You are here: Home / Resources / Browse Resources

Open. Adaptable. Free.

Resources created by our members and partners.

The QUBES platform hosts hundreds of teaching materials, reference materials, and cloud-based software free to use and adapt using open Creative Commons licenses.

Text Search:
Applied Filters
    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

    566

    views

    4

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    511

    views

    33

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    476

    views

    62

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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...
    837

    views

    64

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Constructing Phylogenies using Herbarium Specimens
    This lab is intended as an introduction to a plant systematics course. Students work in groups of two to apply what they have learned about plant structures to develop a character matrix based on a...

    Keywords: botanyphylogenyherbariumdistance learningPlant systematicscharacter matrix

    266

    views

    79

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Introduction to Assessing Biodiversity: Bivalves of the Rio Grande Area
    Learning to identify taxa is a key skill gained in many systematics classes. This module aims to introduce students to concepts and resources for identifying organisms and assessing species...

    Keywords: Biodiversityspecies distributionsdistance learninginvertebrate zoologyMuseum databases data literacyidentification

    236

    views

    80

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    1857

    views

    106

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    1543

    views

    86

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Cross-Course Public Health Project on Infectious Disease
    The need for collaborative, public health education has never been more important. Students increasingly require necessary skills in effectively communicating critical information to the general...

    Keywords: infectionpublic healthVaccinespathogenesisantibiotics

    472

    views

    483

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    The Stomata Lab. What the past can tell us about our future - using fossil and modern plants to model atmospheric carbon dioxide
    Students will develop a mathematical model of the relationship between atmospheric CO2 and the number of stomata on a leaf (Stomata Index). They will evaluate the model graphically, statistically,...

    Keywords: introductory biologyQuantitative reasoninginterdisciplinaryclimate changeregressionEcology and EvolutionStomataNIQBC2. Data and GraphsC4. mathematical modelsC3. Statistical AnalysisSmithsonian

    1633

    views

    227

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    316

    views

    90

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    890

    views

    352

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Comparing the Effect of Manure Compost vs. Fertilizer on the Growth of Raphanus sativus
    Manure compost is an organic fertilizer made up of manure or natural nitrogen contents, and typically only supplies crops with nitrogen. Synthetic fertilizer is a man-made compound mixture made...

    Keywords: agricultureplants

    287

    views

    93

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Sanger Sequencing by Hand: Using Paper Clips to Demonstrate Chain Termination
    Sanger sequencing is commonly taught with a hands-on approach. Sanger sequencing involves chain termination by dideoxynucleotides, because they are missing the oxygen on the 3’ carbon atom,...

    Keywords: nucleotidessequencingDNAgel electrophoresisChain Termination

    1034

    views

    203

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Urbanization: Exploring urbanization’s effect on leaf litter decomposition in six streams of Puerto Rico using R
    Urbanization effects stream ecosystems by introducing pollutants to the streams.. This has detrimental effects on the life of the streams such as the aquatic macroinvertebrates who are in charge of...

    Keywords: aquatic macroinvertebratesStream ecologyurbanizationsurban runoff

    880

    views

    486

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    3469

    views

    166

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Exploring Detritus-Based Food Webs in Streams
    This two-part field lesson for mid- to upper-level undergraduates connects allochthonous inputs to the invertebrate consumers that depend on them. After preparing students with background...

    Keywords: aquatic macroinvertebratesfunctional feeding groupallochthonousorganic matterleaf packRiver Field Studies Network

    737

    views

    282

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Garden Variety Mutations: Using Primary Data to Understand the Central Dogma in Large-Lecture Introductory Biology
    The ability to interpret and create an argument from data is a crucial skill for budding scientists, yet one that is seldom practiced in introductory courses. During this argumentation module,...

    Keywords: mutationtranscriptiongene expressioncentral dogmatranslationgel electrophoresisGenotype/Phenotype

    3191

    views

    211

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    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

    3732

    views

    761

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Bioinformatics is a BLAST: Engaging First-Year Biology Students on Campus Biodiversity Using DNA Barcoding
    In order to introduce students to the concept of molecular diversity, we developed a short, engaging online lesson using basic bioinformatics techniques. Students were introduced to basic...

    Keywords: geneticsorganismal biologybioinformaticstaxonomyDNA Barcodingspecies concepts

    1677

    views

    208

    downloads

    0

    comments

    0

    adaptations

    Close

    Home

    Search