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    Is Earth Currently Undergoing a Sixth Mass Extinction?
    The five Phanerozoic mass extinctions were central in shaping biodiversity on Earth today. Due to increasing biodiversity losses, there is debate about whether we are currently undergoing a sixth mass extinction. To help students better understand...

    Courses: EcologyEcology EvolutionEvolution Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    conservationBiodiversityextinctionMass ExtinctionDeep Time
    Lesson
    1104

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    193

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    Using Current Events to Teach Written, Visual, and Oral Science Communication
    Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals need the skills to communicate with both technical and public audiences, but formal training in these skills is often lacking. In the nine-hour unit presented here, students...

    Courses: Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    communicationscientific writingstorytellingaudiencecurrent events
    Lesson
    1693

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    494

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    Sex-specific differences in Meiosis: Real-world applications
    In traditional classrooms, students are typically presented with facts that they are asked to memorize and recall during an exam.  The rapid explosion of available scientific facts in recent years has made this model of teaching...

    Courses: Cell BiologyCell Biology GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    meiosisReproductionAneuploidyGameteNon-disjunctionOocyteSpermTrisomy
    Lesson
    2878

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    1007

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    Building Trees: Introducing evolutionary concepts by exploring Crassulaceae phylogeny and biogeography
    Teaching evolutionary theory is foundational for all biological sciences and a key aspect of overall science literacy. The conceptual framework for understanding evolution relies on thinking clearly about evolutionary trees (phylogenetics) and how...

    Courses: EvolutionEvolution Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    EvolutionphylogeneticsTree thinkingbiogeography
    Lesson
    1402

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    385

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    0

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    Mice, Acorns, and Lyme Disease: a Case Study to Teach the Ecology of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
    Ebola, Zika, the recall of contaminated lettuce - these are just a few recent outbreaks making headlines. Students should be able to connect what they learn in their biology courses to explain these events happening around them. Unfortunately,...

    Courses: MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    epidemiologyEcological changeInfectious disease ecologyReservoirsTransmission cycle
    Lesson
    2405

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    497

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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
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    750

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    66

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    A Journal Club Project to Promote Interpreting and Presenting Information From the Primary Scientific Literature
    Many undergraduate students receive little guidance on how to critically read, interpret data within, or present information from the primary scientific literature before they begin senior independent research experiences or enter professional or...

    Courses: Developmental BiologyDevelopmental Biology NeurobiologyNeurobiology

    primary literaturejournal clubScience CommunicationfeedbackPeer reviewgroup workOral presentationProcess skillsPeer evaluationDevelopmental neurobiology
    Lesson
    3497

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    853

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    Furry with a chance of evolution: Exploring genetic drift with tuco-tucos
    Genetic drift is an important mechanism of evolution, yet undergraduates often fail to understand how it leads to evolutionary change due in part to its random nature. This lesson plan describes a simulation-based activity that allows students to...

    Courses: EvolutionEvolution

    EvolutionGenetic DriftBottle neckFounder effectRandom evolutionary processes
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    2343

    views

    191

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    0

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    A Pandemic Pivot: Podcast as an Active Engagement Tool in the Classroom and Beyond
    Higher education in STEM undoubtedly integrates the use of technology as a primary mode for content delivery to undergraduate students. This became especially salient throughout the shift to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite...

    Courses: Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    VaccinesReplication of virusesCOVID-19 transmission
    Lesson
    722

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    141

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    0

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    Evaluating Representation in Science Through a Peer-Reviewed Research Study
    The demographic representation of scientists featured in biology curricular materials do not match that of the undergraduate biology student population or of the U.S. population. In this lesson, we promote awareness of inequity in science through...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    societyRepresentationSTEM equity
    Lesson
    4336

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    83

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    0

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    The Great Petunia Carnage of 2017: A Clicker Case Study Using Petunias to Describe the Effect of Genetic Modification on the Biochemistry of Flower Color and Phenotype in Plants
    In this single class period case study, students examine the difference between genotype and phenotype by studying the mechanisms by which commercially available petunias have been bred to have different phenotypes (flower colors). Students review...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Plant BiologyPlant Biology

    case studyGenetic ModificationsBiochemistry of Flower ColorGMO regulationsGenotype-Phenotype Connections
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    2547

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    211

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    0

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    An Interactive Protocol for In-Classroom DNA Extraction
    Using commonly available materials, this tool allows students to extract DNA, exploring DNA chemistry and the principles of experimental design and execution. We take a “Choose Your Own Adventure” approach encouraging students to...

