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    How Many Squirrels Are in the Shrubs? A Lesson Plan for Comparing Methods for Population Estimation
    Estimating the population sizes of animals is a key skill for any student interested in ecology, conservation, or management. However, counting animals in natural habitats is difficult, and the many techniques that exist each rely on assumptions...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Professional Development and Career PlanningProfessional Development and Career Planning Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    population ecologywildlife managementpopulation estimationsciuridaeSquirrel-Net
    Lesson
    924

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    275

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    Population Ecology of the Northern Spotted Owl
    The mathematical modeling of populations utilizing field-collected demographic data is an important component of lab curricula in a variety of undergraduate biology lab courses. During the global pandemic brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    demographyCommunity Ecologypopulation ecologyconservation biologylife tables
    Lesson
    1289

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    352

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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...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    population ecologypopulation modelingdiscrete generationpopulation management
    Lesson
    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: EvolutionEvolution

    EvolutionGenetic DriftBottle neckFounder effectRandom evolutionary processes
    Essay
    1428

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    208

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    Navigating Proposal Writing and Implementation of an NSF S-STEM Grant Program: Reflections as a First-Time PI
    Recruitment and retention issues are an increasing concern to many institutions nationwide, most especially in regard to underrepresented minority (URM) students enrolled in STEM. It is, therefore, incumbent upon colleges and universities to...

    Courses: Professional Development and Career PlanningProfessional Development and Career Planning

    Proposal writingGrant managementNSF S-STEM
    Lesson
    1799

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    343

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    Cutthroat trout in Colorado: A case study connecting evolution and conservation
    Evaluation of evidence is a key process skill for the core competencies of applying the process of science and using quantitative reasoning. This case study enables upper-division biology students to practice these skills by applying evolutionary...

    Courses: EvolutionEvolution GeneticsGenetics Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    population geneticsphylogeneticsSpeciationdivergencegene flow
    Essay
    2883

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    270

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    An Introduction to the Squirrel-Net Teaching Modules
    Although course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are gaining popularity in biology, most are designed for benchwork-based laboratory courses while few focus on field-based skills. Many barriers to implementing field CUREs exist,...

    Courses: EcologyEcology

    ecologybehaviortrade-offsScientific ProcessSquirrel-Net
    Lesson
    2680

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    229

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    Role of Crop Genetic Diversity on Pathogen Impact: The Tale of Two Pathogens
    Introductory genetics courses are part of the core curriculum in many different fields, including plant breeding, animal science, biology, microbiology, and natural resource management. Concepts involving genes, inheritance, evolution, and genome...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Plant BiologyPlant Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    plant pathologygenetic diversityDisease TriangleModes of Reproduction
    Lesson
    4372

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    1260

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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
    Lesson
    1803

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    355

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    Squirrels in Space: Using Radio Telemetry to Explore the Space Use and Movement of Sciurid Rodents
    Biotelemetry is used by researchers to track the interactions of animals with each other and the environment. While advancing technology has led to the development of numerous biotelemetry tools, radio telemetry remains the most common method for...

    Courses: EcologyEcology

    DispersalHabitat selectionHome rangeSquirrel-Net
    Lesson
    5487

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    2553

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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
    2719

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    242

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    0

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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...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    statisticsspecies interactionsQuantitative reasoninggraphsCommunity EcologyParasitologyfood webs
    Lesson
    1714

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    467

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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

    population biologycarbon cyclingSpecies-habitat interactions
    Lesson
    3409

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    285

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    Garden Variety Mutations: Using Primary Data to Understand the Central Dogma in Large-Lecture Introductory Biology
    The ability to interpret and create an argument from data is a crucial skill for budding scientists, yet one that is seldom practiced in introductory courses. During this argumentation module, students in a large lecture class will work in groups...

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

    mutationtranscriptiongene expressioncentral dogmatranslationgel electrophoresisGenotype/Phenotype
    Lesson
    5362

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    1017

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    An active-learning lesson that targets student understanding of population growth in ecology
    Effective teaching and learning of population ecology requires integration of quantitative literacy skills. To facilitate student learning in population ecology and provide students with the opportunity to develop and apply quantitative skills, we...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology

    population growthexponential growthlogistic growthpopulation ecologygrowth rateDensityAbundancecarrying capacitylinear growth
    Lesson
    6614

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    1646

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    Single Cell Insights Into Cancer Transcriptomes: A Five-Part Single-Cell RNAseq Case Study Lesson
    There is a growing need for integration of “Big Data” into undergraduate biology curricula. Transcriptomics is one venue to examine biology from an informatics perspective. RNA sequencing has largely replaced the use of microarrays for whole...

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

    bioinformaticscancertranscriptomicshigh-throughputData wranglingSingle cell RNA sequencingq
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
    1749

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    235

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    Gratitude Interventions in a Biology Course to Foster Student Persistence and Success
    College students are experiencing a mental health crisis, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is problematic because stress and anxiety impede learning. One way to combat stress and anxiety is to focus on gratitude,...

    Courses: Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Professional Development and Career PlanningProfessional Development and Career Planning Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    mental healthgratitudepositive psychologydegree commitment
    Essay
    1222

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    178

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    Squirreling from Afar: Adapting Squirrel-Net Modules for Remote Teaching and Learning
    The shift from face-to-face instruction to remote teaching and learning has proven to be a challenging endeavor for many reasons, including lack of time, resources, and inspiration. Lab courses, the "hands-on" portion of many curricula,...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Introductory BiologyIntroductory Biology Science Process SkillsScience Process Skills

    online learningbehavioral ecologyCUREsRemote teachingfield ecologySquirrelSquirrel-Net
    Lesson
    336

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    54

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    Using an Interactive Game, Gutsy, to Examine the Impacts of Pathogens and Everyday Events on the Human Gut Microbiome
    The human gut microbiome is often associated with ‘good bacteria’ in marketing campaigns for dietary supplements, probiotic drinks, and fermented foods. Yet, the dynamic and complex community of microbes that make up the gut microbiome...

    Courses: Anatomy-PhysiologyAnatomy-Physiology ImmunologyImmunology MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    bacteriaGamepathogenhealthmicrobiomediversity
    Lesson
    2822

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    555

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    Developing Data Literacy Skills and Connecting the Student Experience in the Classroom to the Community Through Biodiversity Projects
    Undergraduate education and long-term science literacy are enhanced by integrating data projects with public datasets and creating analysis summaries. Underutilized public datasets are often generated by community-based or citizen science projects...

    Courses: EcologyEcology Plant BiologyPlant Biology

    species richnessBiodiversitydisturbanceHabitat rangePopulation abundance