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    Why do Some People Inherit a Predisposition to Cancer? A small group activity on cancer genetics
    Before undergraduate students take a genetics course they generally know cancer has a genetic basis and involves the proliferation of cells; however, many are uncertain about why only a subset of...

    Keywords: cancerInheritance patternsProbability calculationProto-oncogeneTumor Suppressor Gene

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    Real World Scenarios in Non-Majors Biology
    Students in non-majors’ biology courses may not choose careers that require biology content knowledge; however, all will encounter science in their lives. We redesigned a non-majors...

    Keywords: geneticsVaccinesScientific ProcessGMOsviruses

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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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    Joel E. Greengiant Learns About Peas: From Nucleotides to Selection
    This case study follows purveyors of peas, Joel E. and Jolene Greengiant, as they learn about the origin, biochemistry, genetics and eventual artificial selection of sweet (wrinkled) peas, all in...

    Keywords: geneticspopulation geneticsEvolutionintroductory biologycase studybiologyResources @ NSF - NCCSTSmeiosisMendel’s peaspea plantPisum sativumMendel’s Lawsmolecular geneticsmutationnucleotide insertionartificial selectionstarch synthesisstarch branching enzymeplant domesticationlegumesResources @ QUBES - Teaching & Reference

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    The Science and Ethics of Gene Drives: An Active Learning Lesson in Genetics
    Coursework connecting biology to socially relevant issues and ethical questions can help students think about biology in interdisciplinary terms. Gene drives represent one topic involving both...

    Keywords: bioethicsCRISPR/Cas9Genetic modificationGene drives

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    Studying phylogeny by producing phylogenetic trees of primates using morphological and molecular characteristics.
    An assignment constructing phylogenetic trees using shared, derived morphological traits and molecular differences among 18 primate species and two outlier species has been developed. Skull and...
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    Cladistic Analysis Lesson Using Bats
    Phylogenetic analysis can be a challenging concept to grasp for undergraduate biology students. This cladistic analysis lesson utilizes the amazingly diverse Order Chiroptera as a model to...

    Keywords: batsphylogeny and classificationVertebrate Morphologycladistic analysisbat evolution

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    A Modeling Exercise in Sexual Selection using a Student-Created Bird Species
    Evolution-centered lessons at the undergraduate level can often be jargon-heavy, propagate misconceptions if taught ineffectively, and be uninteresting to students who may not see the relevancy of...

    Keywords: Evolutionfitnesssexual selectionNatural Selectionintersexual selectionmate choice

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    Building creatures with the central dogma of biology
    Activity that demonstrates how nucleotide changes can affect phenotypes

    Keywords: amino acidsnucleotidesRNADNAgenotypephenotypecentral dogma

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    A CURE in traits and species distributions: Reproductive modes, range sizes, and natural history collections
    This course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) focuses on developing hypotheses about how traits influence the range sizes of species. Topics with substantive content include symbioses,...

    Keywords: Evolutionbiostatisticsecologynatural history collectionsSymbiosisspecies distributionsherbariumplant functional traitsLichenReproductive biologyAppalachian mountains

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    2013-Boscolo-Stellato-Undergraduate study of harmonic and parametric motion of a simple spring-mass system from motion waveforms
    In this paper, we describe a laboratory exercise that caters to beginning students while giving those with more background an opportunity to explore more complex aspects of the motion.

    Keywords: laboratoryexperimentspring massair frictionapparatuswaveforms

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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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    GMC: Genes, Mutations and Cancer - Group Concept Map Development
    It has been shown that active learning strategies used in the classroom can increase student learning and retention of information. We generated an active learning exercise that can be used in the...

    Keywords: mutationcancerCell Division

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    The Science Behind the ACTN3 Polymorphism
    A common polymorphism in the alpha-actinin-3 (ACTN3) gene results in the lack of ACTN3 protein expression in fast twitch muscle fibers in ~16% of the human population (1). This genetic change has...

    Keywords: protein structure and functionhuman genetic variationskeletal muscle physiology

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    Science of Sorting
    Children possess an innate curiosity about the natural world. This Discovery Trunk explores the topic of sorting, or classification, in the study of life science.

    Keywords: species interactionsphylogenyscience educationPropertytaxonomyindividual traitsLife ScienceSortOrganizationReproductionclassifycharacteriesticlivingnonlivingobjectsadvantagedichotomous keyliving systemsoffspringphysical traitbehavioral traitcladecladogramtaxonomistnatural worldkingdomsbinomial nominclatureone class periodgradesK-8K-8

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    Healing the scars: Tropical rainforest carbon cycling. Does it matter which tree species you plant?
    This online module explores how differences in traits of tropical tree species translate into differential effects on the carbon cycle, integrating ecological information across scales and the...

    Keywords: climate changecarbon cyclingtropical biology4DEE Frameworkforest restorationtropical tree speciessoil carbon

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    Origin and Diversity of Armor in Girdled Lizards
    The girdled lizards (Cordylidae) are a family of distinctively armored lizards endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. Students examine lizards in this family to classify the lizards based on morphological...

    Keywords: Evolutionphylogenetic analysisHerpetologynatural history collections3D modelsVertebrate MorphologyCT scanoVertConvergent Evolution

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    Phylogenetic analysis using collections material: interpreting trait evolution by comparison of morphological and molecular genetic hypotheses
    Exercise spans two weeks, includes homework, and involves some groups of animals as well as plants. Emphasizes re-interpretation of morphological trait evolution following molecular genetic...

    Keywords: Evolutionmorphologyphylogenylaboratoryplantsbiological collectionsmolecular analysis

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    Predicting and classifying effects of insertion and deletion mutations on protein coding regions
    Mutations in genes can affect the encoded proteins in multiple ways, and some of these effects are counterintuitive. As for any other knowledge, students must create their own deep understanding of...

    Keywords: mutationcentral dogmatranslationframeshift

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    Why Meiosis Matters: The case of the fatherless snake
    A compelling reason to learn something can make all the difference in students’ motivation to learn it.  Motivation, in turn, is one of the key attitudes that drives learning.  This story...

    Keywords: meiosismitosissex determinationAsexual reproductionParthenogenesis

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