This module introduces students who are already familiar with GIS to doing comparative analyses with large-scale community science (often called citizen science) data sets. Students will explore how we can use community science data to examine the spread and distribution of invasive species in different geographic locations. In the final step, students will identify different invasive species and determine if community science data accurately maps the threat these species pose.

Students learn about the importance of good data management and begin to explore QGIS and RStudio for spatial analysis purposes. Students will explore National Land Cover Database raster data and made-up vector point data on both platforms.

This exercise explores circumstances of urban heat islands in the United States using spatial data, including an exploration of heat island solutions.

This module is made up of four concepts. The goal of the first concept is to elicit an understanding of primate relatedness, phylogeny, and how specific characteristics are beneficial for life in an arboreal environment. The next concept explains the overarching trends in hominin evolution and the selective pressures that encouraged their development. Concept three examines specific fossils and the characteristics that are associated with them. This concept serves to provide a timeline of hominin evolution. The final concept encourages students to understand characteristics in the hominin lineage and how they relate to social behaviors. This concept ends by driving home the point that evolution is a dynamic and continual process.

This module examines the complicated co-evolution of Lice, Humans, and Great Apes

Traditionally-trained undergraduate students often lack an understanding of science as an active process that yields the information presented in their textbooks. One result has been a call for more research experiences built into traditional introductory undergraduate courses, now commonly referred to as course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). The laboratory module presented in this paper used an established four-step pedagogical framework to simplify and streamline the development and implementation process of a CURE in an introductory biology laboratory setting. A unique six-week CURE was designed for undergraduates enrolled in a cell biology lab that employs Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a eukaryotic model organism. Students address a research problem that is of interest to the scientific community: Do select chemicals in the environment have adverse effects on the mitotic cell division? Students are first introduced to S. cerevisiae, its life cycle, morphology, growth curve generation and analysis, and the laboratory techniques required to cultivate this organism. Working in groups, students then act as scientists to research primary literature, ask an original question, develop a testable hypothesis, collaborate with peers, design and conduct an experiment, analyze and interpret data, and present their work to their peers. In addition, students are involved in multiple levels of iterative work, including addressing problems or inconsistencies, ruling out alternative explanations, and/or gathering additional data to support assertions.

Research experiences provide a valuable view into the world of science and a great way to explore new fields and careers while developing critical thinking skills. The development and maintenance of databases have allowed researchers to accelerate research in many fields, and understanding how to use them opens doors to actual data for scientific purposes. This resource will give students the opportunity to use research tools with published data to answer questions about immunological topics. The activities in this lesson can be used in Biology, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Bioinformatics, and Introductory Immunology courses. In addition, this activity includes a Student Activity and Instructor Notes with solutions and extra guidance for educators.

Teaching resources, especially active learning pedagogy, are scarce for toxicology compared to what is available for other disciplines. Ecological and human health risk assessment are important aspects of toxicology and are routinely used by government agencies to regulate the registration and usage of many chemicals. Most traditional toxicology classes do not cover how such risk assessments are carried out in real-world scenarios. We developed this case study to introduce concepts and processes of ecological and human health risk assessment in pesticide registration by the U.S. EPA. In Part 1, dialogues among three college friends introduce organic food, pesticides, and the concept of risk. Part 2 and Part 3 build on Part 1 and focus on ecological risk assessment and human health risk assessment, respectively. At the end of each section, students select appropriate exposure and toxicity endpoints to perform a mini-risk assessment and draw conclusions regarding risk. In Part 4, students examine real pesticide monitoring data in various foods and perform basic data organization and analysis. This case is appropriate for upper-level college students taking toxicology or other environmental science related courses. With modifications, the case study may also be suitable for introductory level environmental and biological science students.

Primary image: Assortment of fruit. This image shows some common fruit and fruit drinks.

Teaching resources, especially active learning pedagogy, are scarce for toxicology compared to what is available for other disciplines. Ecological and human health risk assessment are important aspects of toxicology and are routinely used by government agencies to regulate the registration and usage of many chemicals. Most traditional toxicology classes do not cover how such risk assessments are carried out in real-world scenarios. We developed this case study to introduce concepts and processes of ecological and human health risk assessment in pesticide registration by the U.S. EPA. In Part 1, dialogues among three college friends introduce organic food, pesticides, and the concept of risk. Part 2 and Part 3 build on Part 1 and focus on ecological risk assessment and human health risk assessment, respectively. At the end of each section, students select appropriate exposure and toxicity endpoints to perform a mini-risk assessment and draw conclusions regarding risk. In Part 4, students examine real pesticide monitoring data in various foods and perform basic data organization and analysis. This case is appropriate for upper-level college students taking toxicology or other environmental science related courses. With modifications, the case study may also be suitable for introductory level environmental and biological science students.

Primary image: Assortment of fruit. This image shows some common fruit and fruit drinks.

The ability to collate information from diverse scientific resources and effectively employ scientific writing is an essential skill for scientists. This lesson describes a semester-long project entitled “Pick Your Poison,” which is designed for use in a one-semester Toxicology course. Students are each assigned to or choose their own individual toxicant as a case study from a pre-selected list of toxicants (poisons) that align with the theme of the course. As content is covered in the course, students complete ten scaffolded, low-stakes writing modules that are shared with groupmates of 4–5 students. Each module covers a major feature of the toxicant, such as chemical features, characteristics of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME), and organ-specific toxicities. Students share their work with their group mates and the instructor, peer review one another’s work, and then edit their original post as appropriate to produce a concise, 3–4 paragraph product. At the end of the course, students compile their writing modules into an article in the format of the Encyclopedia of Toxicology. This project can be adapted to any toxicology course through alteration of the content and number of modules and/or the type of final deliverable. Several evidence-based and inclusive teaching practices are included, such as writing-to-learn, peer review, and low-stakes assessments.

Primary Image: A picture of the online discussions for two of the ten modules.