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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

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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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    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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    A Rapid Genetic Screen Using Wisconsin Fast Plants®: A Hands-On Approach to Inheritance of de novo Mutations
    Some concepts in genetics, such as genetic screens, are complex for students to visualize in a classroom and can be cumbersome to undertake in the laboratory. Typically, very large populations are...

    Keywords: mutationInheritancegermlinesomaplant lifecycle

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    Gender and Classroom Participation: A Case for Quantitative Analysis
    Teaching statistics to students using authentic research is one way to highlight the transferability and value of the material taught in the class. Below we describe an activity in Statistics for...

    Keywords: statisticsgenderpopulationProportionSampleEquality

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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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    Helping Students to Overcome STUMPS: Scientific terms undermined by meanings peripheral to science
    Many terms and phrases that are ubiquitous in everyday use have very different meanings in science. As a result, biology students often hold prior conceptions that are difficult to change. In this...

    Keywords: Evolutionfitnessprocess of sciencetree of lifemetacognitionlanguagemisconceptionsTerminologyTheory

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    Using a Sequential Interpretation of Data in Envelopes (SIDE) approach to identify a mystery TRP channel
    This lesson sought to engage students in data interpretation and to encourage critical thinking about neurophysiology in the context of temperature sensation. A family of receptors called Transient...

    Keywords: Cell communicationChannel specificity and activationLimitations of tools of Cell BiologyNeuronal Signaling

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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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    Quantifying and Visualizing Campus Tree Phenology
    Large enrollment courses present a challenge for instructors who want to engage students in authentic science practices that fit the recommendations of Vision & Change. Our lesson provides a...

    Keywords: ecologyBiodiversityphenologyplant biology

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    An Introduction to the Squirrel-Net Teaching Modules
    Although course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are gaining popularity in biology, most are designed for benchwork-based laboratory courses while few focus on field-based skills....

    Keywords: ecologybehaviortrade-offsScientific ProcessSquirrel-Net

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    Teaching Genetic Linkage and Recombination through Mapping with Molecular Markers
    Most introductory genetics courses cover genetic linkage, a core concept in the CourseSource genetics learning outcome framework. Although it is a classical genetics topic, genetic linkage remains...

    Keywords: meiosisphenotypegel electrophoresismicrosatellitesBanding PatternGenetic linkageInheritanceMolecular MarkersPhysical Linkage

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    Life Is Just a Game: An Active Learning Activity to Teach Life History Evolution
    A novel activity was designed to introduce students to the concepts of natural selection and life history using an active-learning, constructivist format. It consisted of two parts: 1) a brief...

    Keywords: Evolutionlife historytrade-offsdiversityNatural Selection

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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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    Learning the Landscape: An Active and Applied Lesson on Landscape Ecology for General Ecology Courses
    Landscape ecology is an important subtopic of ecology. As a field, it is inherently interdisciplinary and provides opportunities to teach not only content, but transferable ecological and...

    Keywords: landscape ecologyspatial scaleecosystem managementHabitat fragmentation

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    Sorry to Eat and Run: A Lesson Plan for Testing Trade-off in Squirrel Behavior Using Giving Up Densities (GUDs)
    All animals need to find and compete for food, shelter, and mates in order to survive and reproduce. They also need to avoid being eaten by predators. Optimal foraging theory provides a framework...

    Keywords: ecologyanimal behaviorAnimal form and functionAnimal nutritionSquirrel-Net

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    A Short Laboratory Module to Help Infuse Metacognition during an Introductory Course-based Research Experience
    A core competency identified in Vision and Change for undergraduate biology students is the Ability to Apply the Process of Science. Here, we describe a three-week laboratory module for students in...

    Keywords: metacognitiongene expressionScientific ProcessExperimenal DesignHypothesis Generationmodel organisms

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    Using Constructed Response Questions on High-Stakes Assessments in Large Classes With Limited Support
    Large lecture courses often rely heavily, and sometimes exclusively, on Multiple Choice (MC) exams to assess student learning. Constructed Response (CR) questions, in which students generate their...

    Keywords: assessmenttestexamLarge classconstructed responseshort answerscoring

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    A Muscular Dystrophy Case Study Illustrating the Phenotypic Effects of Mutation
    Mutations in genes can lead to a variety of phenotypes, including various human diseases. Students often understand that a particular mutation in a single gene causes a disease phenotype, but it is...

    Keywords: mutationProtein Structureethicscentral dogmahuman disease

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    Structuring Courses for Equity
    As instructors, we continually look for new ways to create equitable learning environments and support learning for all students in our courses. Recently, we have explored ways that we can increase...

    Keywords: Equitymetacognitioninclusivitycourse structure

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