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    Engaging Undergraduates in Mechanisms of Tubular Reabsorption and Secretion in the Mammalian Kidney
    If students fail to see the connections among physiological systems, they can become overwhelmed with the amount of information they need to learn. Some students have particular difficulty with the renal system for this reason. This lesson was...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    349

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    The Flight Physics Concept Inventory: Reliably Evaluating Aerodynamic Lift, Drag and Associated (Naïve) Concepts of Flight in Class and In-Game
    Students often struggle to transfer conceptual understanding from isolated instruction to a coherent mental model. This is especially true for the context of flight physics, fluid dynamics, or the concepts of aerodynamic lift, drag, stall, center...
    Lesson
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    147

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    It's a bird! It's a plane! It's biomechanics!
    Biomechanics is a discipline that draws from physics and engineering principles to understand the movement and structure of living organisms. It is highly interdisciplinary in nature and can be incorporated into general biology and ecology...
    Lesson
    1852

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    276

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    The Inside and Outside the Body
    The Inside and Outside the Body activity helps students develop a conceptual understanding of anatomical barriers such as skin and mucus membranes that separate internal cells and fluids from the external environment. This short exercise prepares...
    Lesson
    945

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    150

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    To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate
    To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question. Much of the recent trend in society against vaccination is that the general population does not understand 1) how vaccines work and 2) how one's vaccination status can influence others....
    Lesson
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    470

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    Grow the Gradient: An interactive countercurrent multiplier game
    The countercurrent multiplier of the loop of Henle in a mammalian kidney is a challenging concept for instructors to teach and for students to learn. We developed an interactive game to support student learning of this dynamic process with a team...
    Science Behind the Lesson
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    146

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    Science Behind the Lesson: It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Biomechanics!
    Active flight is a specialized mode of movement found in insects, birds, and mammals. The anatomy, morphology, physiology, and ecology of flying taxa has changed over evolutionary time. Researchers have proposed several hypotheses about the...
    Lesson
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    600

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    How Do Kidneys Make Urine From Blood? Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Filtration, Secretion, Reabsorption, and Excretion
    The function of the kidneys is to help maintain a constant internal environment (homeostasis) by regulating the volume and chemical composition of the blood. This regulation occurs via three fundamental processes: filtration, secretion, and...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    774

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    Science “Fails”: A Bank of Historical Examples for Learning From Failure in Science
    Learning from failure is critically important to the processes of scientific inquiry, discovery, and invention. However, students are not routinely taught how to reflect on, learn from, and ultimately embrace failure, and relatively few curricular...
    Lesson
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    66

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    Understanding the Importance of Microtubules in Normal Cell Division: Chemotherapy Connection
    In introductory courses, students learn about microtubules as important structures but may not engage in a hands-on experience to localize microtubules themselves or to learn about their connection to cancer treatment. In this lesson, students...
    Lesson
    1588

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    445

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    Ain't No Mountain Pine Enough: A Case Study of How Mountain Pine Beetles are Affecting Ecosystem Processes
    This case study engages students in generating hypotheses and predictions, analyzing and interpreting data, critically evaluating contrasting results in science, and thinking about feedbacks between biota and abiotic ecosystem dynamics. To address...

    Courses: EcologyEcology

    Lesson
    3464

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    210

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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...
    Lesson
    2917

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    430

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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...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    1671

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    A 360˚ View of COVID-19
    In March 2020, institutions underwent a massive transition to distance learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so little time to devise new materials to maximize learning in the new virtual environment, instructors devised a variety of...
    Lesson
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    813

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    Exploring Species Interactions with "Snapshot Serengeti"
    Authentic learning experiences are a valuable way for students to gain an in-depth understanding of the scientific process. However, implementing such experiences in large enrollment courses can be challenging. Here, we present a community ecology...

    Courses: EcologyEcology

    Lesson
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    223

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    Bringing Pasteur Back to Life: Studying the Biochemistry of Yeast Fermentation Through Discussion Groups and an At-Home Lab
    This hands-on, student-centered biochemistry lesson introduces beginner biochemistry students to the techniques of effectively reading and discussing primary literature, identifying fundamental biological concepts, and applying that knowledge to...
    Lesson
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    413

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    Does it pose a threat? Investigating the impact of Bt corn on monarch butterflies
    Aspiring scientists know that a hallmark of science is that experiments are repeatable and testable.  However, students do not often get opportunities to explore the replicability of science.  Using a current “hot topic” of...
    Essay
    659

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    111

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    Helping Students to Overcome STUMPS: Scientific terms undermined by meanings peripheral to science
    Many terms and phrases that are ubiquitous in everyday use have very different meanings in science. As a result, biology students often hold prior conceptions that are difficult to change. In this essay, I refer to such problematic terms as...
    Lesson
    2570

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    Integrating Community Ecology Into the Study of Parasites: Exploring the Effect of Host Behavior on Parasite Transmission Rates
    Organismal life cycles are often presented as a set of facts to memorize in undergraduate biology courses. This approach is cognitively demanding for students and fails to convey how central life cycle diversity is in shaping ecological and...
    Lesson
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    Using Structured Decision Making to Explore Complex Environmental Issues
    Environmental issues are inherently complex, often requiring multiple interested parties to come together before agreeing on a solution. Structured decision making is a tool used by federal and state management agencies to find solutions that...

    Courses: EcologyEcology