Step-by-step, hands-on instruction on ways to access and download these specimen data, how to process climate layer data, and how to apply Maxent software to construct ecological niche models.

Free and self-paced tutorials and courses for learning to code out of the University of Edinburgh

As with many other complex topics, teaching ecosystem ecology can be particularly difficult in terms of helping students understand the relationships between the various component parts. We addressed this challenge in a general ecology course by developing a lesson plan based on pathway maps. Pathway maps are very similar to concept maps but allow students to specifically address whether the links are positive or negative relationships. While the students created pathway maps collaboratively during class, they explicitly concentrated on the relationships between different concepts in ecosystem ecology. Each group of students then reviewed the pathway maps of another group to identify pathway map links that might be incorrect or poorly described. Students then investigated these flagged links of their own pathway maps by searching the primary literature for data that supported or refuted the questionable link in their pathway map. Each group then wrote a short paper presenting and interpreting the data that they found. The Pathway Mapping activity appeared to promote both big-picture thinking about ecosystem ecology and also a useful venue for students to evaluate a model (their pathway map) with data (from the primary literature). We feel that the Pathway Mapping framework is quite flexible and could be used to positive effect in a large number of courses.  

University capstone projects can offer science students a rich research experience that illustrates the process of doing scientific research, and can also help students better choose future academic and career pathways. While capstone projects are an effective component of students' learning in the sciences, they are resource and labor intensive for supervising faculty and are not always logistically feasible in understaffed and/or under-resourced departments and colleges. A good compromise is to incorporate a significant research component into upper division classes. This article documents a project I have incorporated into a plant ecology course that I teach every spring. This project gives students a taste of what practicing ecologists do in their professional lives. Students learn how to survey vegetation and environmental factors in the field, apply several statistical analysis techniques, formulate testable hypotheses relevant to a local plant community, analyze a large shared data set, and communicate their findings both in writing and in a public presentation. Over the weeks required for this project, students learn that doing science is quite different from how they typically learn about science. Most say that, while this project is one of the hardest they have completed in their time in university, they appreciate being treated like a fellow scientist rather than as "just a student." Additionally, students' findings often reveal complex and subtle interactions in the plant community sampled, providing further insight to and examples of emergent properties of biological communities.

An introduction to the Scientific Method for Introductory Biology students using plant and animal richness and environmental data from ephemeral ponds and permanent wetlands.

This adaptation consists of three exercises that introduce students to 1) format spreadsheet data tables, 2) carry out spreadsheet quality control, and 3) count/sort/filter data of interest in order to conduct a pilot analysis on NEON small mammal data.

Laboratory experiment included in Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) Volume 4

This pdf provides a list of over 100 educational resources related to tools and skills related to ecological forecasting.

Module for practice included in Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) Volume 7

I combined material from the Carbon, Climate and Energy Resources Module and the Changing Biosphere Module to help students understand climate change, the carbon cycle, and feedback loops in my intro Ecology class.

Link to Populus Software

This is an FMN participant supplement for the TIEE module "Global Temperature Change in the 21st Century," authored by Daniel R. Taub and Gillian S. Graham in 2011.

Practice module included in Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) Volume 10

A project to compare effects of a continuum of landscape alteration intensities on plant diversity, biomass, and ecosystem services, and to explore human socioeconomic connections to plants in the environment.

Biostatistics Using R: A Laboratory Manual was created with the goals of providing biological content to lab sessions by using authentic research data and introducing R programming language to biology majors.

Module for Ecology & Evolution course covering island biogeography principles, The scientific process and hypothesis testing, statistical methods (t-tests, regression), and online database use and availability

Teaching students how to code and analyze data in R is important for the fields of biology and ecology. Olivia Tabares and the Ecological Forecasting Education Working Group created this resource to encourage individuals who are teaching biostatics with R. These infographics are intended to provide encouragement and suggestions for working with students who are learning R.

This mini-case study provides undergraduate ecology students with experience in how to read climate diagrams and how to put them together. The activity includes a discussion of actual and potential evapotranspiration.

In this activity, students will use data from natural parks to examine trophic cascades.

Course materials for BIO 263 Ecological Data Analysis

TIEE Module- How does nutrient pollution impact stream ecosystems locally and nationally?

Students use their number sense to make observations and come up with reasonable guesses or explanations for the patterns shown.

Students observe insect pollinators and other floral visitors in their backyards, or campus, or nearby natural areas to describe plant-pollinator networks and assess how the assemblages from their sites compare to those in a range of landscapes.

This module introduces students to the research supporting ‘growth mindset,’ the idea that you can increase your brainpower and ability through effort

Teaching notes from my use of BIOMAAP Growth Mindset teaching materials in my 300 level Ecology class for majors.