This activity picks up from Module 1 where students chose the plant they wanted to represent their botanical history. In that module, they each identified their plant’s family and were given its scientific name. Module 2 provides students with an overview of the four major groups of land plants (bryophytes, ferns and allies, gymnosperms, and angiosperms), as well as familiarizing students with organisms that are often mistaken for plants (e.g., fungi, lichens, algae). Students will also be introduced to the Linnaean hierarchy as applied to major plant groups. Once students become familiar with plant characteristics and distinguishing features for major groups, they will be able to identify the group their own plant belongs to.

This interactive assignment engages students in a hands-on exploration of microbial diversity and the importance of microbes in ecosystems. Designed for General Biology II and Introduction to Microbiology courses, the activity accommodates class sizes of 10-30 students. Within a 55-minute class period, students work in groups to research, analyze, and present various microorganisms. This guide includes detailed steps for instructors, a student worksheet, a PowerPoint presentation with microbial images, and quizzes to assess student learning.

The goal of this article is to describe a variation of an active learning exercise that was previously published by the same author under a similar title. The variation describes modifications instructors can use to make the exercise suitable for online course delivery. The exercise is split into several parts. Part I is taught asynchronously via three consecutive videos. Part II is taught synchronously via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (or similar). There is a follow up assignment that students do in groups as part III. The active learning exercise is a 'pasta' simulation of the gut microbiome. In the asynchronous part I of this exercise, students are virtually given a plastic bag/gut with different types of pasta/gut bacteria. Six different bags resemble the gut microbiome under six different diets. The instructor mimics an antibiotic treatment by removing two types of pasta/gut bacteria and replacing them with beans/environmental bacteria from a second plastic bag. In the synchronous part II of the exercise, students read multiple review articles and assign bacterial names to the pasta types under the respective diet. They then use the same articles to identify metabolic byproducts that these bacteria produce. In a follow up assignment that constitutes part III, students investigate signal transduction pathways in the human host cells and the potential diseases that can result from a high fat diet.

Original lesson: The Impact of Diet and Antibiotics on the Gut Microbiome