The mathematical modeling of populations utilizing field-collected demographic data is an important component of lab curricula in a variety of undergraduate biology lab courses. During the global pandemic brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2020, we successfully converted an in-person lab on demographic population modeling to a lab that could be run remotely. We used a Google Earth Web Project to simulate a population study of the Northern Spotted Owl. In the simulation, students collected both demographic and mark-recapture data, based on surveying images of Northern Spotted Owls as they navigated four different wildlife transects. After conducting the survey, students used the data to determine population size using the mark-recapture method, derived a life table, calculated the net reproductive rate, and used the information to assess the current management plan for the population studied. Here we outline the lesson and provide materials required to duplicate the lab or to use Google Earth to create a similar simulation centered around a different species in any location around the globe.

Primary Image: Population Ecology with Google Earth. This population ecology lesson utilizes the Google Earth Project to provide students a simulated mark-recapture study. This lesson framework can be applied to any species or location; we chose to focus our lesson on the Northern Spotted Owl.

In this lesson, students discuss anti-predator defense mechanisms and the types of cues defenses provide to predators. Students then interpret graphs of behavior of arthropod predators when presented with different phenotypes of color polymorphic tortoise beetles. Finally, students view and reflect on an interview with Dr. Lynette Strickland, the biologist who collected the data that they interpreted.

DNA replication, mutation

Multiple Alleles

Creating a hands-on lab that conveys important information while simultaneously allowing for student autonomy can be difficult. This is particularly true for the field of microbiology, in which labs often rely on “recipe-style” instructions and materials that can be difficult to scale up for larger class sizes. For these reasons, microbiology concepts are often left out of introductory biology labs, the ramifications of which have been made apparent during the recent COVID-19 virus pandemic. Fundamental microbiology concepts, e.g., the prevention of communicable diseases, are important to teach in introductory biology classrooms – often a student's only exposure to biology in their academic careers – in order to create a healthier community as a whole. Therefore, this general biology lab introduces an active-learning microbiology lab that teaches students about the microbial world. Students are first introduced to the three major types of symbioses and apply these concepts to microbial organisms on a symbiotic continuum. Next, the students are given examples of mutualistic bacteria, i.e., the human microbiome, through a mini lecture prepared by the instructor. The students are then introduced to examples of parasitic/pathogenic microbes that can interfere with human health and cause relatable diseases (e.g., diarrhea, STDs, and athlete’s foot). Students then apply this information through a short matching game before learning common practices used to prevent the spread of these pathogens, including an active learning exercise and video on how to wash their hands like healthcare professionals. Finally, students are asked to generate their own questions about microbes before working through a handout that guides the students through using the scientific method to address their questions. This exercise thus provides students with the autonomy to ask their own questions about microbes, design their own experiments, prepare growth media their own way, and present their findings in a way that is both scalable for large class sizes and reduces the burden of lab prep common for microbiology labs. 

Primary image: Microbes sampled from the iPhone of a curious individual. Fungal colonies can be seen as fuzzy, white or colorful mounds while bacteria appear as opaque, smooth streaks on the media.

In March 2020, institutions underwent a massive transition to distance learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so little time to devise new materials to maximize learning in the new virtual environment, instructors devised a variety of innovative strategies for completing the Spring 2020 semester. While highly disruptive, the pandemic also brought mainstream attention to a wide array of scientific concepts and provided an opportunity to teach students about science in real-time. Teaching topics related to COVID-19 can be approached from many different disciplines such as virology, immunology, biochemistry, genetics, public health, pharmacology, systems biology, and synthetic biology. By bringing together lessons devised by each of the authors on their own, we offer a series of curriculum modules that can be used either collectively or in parts to provide students with a multidisciplinary look at the virus and to answer their own curiosity about the disease that will define their generation.

Primary image: 360-degree view of COVID-19. The primary image depicts a SARS-CoV-2 virion surrounded by the fields of study that are featured in our pedagogical activities.

