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    Using a Primary Cell Culture Model to Study the Neural Extracellular Matrix
    The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides structural support to cells, but also has key roles in mediating cell adhesion, cell signaling, and differentiation. While this topic is discussed in the...

    Keywords: Neural extracellular matrixPerineuronal netPrimary neuronal culture

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    Snail Races: An Inquiry-Based Approach to Learn Invasive Species Ecology
    Inquiry-based lessons allow learning that is hands-on and student-driven, fostering engagement and retention of knowledge in any discipline. Here, we use this learning framework to engage students...

    Keywords: ecologyenvironmentInvasive SpeciesScience CommunicationScientific InquiryDispersal

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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...

    Keywords: population biologycarbon cyclingSpecies-habitat interactions

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    Data, Distributions, and Hypotheses: Exploring Diversity and Disturbance in the Tallgrass Prairie
    Proper hypothesis generation, data handling, graphing, and communication are essential skills that undergraduate majors in biology are expected to master. However, students rarely get hands-on...

    Keywords: Quantitative reasoningRestoration EcologyScience process skillstall grass prairie ecosystem

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    Coevolution or not? Crossbills, squirrels and pinecones
    This case reinforces the concept of coevolution as a reciprocal change in genetic structure between or among two or more populations, by having students analyze and interpret data, build a...

    Keywords: fitnessCoevolutionCo-adaptation

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    Helping Students to Metacognitively Read Scientific Literature With Talking to the Text
    Reading primary scientific literature enhances students’ understanding of material, increases their self-efficacy, and critical thinking skills. However, scientific articles often present...

    Keywords: scientific literaturereading comprehensionmetacognitionScience process skillsTalking to the TextDense Scientific Texts

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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...

    Keywords: modelingEvolutionecologyagent-based modelingGenetic Driftenvironmental scienceNatural Selectioncompetitive coevolutionsimulation modelingevolutionary reasoning

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    Evaluating the Quick Fix: Weight Loss Drugs and Cellular Respiration
    One key to student success in introductory and cell biology courses is a foundational knowledge of cellular respiration. This is a content area in which students often harbor misconceptions that...

    Keywords: data analysisCellular RespirationElectron Transport ChainEnergy transformationsMitochondriaOxidative phosphorylationWeight loss drugs24-dinitrophenol (DNP)

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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...

    Keywords: OsmosisActive transportMass flowRenal reabsorptionRenal secretionTransport across membranes

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    Going Remote: An Online Adaptation to Using a Primary Cell Culture Model to Study the Neural Extracellular Matrix
    In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors have modified materials to transition to a remote learning platform. The challenge for science instructors has been to design lab exercises that...

    Keywords: remote learningExtracellular matrixNeural extracellular matrixPerineuronal net

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    A Lesson on Matter and Energy at the Organismal Scale: Linking Patterns and Processes Across Diverse Taxa
    Pathways and transformations of energy and matter (PTEM) are a conceptually challenging but essential component of biological literacy. Curricular gaps about PTEM nevertheless remain; although...

    Keywords: plantsenergyAnimalsfungimatterorganismal scale

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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

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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

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    Targeting Misconceptions in the Central Dogma by Examining Viral Infection
    Understanding the central dogma and how changes in gene expression can impact cell function requires integration of several topics in molecular biology. Students often do not make the necessary...

    Keywords: datatranscriptionvirustranslationprotein functionmembrane transportPredictions

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    Discovering Prokaryotic Gene Regulation with Simulations of the trp Operon
    The trp operon exemplifies important biological concepts, including the central dogma of molecular biology, feedback inhibition, and gene regulation. For this reason, regulation of the trp operon...

    Keywords: prokaryotesgene regulationattenuationfeedback inhibitionrepressible operontrp operon

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    Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs) to Help Students Learn Genetics Concepts
    Many video resources exist to teach Mendelian genetics, but most consist of passive delivery of information rather than active construction of knowledge by users. We have created two interactive...

    Keywords: genotypephenotypeallelespedigreedominanceHardy-Weinberg equilibriumInheritance

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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...

    Keywords: EvolutionGenetic DriftBottle neckFounder effectRandom evolutionary processes

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    Discovering Cellular Respiration with Computational Modeling and Simulations
    Cellular respiration, a common topic among introductory and cellular biology curricula, is a complex biological process that exemplifies core biological concepts, including systems, pathways and...

    Keywords: Cellular MechanismsCellular RespirationFermentation

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    From Cre/LoxP to Fate Maps: Inclusive and Equitable Approaches for Engaging Developmental Biology Students in Experimental Design
    Engaging first generation underrepresented minority students in the process of inquiry in developmental biology is important to increase diversity in future graduate STEM education. One important...

    Keywords: experimental designC. elegansCre/LoxPFate mapheart developmentheart regenerationmousereporter constructzebrafish

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    Modeling Strep Throat Detection, Infection, and Spread Using an SIR Model and the Vensim Simulation Software
    The overarching goal of this lesson is to provide students with an opportunity to gain experience making and using biological models. Biological modeling can be used to investigate complex,...

    Keywords: infectious diseasebiological modelingSIR model

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