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    An Active Textbook Converts "Vision and Tweak" to Vision and Change
    Multiple reports over more than a century have documented the problems with the way introductory biology has been taught in most colleges and universities. An influential recent report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, has...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    Vision and Changeactive learningintroductory biologyFlipped classroomUndergraduatecore competenciescore conceptsactive textbookcurriculum reform
    Lesson
    2543

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    639

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    Follow the Sulfur: Using Yeast Mutants to Study a Metabolic Pathway
    Students are frequently overwhelmed by the complexity of metabolic pathways and they think they have "learned" the pathway when they have memorized the individual reactions.  This laboratory lesson helps students to understand the...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology MicrobiologyMicrobiology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    SelectionyeastMetabolismcysteinemediamethioninemutantPathwaysulfur
    Lesson
    5405

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    2529

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    Exploring the Lytic and Lysogenic Life Cycles of Bacteriophages
    The goal of this lesson is to introduce students to the lytic and lysogenic cycles of T4 and lambda bacteriophages, respectively, using student-centered pedagogies. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and are either virulent or...

    Courses: MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    bacteriophagesLysogenic cycleLysogenyLytic cycle
    Lesson
    1213

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    371

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    0

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    The ACTN3 Polymorphism: Applications in Genetics and Physiology Teaching Laboratories
    Inquiry-based undergraduate laboratories provide the opportunity to engage students in a research experience that improves scientific thinking, but such activities can be difficult to develop and implement due to limited time and resources. We...

    Courses: Anatomy-PhysiologyAnatomy-Physiology GeneticsGenetics

    protein structure and functionhuman genetic variationmuscle physiology
    Lesson
    3045

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    731

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    Using Synthetic Biology and pClone Red for Authentic Research on Promoter Function: Genetics (analyzing mutant promoters)
    Students often memorize the definition of a transcriptional promoter but fail to fully understand the critical role promoters play in gene expression.  This laboratory lesson allows students to conduct original research by characterizing...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    bacteriasynthetic biologygene regulationtranscriptionstudent researchcentral dogmacloningpromoterreporter gene/protein
    Lesson
    2650

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    493

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    0

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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...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology ImmunologyImmunology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    VaccinesInfluenzaImmunizationVaccine efficacy
    Lesson
    1999

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    352

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    1

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    Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs) to Help Students Learn Genetics Concepts
    Many video resources exist to teach Mendelian genetics, but most consist of passive delivery of information rather than active construction of knowledge by users. We have created two interactive video vignettes (IVVs) that can be used together or...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    genotypephenotypeallelespedigreedominanceHardy-Weinberg equilibriumInheritance
    Lesson
    3032

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    353

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    0

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    Discovering Cellular Respiration with Computational Modeling and Simulations
    Cellular respiration, a common topic among introductory and cellular biology curricula, is a complex biological process that exemplifies core biological concepts, including systems, pathways and transformation of energy, and structure and function...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    Cellular MechanismsCellular RespirationFermentation
    Lesson
    3535

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    261

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    0

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    SEAS CURE: Exploring Coral Biology Across Scales
    Complex biological concepts (like symbiosis and coral biology) that span multiple scales and cross disciplinary boundaries are often difficult for students to understand. This complexity is compounded by the challenges inherent to teaching and...

    Courses: Anatomy-PhysiologyAnatomy-Physiology Cell BiologyCell Biology EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    microscopyAnatomySymbiosisMetabolismbleachinginvertebratedinoflagellate
    Lesson
    2258

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    276

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    1

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    Discovering Prokaryotic Gene Regulation by Building and Investigating a Computational Model of the lac Operon
    The ability to construct and reason through a biological system is an important skill to develop in science education. This level of understanding forces students to recognize the interrelatedness of components within a biological process and...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    prokaryotesgene regulationLac Operoninducible operon
    Lesson
    2096