Engaging and supporting introductory level students in authentic research experiences during required coursework is challenging. Plant bioactive compounds attract students' natural curiosity as they are found in many familiar items such as tea, coffee, spices, herbs, vegetables, essential oils, medicines, cleaning supplies, and pesticides. Over the course of one semester, students work in teams to design experiments in three experimental modules to test whether bioactive compounds have effects on Daphnia heart rate, antibacterial activity, or caterpillar behavior. In a fourth module, they research solutions to an environmental problem. Students are involved in multiple scientific practices as they make their own experimental decisions, analyze data including using statistics to carefully justify their preliminary conclusions, and have the opportunity to improve their experiment and repeat it. Iteration is also emphasized by the fact that students go through the whole process from design to presentation repeatedly for three experiments. In the process, students experience for themselves the real complexity of scientific investigations and what it takes to rigorously show cause-and-effect relationships. The pedagogical focus is on providing introductory students with a supportive structure in a way that empowers them to make informed experimental decisions and be successful. At the end of the semester, the majority of students displayed a strong sense of personal involvement and an appreciation of the difficulties of scientific experimentation in open-ended written reflections. Students reported that statistics was one of the most difficult yet valuable experiences in these labs and demonstrated significant gains on a statistical test.

Primary image: Summary of the Lesson showing that student decide on which bioactive compounds to test in three model organisms (image attributions listed in Acknowledgments).

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 laboratory lesson helps students to understand the significance of individual reactions in the pathways leading to methionine synthesis in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  Students appreciate that methionine is one of only two sulfur-containing amino acids, and students do not find it difficult to follow the "yellow" sulfur atom in the pathway. In the lesson, students use three different yeast met strains, each of which lacks a single gene involved in methionine synthesis.  Working in groups of three, students identify the missing MET gene in each of the three deletion strains by analyzing the abilities of the deletion strains to grow on several defined media in which methionine has been replaced with alternative sulfur sources. Students also determine the position of mutant genes in the pathway relative to sulfite reductase, using indicator media that reacts with sulfide, the product of the reaction catalyzed by sulfite reductase. For the analysis, students prepare serial dilutions of yeast cultures and spot the dilution series on agar plates. This lesson is part of a semester-long research investigation into the evolutionary conservation of the genes involved in methionine synthesis. The lesson can also be used as a stand-alone exercise that teaches students about biochemical pathways, while reinforcing basic microbiological techniques.

To facilitate understanding of the fundamental genetic concept of the genotype-phenotype relationship in our introductory biology students, we designed an engaging multi-week series of related lessons about canine genetics in which students explore and answer the question, "How does the information encoded in DNA lead to physical traits in an organism?" Dogs are an excellent model organism for students since the genetic basis for complex morphological traits of various breeds is an active area of scientific research and dog DNA is easily accessible. Additionally, examination of students' pets offers a relatable, real-world, connection for students. Of the more than 19,000 genes that control canine genetics, simple genetic mutations in three genes are largely responsible for the coat variations of dogs –specifically, the genes that control hair length, curl, and the presence/absence of furnishings. In our lessons, students collect DNA samples from dogs, isolate and amplify targeted sections of DNA through polymerase chain reactions (PCR), and then sequence and analyze DNA for insertions and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutations. Utilizing gel electrophoresis and bioinformatics tools, students connect how the physical manifestation of traits is rooted in genetic sequences. Students also participate in discussions of scientific literature, group collaboration to construct a final poster, and presentation of their findings during a mock scientific poster conference. Through this module students engage in progressive exploration of genetic and molecular techniques that reveal how simple variations in a few DNA sequences in combination lead to a broad diversity of coat quality in domestic dog breeds.

Primary image. Genetic Analysis of Canine Coat Morphologies. Three dogs with differing coat morphologies analyzed by students (A, B, C), an agarose gel post-electrophoresis (D), and a chromatogram of a DNA sequence highlighting a relevant mutation (E). This collage contains original images taken by authors and course participants.

To facilitate understanding of the fundamental genetic concept of the genotype-phenotype relationship in our introductory biology students, we designed an engaging multi-week series of related lessons about canine genetics in which students explore and answer the question, "How does the information encoded in DNA lead to physical traits in an organism?" Dogs are an excellent model organism for students since the genetic basis for complex morphological traits of various breeds is an active area of scientific research and dog DNA is easily accessible. Additionally, examination of students' pets offers a relatable, real-world, connection for students. Of the more than 19,000 genes that control canine genetics, simple genetic mutations in three genes are largely responsible for the coat variations of dogs –specifically, the genes that control hair length, curl, and the presence/absence of furnishings. In our lessons, students collect DNA samples from dogs, isolate and amplify targeted sections of DNA through polymerase chain reactions (PCR), and then sequence and analyze DNA for insertions and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutations. Utilizing gel electrophoresis and bioinformatics tools, students connect how the physical manifestation of traits is rooted in genetic sequences. Students also participate in discussions of scientific literature, group collaboration to construct a final poster, and presentation of their findings during a mock scientific poster conference. Through this module students engage in progressive exploration of genetic and molecular techniques that reveal how simple variations in a few DNA sequences in combination lead to a broad diversity of coat quality in domestic dog breeds.

