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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

    Lesson
    369

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    25

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    Osmosis Through the Lens of Sexual Health
    Osmosis contributes to a range of biological phenomena, from functioning of nephrons in animals to stomatal opening and closing in plants; yet, scientifically simple ideas about osmosis are common. These ideas limit learners’ comprehension...
    Lesson
    1444

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    485

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    Using Student Perceptions and Cooperative Learning to Unpack Primary Literature on Global Change
    This case describes a three-part assignment in which students discuss key processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system and our increased risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. Here,...

    Courses: EcologyEcology

    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1721

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    324

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    SCIENCE/Fiction: Modular Template for Class Design
    We present a modular scaffold for designing an introductory seminar using speculative fiction and science papers to welcome university undergraduates to the biology major. A list of twelve possible topics is included, such as Memory, Parasites,...
    Lesson
    425

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    37

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    Space Mission Ecology: Making Connections Among Science Disciplines Through the Lens of a Unique Plant
    With this case study, we aim to increase awareness of essential services plants provide to society, as well as the importance of fundamental aspects of ecology for other disciplines and the interconnectedness among different fields of science in...
    Lesson
    972

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    181

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    From Cre/LoxP to Fate Maps: Inclusive and Equitable Approaches for Engaging Developmental Biology Students in Experimental Design
    Engaging first generation underrepresented minority students in the process of inquiry in developmental biology is important to increase diversity in future graduate STEM education. One important challenge is how we design curricula to foster...
    Lesson
    2028

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    367

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    Drawing “Octo-Pines”: Ice-Breaker Active-Learning Activities to Introduce Drawing-to-Learn in Biology
    Drawing has been advocated as a technique to develop visual literacy and observational skills in biology students. To increase student motivation and confidence to draw in our course, we developed an introductory active-learning lesson with a...

    Courses: EcologyEcology EvolutionEvolution

    Lesson
    2096

    views

    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...
    Lesson
    1274

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    351

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    A first lesson in mathematical modeling for biologists: Rocs
    Using a fictitious population of Rocs, a mythical species of giant raptor, students accomplish two broad objectives: 1) they undertake the process of building a first mathematical model of a population, and 2) they begin to develop their...
    Lesson
    4443

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    445

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    1

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    Teaching Advanced Concepts in Regulation of the Lac Operon With Modeling and Simulation
    Success in biochemistry and other life science courses requires that students understand important biological concepts. One of these concepts is how gene regulation ensures that homeostasis is maintained in an organism. The lac operon is a...
    Lesson
    1764

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    311

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    Authentic Ecological Inquiries Using BearCam Archives
    Learning through authentic scientific inquiries is essential for understanding the nature and process of science and for developing critical thinking and communication skills. It is logistically challenging, however, to offer experiences of...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1203

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    130

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    Undergraduates Learn Evolution Through Teaching Kindergartners About Blind Mexican Cavefish
    The development and implementation of a scientific outreach activity comes with a number of challenges. A successful outreach event must match the sophistication of content to the audience, be engaging, expand the knowledge base for participants,...
    Lesson
    1239

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    97

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    Glycolysis Can Be Fun: Rediscovering Glycolysis as a Problem-Solving Introduction to Metabolism
    A thorough understanding of glycolysis forms a foundation for students to analyze subsequent topics in metabolism, a core competency recognized by multiple national societies for biology and biochemistry. However, when confronted with the names of...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    799

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    141

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    Graphical Organizers as Course Road Maps: Using a geologic timescale in a history of life course
    Both major and non-major biology students lack understanding of important evolutionary events, how they are spaced in time, and how they relate back to the earth system. Graphical organizers like concept maps and timescales are popular tools that...

    Courses: EvolutionEvolution

    Lesson
    2256

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    453

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    A Short Laboratory Module to Help Infuse Metacognition during an Introductory Course-based Research Experience
    A core competency identified in Vision and Change for undergraduate biology students is the Ability to Apply the Process of Science. Here, we describe a three-week laboratory module for students in an Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology...
    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...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    969

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    200

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    Making toast: Using analogies to explore concepts in bioinformatics
    Contemporary biology is moving towards heavy reliance on computational methods to manage, find patterns, and derive meaning from large-scale data, such as genomic sequences. Biology teachers are increasingly compelled to prepare students with...

    Courses: BioinformaticsBioinformatics

    Lesson
    1729

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    597

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    Student-Driven Design-and-Improve Modules to Explore the Effect of Plant Bioactive Compounds in Three Model Organisms
    Engaging and supporting introductory level students in authentic research experiences during required coursework is challenging. Plant bioactive compounds attract students' natural curiosity as they are found in many familiar items such as...
    Lesson
    1230

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    182

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    Simulating Cortical Rotation, Axis Induction, and Experimental Embryology in Amphibian Embryos Using Clay Models
    The study of development requires learners to understand spatially complex concepts like embryo anatomy. Embryo anatomy is dynamic over time, and it is often manipulated by researchers in experiments that are fundamental to the field. This spatial...
    Lesson
    6352

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    664

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    An Active Learning Workshop to Teach Active Learning Strategies
    College instructors who learn how to teach actively at the beginning of their careers do not have to modify deeply set habits that rely on lectures. Instead, they develop their teaching while they learn evidence-based practices. We developed a...