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    How Many Squirrels Are in the Shrubs? A Lesson Plan for Comparing Methods for Population Estimation
    Estimating the population sizes of animals is a key skill for any student interested in ecology, conservation, or management. However, counting animals in natural habitats is difficult, and the many techniques that exist each rely on assumptions...
    population ecologywildlife managementpopulation estimationsciuridaeSquirrel-Net
    Lesson
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    922

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    Squirreling Around for Science: Observing Sciurid Rodents to Investigate Animal Behavior
    Hands-on research experiences are important opportunities for students to learn about the nature of inquiry and gain confidence in solving problems. Here, we present an inquiry-based lesson plan that investigates the foraging behavior of sciurid...
    foragingbehaviorbehavioral ecologySciuridSquirrelSquirrel-NetTrade-offVigilance
    Lesson
    1082

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    272

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    Using a Primary Cell Culture Model to Study the Neural Extracellular Matrix
    The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides structural support to cells, but also has key roles in mediating cell adhesion, cell signaling, and differentiation. While this topic is discussed in the lecture setting, it is not heavily studied in...
    Neural extracellular matrixPerineuronal netPrimary neuronal culture
    Lesson
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    313

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    Cutthroat trout in Colorado: A case study connecting evolution and conservation
    Evaluation of evidence is a key process skill for the core competencies of applying the process of science and using quantitative reasoning. This case study enables upper-division biology students to practice these skills by applying evolutionary...
    population geneticsphylogeneticsSpeciationdivergencegene flow
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1084

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    125

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    Adaptation and Facilitation of Small Group Activities in an Online Introductory Biology Class
    In spring 2020, the sudden mid-semester closure of my campus in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid transition to emergency online learning. Consequently, I adapted the small group activities and facilitation methods of...
    Cellular communicationNeuronal functionNeuronal structure
    Lesson
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    917

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    A Quick and Simple Natural Selection Role Play
    Teaching evolution remains a challenging task in biology education. Students enter the classroom with stubborn misconceptions and many traditional examples of the process of evolution may not resonate with students. This short role play activity...
    EvolutionfitnessNatural Selectionheritability
    Lesson
    1429

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    426

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    Generating Biological Hypotheses in a "Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience"(CURE) Course
    Hypotheses are often incorrectly defined as educated guesses or if/then statements. Further confusion arises from the fact that not all disciplines define hypotheses similarly. The difficulty in distinguishing between statistical and biological...
    scientific methodHPT axisNeural stem cells
    Lesson
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    468

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    Harnessing the Power of the Immune System: Influenza Vaccines
    Because most people have been infected by and/or immunized against influenza, students should know how the immune system responds to the infection and how vaccines protect against disease. Vaccines have played an instrumental role in disease...
    VaccinesInfluenzaImmunizationVaccine efficacy
    Lesson
    5749

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    980

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    Mapping a Mutation to its Gene: The "Fly Lab" as a Modern Research Experience
    Although genetics is an invaluable part of the undergraduate biology curriculum, it can be intimidating to students as well as instructors: Students must reduce their reliance on memorization and dive deep into quantitative analysis, and...
    geneticsbioinformaticsdrosophilachi-square analysiscomplementation mappingmode of inheritancethree-point mapping
    Lesson
    1368

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    716

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    Data Analysis Recitation Activities Support Better Understanding in SEA-PHAGES CURE
    Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are widely known to improve student learning outcomes in the sciences. Undergraduate students have a particularly difficult time interpreting the scientific data that they generate in these...
    bacteriophageDNA extractionGel analysisPhage purificationTiter calculationViral replicative growth
    Essay
    1268

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    117

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    Going Remote: An Online Adaptation to Using a Primary Cell Culture Model to Study the Neural Extracellular Matrix
    In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors have modified materials to transition to a remote learning platform. The challenge for science instructors has been to design lab exercises that incorporate both active and experiential learning. In...
    remote learningExtracellular matrixNeural extracellular matrixPerineuronal net
    Lesson
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    1236

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    A CRISPR/Cas Guide RNA Design In Silico Activity
    CRISPR biotechnologies inspired by the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat RNA-guided nuclease adaptive bacterial immune system have revolutionized biology research and become ubiquitous tools for hypothesis and...
    bioinformaticsgene expressiongenetic basis of diseaseCRISPR/Cas9genetic engineeringin silico
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1078

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    141

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    Lateral Transfer Maps as a Metacognitive Tool in First Year STEM Courses
    We introduce the Lateral Transfer Map (LTM), a tool for students to actively and visually explore the transfer of ideas, skills, and concepts across concurrent coursework. The LTM is an extension of a concept map, replacing interconnected concepts...
    concept mapmetacognitionfirst-year studenttransfer
    Lesson
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    252

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    A Hybrid Virtual Kinesiology Laboratory Module for Human Anatomy and Physiology
    The integration of virtual technology is becoming a common trend in anatomy education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The incorporation of virtual 3D anatomical models into the classroom is beneficial to students, especially if they do...
    kinesiologyexercise physiologyAnaerobic RespirationMaximum Oxygen ConsumptionMuscular SystemVirtual AnatomyWingate Test
    Lesson
    1269

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    235

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    Expanding the Reach of Crop Plants for Food Security: A Lesson Integrating Non-Majors Students Into the Discussion of Food Diversity and Human Nutrition
    University general education (GE) courses host students with various academic backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. Engaging students in GE classes with agricultural issues can be challenging because of the diverse interests of students and...
    cereal graincrop diversitycrop yieldglobal food systemhuman nutritionnutrient qualitypseudocereal grainstaple cropunderutilized crop
    Lesson
    1030

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    447

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    Understanding Gastric Acid Secretion: An Active Learning Approach
    The human digestive system is a diverse network of cells, tissues, and organs that is regulated by systemic (e.g., nervous and endocrine systems) and local factors (e.g., secretions, pH, and the microbiome). Given the volume of content and the...
    diseasesignal transductionAcid SecretionAutonomic Nervous SystemEndocrineGastric PhysiologyGPCRHistology of Gastric Pit
    Lesson
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    196

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    Modeling Strep Throat Detection, Infection, and Spread Using an SIR Model and the Vensim Simulation Software
    The overarching goal of this lesson is to provide students with an opportunity to gain experience making and using biological models. Biological modeling can be used to investigate complex, real-world problems so that predictions can be made about...
    infectious diseasebiological modelingSIR model
    Lesson
    1827

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    358

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    Integrating Manipulatives and Animations to Visualize Holliday Junctions
    The complex molecular architecture of Holliday junctions is often challenging for undergraduate biochemistry students to conceptualize. In particular, they have difficulty translating from two-dimensional, linear representations shown in textbooks...
    dna structureDNA damageDNA recombinationGene crossoverHolliday junction
    Lesson
    2983

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    1237

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    Using the Cell Engineer/Detective Approach to Explore Cell Structure and Function
    As instructors of introductory biology courses for majors and non-majors, we have struggled with teaching the concept of cell structure and function in an engaging way.  However, this is a foundational concept that most biology instructors...
    cell functionCell StructureCellular diversityDynamic cellular functionOrganelle function
    Lesson
    3200

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    869

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    Life Is Just a Game: An Active Learning Activity to Teach Life History Evolution
    A novel activity was designed to introduce students to the concepts of natural selection and life history using an active-learning, constructivist format. It consisted of two parts: 1) a brief introduction to the basic mechanism of natural...

    Courses: EcologyEcology EvolutionEvolution

    Evolutionlife historytrade-offsdiversityNatural Selection