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    663

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    1

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    Sequence Similarity: An inquiry based and "under the hood" approach for incorporating molecular sequence alignment in introductory undergraduate biology courses
    Introductory bioinformatics exercises often walk students through the use of computational tools, but often provide little understanding of what a computational tool does "under the hood." A solid understanding of how a bioinformatics...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology BioinformaticsBioinformatics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    BLASTmultiple sequence alignmentsequence similarityphylogramZika virusAlgorithmScoring Matrix
    Lesson
    3668

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    826

    downloads

    0

    comments

    Breaking Bricks: A Hands-On Model of Enzyme Kinetics and Inhibition
    Enzyme kinetics and the impacts of inhibitors on the enzyme's maximal velocity and ability to bind substrates are important topics in cell biology and biochemistry. However, these topics can be difficult for students to grasp when instructed...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell BiologyCell Biology

    kineticsEnzymecompetitive inhibition
    Lesson
    1131

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    180

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    Fatty Acid Induction of Lipid Droplets in Cancer Cells
    There is a growing need for the development and communication of cell culture-based laboratory activities specifically designed for undergraduate students. This multi-week laboratory activity allows students to take part in the planning,...

    Courses: Cell BiologyCell Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    Course based undergraduate researchCell ImagingLive Cell Staining
    Lesson
    3759

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    412

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    Using Open-Source Bioinformatics and Visualization Tools to Explore the Structure and Function of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein
    The relationship between protein structure and function is a foundational concept in undergraduate biochemistry. We find this theme is best presented with assignments that encourage exploration and analysis. Here, we share a series of four...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology BioinformaticsBioinformatics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    bioinformaticsmolecular modelingCOVID19protein structure and functionUCSF ChimeraSARS-CoV-2 spike proteinACE2 receptor
    Lesson
    3324

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    614

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    Predicting and classifying effects of insertion and deletion mutations on protein coding regions
    Mutations in genes can affect the encoded proteins in multiple ways, and some of these effects are counterintuitive. As for any other knowledge, students must create their own deep understanding of the Central Dogma. Students may not develop this...

    Courses: BioinformaticsBioinformatics GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    mutationcentral dogmatranslationframeshift
    Lesson
    3848

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    206

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    Isolation and Functional Analysis of a Pancreatic Enzyme in an Introductory Student Lab
    Structure and function are correlated at all levels of biology. This topic is typically addressed early in an undergraduate class in general or molecular biology before students have gained much skill or knowledge in molecular biology. However, an...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    Protein StructureproteaseEnzymechemical bondscatalysissolubility
    Lesson
    1407

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    388

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    0

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    Data, Distributions, and Hypotheses: Exploring Diversity and Disturbance in the Tallgrass Prairie
    Proper hypothesis generation, data handling, graphing, and communication are essential skills that undergraduate majors in biology are expected to master. However, students rarely get hands-on practice that helps them to effectively develop these...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Plant BiologyPlant Biology

    Quantitative reasoningRestoration EcologyScience process skillstall grass prairie ecosystem
    Lesson
    2377

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    487

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    Translating Co-Translational Translocation
    Understanding the process of proteins targeting to specific locations within a cell is a fundamental part of cell biology. Synthesis of proteins by co-translational translocation, which also determines the resulting protein topology, is a complex...

    Courses: Cell BiologyCell Biology

    Topologyco-translational translocationendoplasmic reticulumprotease protection assaysecretory proteinssignal sequencetransmembrane proteins
    Lesson
    2784

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    677

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    The Case of the Missing Strawberries: RFLP analysis
    While solving the fictional mystery of the missing strawberries, students are engaged in a guided-inquiry lesson featuring small-group and class discussions, hands-on activities, and laboratory exercises related to molecular genotyping by...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    process of scienceDNAforensicsgel electrophoresisMolecular genotypingRestriction endonucleaseRestriction enzymeRestriction fragment length polymorphismRFLP
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1838

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    381

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    Converting a Face-to-Face Lab to Online: An Example of Process and Outcomes for a CRISPR-Based Molecular Biology Lab
    The COVID-19 pandemic created a need to convert in-person laboratory courses into an online format in a short amount of time. For this reason, we converted our face-to-face molecular biology lab course to an online version in Spring 2020. The lab...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    mutationtranscriptioncrisprtranslation