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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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    Sex and gender: What does it mean to be female or male?
    This lesson provides three activities to engage non-science major students in a discussion about sex, gender, gender identity, and sex determination. Students prepare for the lesson by reading a...

    Keywords: gendersex determinationgender identitysex

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    Graphical Organizers as Course Road Maps: Using a geologic timescale in a history of life course
    Both major and non-major biology students lack understanding of important evolutionary events, how they are spaced in time, and how they relate back to the earth system. Graphical organizers like...

    Keywords: Evolutionecologyextinctionadaptive radiationdiversification

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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

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    Learning How to Make “Good Enough” Estimations
    The ability to estimate physical quantities is a useful skill that can help develop critical thinking and scientific literacy. This lesson provides an accessible way to teach students how to...

    Keywords: MeasurementestimationcommunicationProblem Solvinggroup workUnit conversion

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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

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    Science and Society: Integrating Historical Science Materials Into an Undergraduate Biology Course
    Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2011) stresses the importance of fostering an understanding of the relationship between...

    Keywords: infectious diseasevaccinationbacteriavirusesantibiotics

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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

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    A new approach to course-based research using a hermit crab-hydrozoan symbiosis
    There are few feasible models for marine-focused inquiry laboratory activities, a notable shortcoming for instructors seeking to engage their students in meaningful, course-based research...

    Keywords: behaviorparasitismSymbiosismutualismcommensalism

    1967

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    A clicker-based case study that untangles student thinking about the processes in the central dogma
    The central dogma of biology is a foundational concept that provides a scaffold to understand how genetic information flows in biological systems. Despite its importance, undergraduate students...

    Keywords: mutationtranscriptionphenotypecentral dogmatranslationDNA replication

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    Using computational molecular modeling software to demonstrate how DNA mutations cause phenotypes
    Students require a deep understanding of the central dogma before they can understand complex topics such as evolution and biochemical disorders. However, getting undergraduate biology students to...

    Keywords: Protein Structurecomputational modelingcentral dogmaplant leaf structurePhenotype/Genotype

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    Using Synthetic Biology and pClone Red for Authentic Research on Promoter Function: Genetics (analyzing mutant promoters)
    Students often memorize the definition of a transcriptional promoter but fail to fully understand the critical role promoters play in gene expression.  This laboratory lesson allows students...

    Keywords: bacteriasynthetic biologygene regulationtranscriptionstudent researchcentral dogmacloningpromoterreporter gene/protein

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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...

    Keywords: population growthexponential growthlogistic growthpopulation ecologygrowth rateDensityAbundancecarrying capacitylinear growth

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    Defining Life: Exploring Creativity, Scientific Discovery, and Biology Core Concepts in a Disciplinary First-Year Seminar
    This unit, Defining Life, engages students in thinking like scientists, applying creativity to science, and learning biology core concepts as they explore the defining characteristics of life. This...

    Keywords: Evolutionbiologycellprocess of science

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    Meiosis Remodeled: Inclusion of New Parts to Poppit Bead Models Enhances Understanding of Meiosis
    A long-standing tradition uses strings of poppit beads of different colors to model meiosis, especially to show how segments of paired homologous chromosomes are recombined. Our use of orthodontic...

    Keywords: meiosischiasma formationchromosome recombination

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    A CURE for Salmonella: A Laboratory Course in Pathogen Microbiology and Genomics
    Rapid advances in genomics and bioinformatics, the vast amount of data generated by next-generation sequencing, and the penetration of the ‘-omics’ into many areas of biology have created a need...

    Keywords: epidemiologyresearchbioinformaticsgenomicspublic healthAntibiotic Resistant BacteriaSalmonellaDNA sequencingpathogenic bacteria

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    Using Gamification to Teach Undergraduate Students about Scientific Writing
    Despite its importance, scientific writing is often deprioritized in undergraduate biology classes. Reasons include assumed prior knowledge, lack of class time, tedious grading, and the complexity...

    Keywords: gamificationscientific writingE-LearningInstant FeedbackInteractive LearningReading Scientific PapersVIdeo/computer game

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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...

    Keywords: bacteriaGamepathogenhealthmicrobiomediversity

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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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    Exploring the Complexities of Photosynthesis Through a Comic Strip
    Photosynthesis is a conceptually challenging topic. The small scale at which photosynthesis takes place makes it difficult for students to visualize what is occurring, and students are often...

    Keywords: photosynthesislight-dependent reactionsCalvin cyclechloroplast

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