities, and class discussions to engage and inform students. By the end of the workshops, all students are familiar with undergraduate research and have the knowledge and skills needed to identify and secure a research opportunity. The workshops were designed for introductory biology students but can be adapted for students in related majors or at different stages of the academic journey.

Primary Image: Undergraduate research poster session at Sacramento State. Students present the discoveries they made through their course-based research experiences. Photograph was taken in-house. 

Bioassessment is an evaluation of the biological condition of a waterbody using biological surveys and other direct measurements of resident living organisms. Aquatic macroinvertebrates are important indicators of stream health: they are relatively long-lived, differentially sensitive to environmental stressors, and relatively easy to sample. This lesson is a hands-on introduction to the use of stream macroinvertebrates in assessing a stream’s biological condition. Students will learn how to (1) sample and identify stream macroinvertebrates and (2) conduct a rapid bioassessment to quantify ecosystem integrity based on the macroinvertebrate taxa that they collect. The lesson can be conducted with any number of students (although a second instructor would likely be needed for class sizes >20) and is appropriate for undergraduates of all levels.

Ideas for revamping my physiology lab

In this module, students use data from natural history collections to look at range shifts related to climate variables over different time periods.

Data driven curriculum module from Dryad Digital Repository

Use digitized natural history collection occurrence data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to map the distribution of the beaver in the state of Oregon from 1800-2020 using QGIS

In this lesson students will learn about the impacts of urbanization, and the conservation challenges it poses to wildlife, in particular avifauna. Introductory ecology topics such as the theory of island biogeography and habitat fragmentation will be discussed, and the student will learn about the beneficial role of native plants in urban residential landscaping. A focal paper will be used to better explore these topics, and data from this observational study will be utilized to introduce generalized linear models in the R programming environment. The student should have some prior basic knowledge of introductory ecology concepts, introductory statistics and have R studio installed on their computer with a basic understanding of this programming language. Upon completion of this lesson, students will learn how urban residential yards contribute to the overall green space in urbanized areas and be used as a conservation strategy to mitigate habitat loss. In R, the student will learn how to conduct statistical analyses and determine if the species area relationship and distance effects of the theory of island biogeography predict bird richness in this study system.

The video and exercise provides insight into how researchers are using digital data resources to investigate biodiversity in prairie fen wetlands.

This module examines the relationship between street trees, urban avifauna, and socioeconomic gradients in the highly urbanized county of Los Angeles, California. Using edited data from a published study, students will learn how to run and interpret a generalized linear model with negative binomial distribution in RStudio.

Backyard Beetles + Pollinators is a project to observe and evaluate plant-pollinator networks. This adaptation modifies the (adapted) modules for a non-lab course on conservation, conducted during a mix of in-person and remote students.

A common polymorphism in the alpha-actinin-3 (ACTN3) gene results in the lack of ACTN3 protein expression in fast twitch muscle fibers in ~16% of the human population (1). This genetic change has been linked with muscle performance in humans (2) but does not cause any known muscle disease (1). We have developed a series of laboratory modules that provide an authentic classroom research experience and which address the connection between science and society by examining the implications of ACTN3 genetic testing to improve sports training and performance. This article accompanies the lesson "The ACTN3 Polymorphism: Applications in Genetics and Physiology Teaching Laboratories," and summarizes background information that an instructor would need to implement the project in class.

This is a set of class notes rich in examples and ideas for modeling. There is some MatLab code in support of some of the activities.

A community of educators and scholars developing and using Molecular Case Studies (MCS), to explore the molecular basis of biological phenomena, understand real world problems, and their developing solutions at the interface of biology and chemistry.

This case study follows purveyors of peas, Joel E. and Jolene Greengiant, as they learn about the origin, biochemistry, genetics and eventual artificial selection of sweet (wrinkled) peas, all in the context of evolutionary biology.

BioMolViz is a community dedicated to advancing biomolecular visualization education. We provide training, teaching tools and validated visual literacy assessments. The BioMolViz Library—our online repository—delivers assessments to instructors worldwide.

This animation shows how mutations in an ion channel protein lead to the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. The animation also discusses how research on this protein has been used to develop treatments for the disease.

Biomolecular structure and function is emphasized as a core concept in a variety of community determined educational standards for biology and chemistry. Most curricula introduce students to the building blocks and principles of biomolecular structures, in introductory chapters of biology, biochemistry, cell biology, and chemistry courses, but very few engage students in actively visualizing and exploring biomolecular structures throughout the course. Conversations with faculty teaching introductory courses, and/or developing and piloting molecular case studies, helped uncover the need for new resources, and professional development to support introduction of biomolecular exploration. To address this need, a group of faculty participating in a Faculty Mentoring Network in Spring 2022, gathered together resources and lessons that they had independently developed and collaboratively developed additional ones. An overview of the lessons will be presented here. Interested users are invited to pilot the lessons in Fall 2022.

Collection of resources that help teach biochemistry.

Enzyme lesson

Evolution of caffeine pathway

Lab or class activities