CourseSource: Resources

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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...

Courses: Ecology Ecology Evolution Genetics Plant Biology

EvolutionfitnessNatural Selectionheritability

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3498

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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: Evolution

EvolutionGenetic DriftBottle neckFounder effectRandom evolutionary processes

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2397

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280

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Escape Zoom!: Reviewing Introductory Evolution Content Using an Escape Room Format

Reviewing and integrating key concepts and learning goals at the end of a biology course can be overwhelming to students and instructors alike. Often end-of-term review sessions in preparation for final exams are heavily based on memorization, and...

Courses: Ecology Ecology Evolution Genetics

Evolutionartificial selectionSpeciationextinctionsexual selectionphylogenetic treesmechanisms of evolution

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3077

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453

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Moths and Frogs and E. coli, Oh My!: Agent-based Modeling of Evolutionary Systems

In evolution classrooms, introducing and reinforcing the idea of genetic drift and random selection can be challenging, as can be reinforcing appropriate mental models of evolution. Agent-based models offer students the opportunity to conduct a...

Courses: Bioinformatics Ecology Ecology Evolution Science Process Skills

modelingEvolutionecologyagent-based modelingGenetic Driftenvironmental scienceNatural Selectioncompetitive coevolutionsimulation modelingevolutionary reasoning

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3352

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275

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Application of a Bacterial Experimental Evolution System to Visualize and Teach Evolution in Action: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

Concepts of evolution are typically taught through examples of extremely long timescales, which do not always resonate broadly. Here, we describe a course-based undergraduate research experience tailored for junior and senior undergraduate biology...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Bioinformatics Cell Biology Evolution Genetics Microbiology

EvolutionmutationcompetitionNatural Selectionregulationstructure and functionreproductive fitnessgenotype to phenotypehomologs

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4375

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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: Ecology Ecology Genetics Introductory Biology Science Process Skills

EvolutionconservationGenetic DriftSpeciationNatural SelectionBiological species conceptgene flowMorphological species conceptPhylogenetic species concept

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2197

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459

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Antibiotic Resistance Genes Detection in Environmental Samples

Our aim is to provide an authentic research experience for undergraduate students in a variety of biology courses through collaboration between a four-year university and a community college. This lab series teaches transferable and universal...

Courses: Introductory Biology Microbiology Science Process Skills

geneticsenvironmentmicrobiologyUndergraduateantibiotic-resistancePCRgel electrophoresisauthentic inquiry

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3620

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954

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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: Ecology Ecology Evolution

Evolutionlife historytrade-offsdiversityNatural Selection

Teaching Tools and Strategies

1795

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704

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"Boost your evolution IQ": An evolution misconceptions game

Students often enter introductory biology courses with misconceptions about evolution. For example, many students believe that traits arise when a species needs them or that evolutionary processes are goal-oriented. To address these and other...

Courses: Evolution

Evolutionactive learningNatural Selectiongroup workmisconceptions

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7972

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397

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Investigating Cell Signaling with Gene Expression Datasets

Modern molecular biology is a data- and computationally-intensive field with few instructional resources for introducing undergraduate students to the requisite skills and techniques for analyzing large data sets. This Lesson helps students: (i)...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell Biology

genomicstranscriptionsignaling

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437

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66

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The Science and Ethics of Gene Drives: An Active Learning Lesson in Genetics

Coursework connecting biology to socially relevant issues and ethical questions can help students think about biology in interdisciplinary terms. Gene drives represent one topic involving both advanced biology concepts and societally relevant...

Courses: Genetics

bioethicsCRISPR/Cas9Genetic modificationGene drives

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5565

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Cell Signaling Pathways - a Case Study Approach

Signaling and gene expression are fundamental to cell biology and developmental biology. Although these topics are highly interrelated, they typically appear in separate units in a course. We use a series of short problem-based learning exercises...

Courses: Cell Biology Developmental Biology

signal transductiongene expressionCell communicationgenetic disordersregulation of enzyme activity

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1002

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138

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Student-Generated Analogies for Learning about Information Flow

Using analogies is a standard practice for both teaching and communicating ideas in science. Here we upend the traditional lesson, where the instructor provides a fully constructed analogy and explains it, by having the students develop a complex...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Cell Biology Genetics Introductory Biology

critical thinkingcentral dogmaanalogical reasoning

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Animal Behaviour Case Study Lessons in Communication, Migration, and Parental Care Using the Jigsaw Approach

Animal behaviour courses integrate concepts across biological disciplines and are particularly well suited for collaborative, student-focused teaching strategies. Case Studies can positively impact students by...

Courses: Ecology Ecology Evolution Science Process Skills

case studycommunicationprimary literatureanimal behaviorjigsawParental CaremigrationAnimal BehaviourProximate mechanisms

Essay

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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 Biology

Vision and Changeactive learningintroductory biologyFlipped classroomUndergraduatecore competenciescore conceptsactive textbookcurriculum reform

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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 Biology Genetics Science Process Skills

meiosisReproductionAneuploidyGameteNon-disjunctionOocyteSpermTrisomy

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Fragile States: A Case Study Exploring Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry Through the Lens of Fragile X Syndrome

This case aims to strengthen students’ understanding of molecular biology concepts through study of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Students begin by learning the cause and phenotypes of FXS and related conditions. Students then apply genetics...

Courses: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Genetics

gene regulationtranscriptiontranslationFragile X syndrometriplet repeat expansionsex linkagemetabolic pathway

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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: Ecology Ecology Evolution Science Process Skills

scientific methodclimate changephenotypic plasticityfruit fliesaccclimationcold tolerancethink-pair-share

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3164

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Honoring the Complexity of Genetics: Exploring the Role of Genes and the Environment Using Real World Examples

Historically, undergraduate genetics courses have disproportionately focused on the impact of genes on phenotypes, rather than multifactorial concepts which consider how a combination of genes, the environment, and gene-by-environment interactions...

Courses: Evolution Genetics Introductory Biology

genesenvironmentMendelQuantitative traitsMultifactorialGene by environment interactions

Lesson

1652

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245

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Make It Stick: Teaching Gene Targeting with Ribbons and Fasteners

Manipulating gene expression is a commonly used tool to study the effect of a single gene or the hierarchy of gene networks in many different biological disciplines. When working with mice, the most commonly used techniques to manipulate genes...

Courses: Developmental Biology Genetics

mathematical modelhomologous recombinationCre/loxgene targeting