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    Implementing an online module about tropical seed dispersal and restoration in an undergraduate ecology course in the Pacific Northwest, USA
    This “Spreading Seeds” case study introduces students to ecology of seed dispersal mutualisms, and their importance for forest restoration. The implementation plan teaching notes, and associated...

    Keywords: mutualismRestoration Ecologyspecies interactionHabitat fragmentationSeed dispersalforest recovery

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    Fish, forests, and phosphorus: How do tropical fish, rainforest canopies, and volcanic groundwater inputs affect stream phosphorus cycling?
    Rainforest stream nutrient concentrations vary with groundwater source, and different stream fish species feed on aquatic and/or terrestrial prey. Explore how phosphorus cycling changes with stream...

    Keywords: nutrient cyclesBiogeochemistrykeystone speciesfood webFunctional Diversity

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    Biting into "Science Cookies": Are seed fates determined by seed size or chemistry?
    By understanding how animals make seed dispersal decisions, we can predict how plant traits affect seed survival and plant recruitment. Using wild agoutis, we experimentally tested how seed...

    Keywords: predationplant animal interactionsSymbiosisTrophic interactionsTropical ecosystemsArtificial seedsSeed dispersalTerrestrial mammal

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    What is a species? Using DNA barcodes to identify species and determine insect responses to global warming
    Combining ecology, molecular tools and physiology, students investigate insect adaptation to temperatures along tropical mountains. Students integrate species concepts, DNA barcoding and thermal...

    Keywords: global warmingbeetleBiological species conceptCephaloleiacrticial thermal maximumcryptic specieselevational gradientsthermal limitstropical insectsZingiberales

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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

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    Exploring Indigenous Viewpoints in the Undergraduate Biology Classroom: An Environmental Case Study Incorporating Hawaiian Traditional Ecological Knowledge
    Changing science education to foster greater equity and inclusion for Indigenous students will require effort from instructors and institutions. Instructors can help by including Traditional...

    Keywords: ecologycase studyenvironmentsystems thinkingTraditional ecological knowledgeindigenous knowledgehawai'idecolonizing scienceNative knowledgeFish ponds

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    Colorful wings send messages: Why are butterfly wings colorful?
    Red postman butterflies live in tropical rainforests and have a mix of red, yellow, and black on their wings. These bright colors may warn predators or attract mates. Explore whether color alone or...

    Keywords: Quantitative reasoningadaptationpredationfield workEvolution by natural selection and mutation

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    Causes and consequences of resisting herbivory: How long-lived plants avoid damage from diverse short-lived insect herbivores
    This module guides students through decades-long studies of tropical plant-insect interactions to elucidate the ecology and evolution of plant defenses while encouraging students to consider the...
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    Evaluation of DEIJ practices in learning spaces
    Our Accelerating Systemic Change Network (ASCN) Working Group 5 is a group which focuses on DEIJ - Diversity, Equity, Inclusive and Justice. Taking into account the evolution of learning...

    Keywords: stemassessmentUndergraduatescienceFacultyriosDEIJASCNlearning space

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    Biomes lecture with active learning activities and a worksheet set
    Learning Objectives: *Identify the characteristics of each biome *Know the major drivers of global climate patterns *Discern how 2 factors largely determine terrestrial biomes *Evaluate the...

    Keywords: lecture slidesgraphsglobal warmingclimatebiomesConvergent Evolution

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    Genome Solver - A bioinformatics pipeline for community science
    The Genome Solver was an NSF-funded project developed as a way to train undergraduate life science faculty in basic web-based tools for bioinformatics. As part of the project we developed a one-day...

    Keywords: phylogeneticsbacteriophagebacteriaHorizontal Gene transferGenome Analysis

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    Bacteria to Brains in Backyard Coyotes: An Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Case Study
    Our interdisciplinary pedagogical case study explores the differences between rural and urban coyotes at the levels of organismal and community ecology. The focus is on how coyotes’ gut...

    Keywords: dietanimal behaviorimmune systemmicrobiomeNervous systemgut-brain axisImmunoReachdysbiosisCoyoteCytokines

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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...

    Keywords: geneticscell biologyneurosciencesystems biologyScience Fiction

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    An Introduction to Revealing Hidden Figures through Data Sleuthing
    In this introduction to hidden figures in natural history collections (NHCs), students will read an article that gives a unique historical perspective of museums and will then participate in a...

    Keywords: identitysocial justicenatural history collectionsAttributionBCEENETdigitizationRepresentationcourse-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs)hidden figuresdata democratizationrestorative practice

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    The Importance of an ORCID
    This lesson introduces students and instructors to the use of ORCIDs (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), and walks students through the process of registering for an ORCID. This module also helps...

    Keywords: ORCIDidentitysocial justicecourse-based research experiences (CUREs)AttributionBCEENETdigitizationRepresentationhidden figuresdata democratizationrestorative practice

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    An Inquiry-Based Project Added to Traditional Labs: Hands-On Fish Awareness Research in Freshwater Systems Conducted by First-Year Biology Students
    This project involves students in an inquiry-based project added to the introductory biology laboratory course for majors in fall 2019. Research has shown that student engagement in authentic...

    Keywords: Evolutionbehaviorichthyology

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    A CURE in traits and species distributions: Reproductive modes, range sizes, and natural history collections
    This course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) focuses on developing hypotheses about how traits influence the range sizes of species. Topics with substantive content include symbioses,...

    Keywords: Evolutionbiostatisticsecologynatural history collectionsSymbiosisspecies distributionsherbariumplant functional traitsLichenReproductive biologyAppalachian mountains

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    The Stomata Lab. What the past can tell us about our future - using fossil and modern plants to model atmospheric carbon dioxide
    Students will develop a mathematical model of the relationship between atmospheric CO2 and the number of stomata on a leaf (Stomata Index). They will evaluate the model graphically, statistically,...

    Keywords: introductory biologyQuantitative reasoninginterdisciplinaryclimate changeregressionEcology and EvolutionStomataNIQBC2. Data and GraphsC4. mathematical modelsC3. Statistical AnalysisSmithsonian

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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...

    Keywords: Zoologydrawingdrawing-to-learnice breaker

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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...

    Keywords: gene regulationtranscriptiontranslationFragile X syndrometriplet repeat expansionsex linkagemetabolic pathway

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