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    A Kinesthetic Modeling Activity to Teach PCR Fundamentals
    Most molecular biology and biological sciences students understand that the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify DNA. However, we have found that some students experience conceptual...

    Keywords: PCR

    2689

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    465

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    Bad Cell Reception? Using a cell part activity to help students appreciate cell biology, with an improved data plan and no loss in coverage
    With a veritable myriad of cell parts to cover, it is easy for educators to become locked into marathon presentations that become taxing for both the instructor and the students. While we hope and...

    Keywords: primary literatureprokaryotesCell partsEukaryotesOrganelle functionOrganelles

    1481

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    277

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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...

    Keywords: critical thinkingcentral dogmaanalogical reasoning

    465

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    An Interrupted Case Study on Urban Prairie Restoration
    Engaging students in meaningful discussions can be a challenging task for science instructors, especially in introductory courses. The story-telling approach used in case studies can increase...

    Keywords: urban ecologyPrescribed fireEcosystem Servicesecological restorationwoody encroachmentrangeland ecology

    328

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    44

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    Engaging Students in Pharmacogenetics: Patient Case Studies Using the PharmGKB Website
    Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are important regulators of drug efficacy and toxicity. Genetic variation in CYP isoforms can impact how well patients respond to medications or experience unwanted...

    Keywords: toxicologyPharmacologydrug metabolismpharmacodynamicspharmacogenetics

    1566

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    273

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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...

    Keywords: genesenvironmentMendelQuantitative traitsMultifactorialGene by environment interactions

    2431

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    361

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    Online Information Literacy: Applying the CRAAP Test to Vaccine (Mis)information
    Teaching scientific literacy skills can help combat the propagation of misinformation online. This lesson is intended to give students practice identifying reliable scientific information on the...

    Keywords: Vaccinesimmunityreliability

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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...

    Keywords: Evolutionartificial selectionSpeciationextinctionsexual selectionphylogenetic treesmechanisms of evolution

    2167

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    230

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    "Got Algae?" A Sorting Game for Introducing the Weird and Wonderful Diversity of Algae
    Algae are a fascinating and diverse organismal group, with global ecological importance, a storied evolutionary history and deep connections to both contemporary and historical human societies. Yet...

    Keywords: phylogenyBiodiversityphotosynthesisalgaeseaweedmonophyly

    3098

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    699

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    Exploring Primary Scientific Literature through the Lens of the 5 Core Concepts of Biology
    Biology students at the undergraduate level usually excel in knowing biological facts; however, they often struggle with connecting these facts to specific biological principles. In parallel,...

    Keywords: 5 core conceptsconnecting facts to principlesreading primary scientific literature

    1579

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    Expanding the Reach of Crop Plants for Food Security: A Lesson Integrating Non-Majors Students Into the Discussion of Food Diversity and Human Nutrition
    University general education (GE) courses host students with various academic backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. Engaging students in GE classes with agricultural issues can be challenging...

    Keywords: cereal graincrop diversitycrop yieldglobal food systemhuman nutritionnutrient qualitypseudocereal grainstaple cropunderutilized crop

    1290

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    238

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    Integrating Manipulatives and Animations to Visualize Holliday Junctions
    The complex molecular architecture of Holliday junctions is often challenging for undergraduate biochemistry students to conceptualize. In particular, they have difficulty translating from...

    Keywords: dna structureDNA damageDNA recombinationGene crossoverHolliday junction

    1850

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    363

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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...

    Keywords: scientific methodclimate changephenotypic plasticityfruit fliesaccclimationcold tolerancethink-pair-share

    1517

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    308

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    Using Seafood Traceability to Teach the Complexities of Natural Resource Management and Sustainability
    This lesson plan addresses the challenge of conveying to students the globalized nature and complexity of natural resource management. Specifically, it uses seafood traceability, or the ability to...

    Keywords: sustainabilityfisheriesaquacultureAnthropogenic ImpactsNatural Resource Management

    1201

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    Teaching Biodiversity with Museum Specimens in an Inquiry-Based Lab
    In response to the growth of biology datasets and broad efforts to digitize data, an increasingly important skill for science students is the management and analysis of large datasets. We designed...

    Keywords: data analysisnatural historyphylogenyBiodiversitymammalsAllen's RuleBergmann's Ruleecogeographymuseum research

    2513

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    670

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    Mice, Acorns, and Lyme Disease: a Case Study to Teach the Ecology of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
    Ebola, Zika, the recall of contaminated lettuce - these are just a few recent outbreaks making headlines. Students should be able to connect what they learn in their biology courses to explain...

    Keywords: epidemiologyEcological changeInfectious disease ecologyReservoirsTransmission cycle

    1205

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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...

    Keywords: BLASTmultiple sequence alignmentsequence similarityphylogramZika virusAlgorithmScoring Matrix

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    BioMap Degree Plan: A project to guide students in exploring, defining, and building a plan to achieve career goals
    Traditional college students begin their academic journey with a variety of ideas about the careers they might ultimately pursue. Some students have always known what they want to do, some have...

    Keywords: Career ExplorationCo-curricularsDegree Planning

    857

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    124

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    Meiosis: A Play in Three Acts, Starring DNA Sequence
    Meiosis is well known for being a sticky topic that appears repeatedly in biology curricula. We observe that a typical undergraduate biology major cannot correctly identify haploid and diploid...

    Keywords: recombinationmeiosisDNA sequenceCrossingoverchromosome structureHolliday junctionhomology

    5280

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    Knowing your own: A classroom case study using the scientific method to investigate how birds learn to recognize their offspring
    Understanding the scientific method provides students with a necessary foundation for careers in science-related fields. Moreover, students can apply scientific inquiry skills in many aspects of...

    Keywords: scientific methodNatural Selectionbrood parasitism

    3216

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    499

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