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

    geneticsDNAbiochemical structure and function
    Lesson
    1708

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    352

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    0

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    Chilling in the Cold: Using Thermal Acclimation to Demonstrate Phenotypic Plasticity in Animals
    The lesson plan described here provides students hands-on, scientific experiences that relate to the globally important issue of climate change and its impacts on animals. Students use the scientific method and basic components of experimental...

    Courses: EcologyEcology EvolutionEvolution Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    scientific methodclimate changephenotypic plasticityfruit fliesaccclimationcold tolerancethink-pair-share
    Lesson
    8524

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    1191

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    Lights, Camera, Acting Transport! Using role-play to teach membrane transport
    Lights, Camera, Acting Transport! is an active and unique role-play exercise designed to teach introductory biology students basic concepts of passive and active membrane transport. The activity involves three acts in which students, representing...

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

    ATPcarrierschannelsco-transportelectrogenic pumpfacilitated diffusionmembrane transportpassive transportprimary active transportsimple diffusion
    Lesson
    2961

    views

    216

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    Advancing Global Learning Through a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Module on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
    An increasingly interconnected world presents opportunities for globally relevant curricula in the classroom. Implementing collaborative online international learning (COIL) modules within medium-sized courses can take advantage of this...

    Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Plant BiologyPlant Biology

    Collaborative Online International LearningGlobal LearningPlants and SocietyUnited Nations Sustainable Development GoalsMedicinal PlantsPhytochemicalsPlant Natural Products
    Lesson
    2711

    views

    282

    downloads

    1

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    The Leaky Neuron: Understanding synaptic integration using an analogy involving leaky cups
    Students have difficulty understanding synaptic integration in neural circuits, and how spatial and temporal summation combine in a target neuron to reach threshold.  This Lesson uses small cups of water to represent excitatory postsynaptic...

    Courses: NeurobiologyNeurobiology

    neuron physiologyspatial summationsynaptic integrationtemporal summationthreshold
    Lesson
    1064

    views

    168

    downloads

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    Outside the Norm: Using Public Ecology Database Information to Teach Biostatistics
    Biology students’ understanding of statistics is incomplete due to poor integration of these two disciplines. In some cases, students fail to learn statistics at the undergraduate level due to poor student interest and cursory teaching of...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    biostatisticshypothesis testingexperimental design
    Lesson
    4206

    views

    286

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    Analysis of Microbiomes Using Free Web-Based Tools in Online and In-Person Undergraduate Science Courses
    Our understanding of microbiomes, or the collection of microorganisms and their genes in a given environment, has been revolutionized by technological and computational advances. However, many undergraduate students do not get hands-on experiences...

    Courses: BioinformaticsBioinformatics EcologyEcology MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    microbiomeDNA SubwayCyVerseCourse based undergraduate researchQIIME2ranacapa
    Lesson
    2818

    views

    683

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    0

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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
    Lesson
    4371

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    1260

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    0

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    What is Speciation, How Does It Occur, and Why Is It Important for Conservation?
    Speciation provides a framework for classifying biodiversity on Earth and is a central concept in evolutionary biology. To help undergraduate students learn about speciation, we designed a student-centered lesson that uses active-learning...

    Courses: EcologyEcology GeneticsGenetics Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    EvolutionconservationGenetic DriftSpeciationNatural SelectionBiological species conceptgene flowMorphological species conceptPhylogenetic species concept