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    Where Does Elsie's Hair Color Come From? A "De-Simplified" Pedigree Lesson
    Pedigree analysis is part of most Genetics curricula, but the examples traditionally used in genetics courses present phenotypes as if they were entirely and inexorably defined by genotype. This...

    Keywords: pedigreeMultifactorialphenotypic variationpenetranceexpressivityquantitative variation

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    The Leaky Neuron: Understanding synaptic integration using an analogy involving leaky cups
    Students have difficulty understanding synaptic integration in neural circuits, and how spatial and temporal summation combine in a target neuron to reach threshold.  This Lesson uses small...

    Keywords: neuron physiologyspatial summationsynaptic integrationtemporal summationthreshold

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    Antibiotic Resistance Genes Detection in Environmental Samples
    Our aim is to provide an authentic research experience for undergraduate students in a variety of biology courses through collaboration between a four-year university and a community college. This...

    Keywords: geneticsenvironmentmicrobiologyUndergraduateantibiotic-resistancePCRgel electrophoresisauthentic inquiry

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    Debating Conservation: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Introductory Biology Classes
    Role-playing activities in the classroom promote students’ critical thinking, research, and communication skills. We present an activity where students debate a current controversy in...

    Keywords: Restorationtrophic cascadeecosystem function

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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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    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

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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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    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

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    Translating Co-Translational Translocation
    Understanding the process of proteins targeting to specific locations within a cell is a fundamental part of cell biology. Synthesis of proteins by co-translational translocation, which also...

    Keywords: Topologyco-translational translocationendoplasmic reticulumprotease protection assaysecretory proteinssignal sequencetransmembrane proteins

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    The impact of diet and antibiotics on the gut microbiome
    The goal of this article is to describe an active learning exercise that can be used in a variety of advanced microbiology courses, including bacterial physiology, ecology, or systems biology. The...

    Keywords: microbiomeenvironmental controlhost responsemetabolites

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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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    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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    A Momentum-First Approach to Newton’s Second Law
    Students frequently struggle with seeing the connection between forces and motion in introductory physics. This lesson is part of a combined momentum and kinematics unit that first teaches...

    Keywords: group workMomentumNewton's Laws

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    Three Research-Based Quantitative Reasoning Modules for Introductory Organismal Biology Laboratories
    We have designed three laboratory modules for an introductory organismal biology course with an emphasis on quantitative reasoning and data analysis skills. Module 1 tests for dimorphism in...

    Keywords: allometryplantsAnatomytranspirationdimorphisminvertebrate biologyarthropodsplatyhelminths

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    SEAS CURE: Exploring Coral Biology Across Scales
    Complex biological concepts (like symbiosis and coral biology) that span multiple scales and cross disciplinary boundaries are often difficult for students to understand. This complexity is...

    Keywords: microscopyAnatomySymbiosisMetabolismbleachinginvertebratedinoflagellate

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    Follow the Sulfur: Using Yeast Mutants to Study a Metabolic Pathway
    Students are frequently overwhelmed by the complexity of metabolic pathways and they think they have "learned" the pathway when they have memorized the individual reactions.  This...

    Keywords: SelectionyeastMetabolismcysteinemediamethioninemutantPathwaysulfur

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    Converting a Face-to-Face Lab to Online: An Example of Process and Outcomes for a CRISPR-Based Molecular Biology Lab
    The COVID-19 pandemic created a need to convert in-person laboratory courses into an online format in a short amount of time. For this reason, we converted our face-to-face molecular biology lab...

    Keywords: mutationtranscriptioncrisprtranslation

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    Breaking Bricks: A Hands-On Model of Enzyme Kinetics and Inhibition
    Enzyme kinetics and the impacts of inhibitors on the enzyme's maximal velocity and ability to bind substrates are important topics in cell biology and biochemistry. However, these topics can be...

    Keywords: kineticsEnzymecompetitive inhibition

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    Teaching students to read, interpret, and write about scientific research: A press release assignment in a large, lower-division class
    A central skill in any science discipline is the ability to read, understand, and discuss the primary literature of the discipline. However, teaching this skill presents unique challenges within...

    Keywords: cell biologyScience Communicationscientific literacyGraduate Teaching Assistant Professional DevelopmentBiological LiteracyPrimary ResearchWriting Skills

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    What do Bone and Silly Putty® have in Common?: A Lesson on Bone Viscoelasticity
    Without the use of real-life examples and models, actively instructing and engaging students in complex physiology topics related to bone biomechanics can be challenging. In our large-enrollment...

    Keywords: structure-functioninjuryAnisotropyHysteresisSkeletal SystemViscoelasticity

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