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    Space Mission Ecology: Making Connections Among Science Disciplines Through the Lens of a Unique Plant
    With this case study, we aim to increase awareness of essential services plants provide to society, as well as the importance of fundamental aspects of ecology for other disciplines and the...

    Keywords: ecologycollaborationplant biologyScience CommunicationBioregenerative Life SupportInterdisciplinary Connections

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    Evaluating Local Adaptation and Conservation with Life Tables
    This module contains a sequence of activities designed for an undergraduate ecology lesson on stage-structured population models or life tables that use published data. Two versions are provided:...

    Keywords: ecologypopulation modelmatrix modelsclimate changelife cyclessensitivity analysispopulation ecologylife tablestage-structured modelsnet reproductive rateconservation planning

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    A Kinesthetic and Collaborative Activity to Improve Conceptual Understanding of Chemical Equilibrium
    While teaching in large lecture halls, it is challenging even for experienced teachers to hold their students’ attention for the entire class period. Owing to the large enrollment in STEM...

    Keywords: collaborationdemonstrationchemistrykinesthetic learningequilibriumhands-on learning

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    Malaise Trap Project: Involving Undergraduate Students in Network Science
    A multi-week project for upper division undergraduate students to participate in network-level science, while simultaneously learning classic entomology skills of specimen collection and...

    Keywords: entomologynetwork science4DEE Framework

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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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    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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    The Great Petunia Carnage of 2017: A Clicker Case Study Using Petunias to Describe the Effect of Genetic Modification on the Biochemistry of Flower Color and Phenotype in Plants
    In this single class period case study, students examine the difference between genotype and phenotype by studying the mechanisms by which commercially available petunias have been bred to have...

    Keywords: case studyGenetic ModificationsBiochemistry of Flower ColorGMO regulationsGenotype-Phenotype Connections

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    Evaluating the potential for immune escape: how likely is an antibody to protect against a specific SARS-CoV-2 variant?
    Commercial antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein have been successfully used to treat people with COVID-19. Unfortunately, as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, new variants have appeared that can...

    Keywords: course based undergraduate research experiencesBLASTmolecular modelingSARS-CoV-2antibodyNextstrainiCn3DSequence alignmentStructure alignment

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    Breaking It Down: What Factors Control Microbial Decomposition Rates?
    Demonstrating and modeling changes in ecosystem processes in the laboratory classroom can be logistically difficult and expensive. This complexity often leaves little time for students to generate...

    Keywords: data analysishypothesis testingdata visualizationdata managementMicrobial RespirationDecompostionAbiotic ConditionsResults Communication

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    Spreading seeds: How can a better understanding of seed dispersal improve tropical forest restoration?
    Learn about seed dispersal by animals and how this ecological process can be harnessed to facilitate forest recovery through a forest restoration experiment in Costa Rica. Apply what you learn to a...

    Keywords: conservationRestorationtropical forestsbiodiversity lossSeed dispersal

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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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    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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    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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    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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    Marsh Madness: Using Video Games and a Case Study to Explore Food Webs and Ecosystem Services in Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve
    As the complexity and interconnectedness of our world increases, we are continually expected to be capable of complex, non-linear thinking in order to successfully tackle and solve the challenges...

    Keywords: food webssystems thinkingGame Based LearningEcosystem Servicessocio-ecological networks

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    Between a rock and a hard place. What can turning rocks tell us about land-use change impacts on animals living in a rock outcrop?
    Unique rock outcrops in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India provide a setting that challenges students to develop a study to assess the impact of land-use change on threatened animals...

    Keywords: conservationagricultureland useamphibianstropicalbiodiversity losslateritic outcropopen natural ecosystemsreptilesrocks

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    Exploring Coyote Morphology: Introduction to Research and Study Design
    This module is designed as a first foray for freshman-level (novice undergraduate) students into science literacy, research design, and use of museum resources in research activities. The module...

    Keywords: statisticsnatural history museumsdistance learningscience literacyStudy Designintraspecific variation

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    Introduction to Plant Phenology with Museum Specimens of Desert Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha)
    Students engage in hands-on exploration of phenology by working with digitized herbarium specimens, particularly focusing on prickly pear specimens from the UTEP herbarium. They learn to identify...

    Keywords: botanyclimate changephenologyherbariumcactus

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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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    The Power of Place: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Studying Urban Ecology, Local Apple Trees and Disease Susceptibility
    Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) offered early in an undergraduate student’s career have the potential to include a greater number and diversity of students than...

    Keywords: Disease ecologyurban ecologyUrban food forestsUrban heat islandsGenetic resistance

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