Primary image. Genetic Analysis of Canine Coat Morphologies. Three dogs with differing coat morphologies analyzed by students (A, B, C), an agarose gel post-electrophoresis (D), and a chromatogram of a DNA sequence highlighting a relevant mutation (E). This collage contains original images taken by authors and course participants.

Typical biochemistry labs exploring basic enzyme activity rely on costly, time-consuming protein purification and rarely explore enzyme function in situ. Further, complex purification procedures leave little room for novelty in experimental design. Here we present an inquiry-driven laboratory exercise for biochemistry undergraduates and adaptations for a general education science course. Each student designs a unique experiment to test their hypothesis regarding the nature of avocado browning in a three-hour span. In the presence of oxygen, polyphenol oxidases (PPO) catalyze oxidation of phenolic compounds into quinones, the polymerization of which creates the visible browning of many cut fruits. Avocado fruit, a source of both enzyme and substrate, is a safe, low-cost vehicle for semi-quantitative experimentation. During the incubation, biochemistry students use the Protein Data Bank and primary literature to understand the structure-function relationship of PPO and other molecular components of the avocado. Non-major students discuss how pH, temperature, and substrate availability affect PPO. Visible browning pigments appear on a controllable time scale. Students can photograph results to create a figure to accompany semi-quantitative analysis of experimental results in a single lab period. Since avocados are familiar foods and select test reagents are generally recognized as safe, the optimal protocol investigated in the lab can be further applied to best practices in the kitchen in everyday life, promoting the transfer of knowledge learned in the classroom to practical environments.

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question. Much of the recent trend in society against vaccination is that the general population does not understand 1) how vaccines work and 2) how one's vaccination status can influence others. Further compounding this is rather low acceptance of the influenza vaccine, a vaccine which is sometimes not even effective against the strains predominantly in circulation. Through engaging in a conversation about the role of vaccines in immunity not only of oneself but also about surrounding persons, we can increase vaccine acceptance. Herein is a physical assay which illustrates the concept of herd immunity with differing levels of vaccinations within a population. Students will learn that low vaccination rates do little to nothing to stop disease spread and that a large portion of the population (80%) is necessary to achieve near-eradication. This lesson is able to be taught at multiple levels using supplies that can mostly be obtained at the grocery store. In addition to illustrating vaccination, this study approximates a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), enabling students to better understand that technique and how it is used to diagnose disease as well as the interrelation between antigens and antibodies.

Participation in research provides personal and professional benefits for undergraduates. However, some students face institutional barriers that prevent their entry into research, particularly those from underrepresented groups who may stand to gain the most from research experiences. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) effectively scale research availability, but many only last for a single semester, which is rarely enough time for a novice to develop proficiency. To address these challenges, we present the Pipeline CURE, a framework that integrates a single research question throughout a biology curriculum. Students are introduced to the research system - in this implementation, C. elegans epigenetics research - with their first course in the major. After revisiting the research system in several subsequent courses, students can choose to participate in an upper-level research experience. In the Pipeline, students build resilience via repeated exposure to the same research system. Its iterative, curriculum-embedded approach is flexible enough to be implemented at a range of institutions using a variety of research questions. By uniting evidence-based teaching methods with ongoing scientific research, the Pipeline CURE provides a new model for overcoming barriers to participation in undergraduate research.

The aim of this project is to help undergraduates understand the importance of making their research accessible to a wide audience and to practice this idea by deliberately designing a scientific poster that is accessible to a more inclusive audience. Students will complete an activity that helps them identify the main conclusion of their research and helps them identify the key supporting data for that conclusion. Then, students will use their main conclusion and figures to design a scientific poster. These activities are designed to be used with students that have already completed their research and have results figures.

This series of modules explores the complex world of polyploidy, including species formation, cell division, evolution, conservation, and economic importance. We focus on polyploidy across the plant and animal kingdoms using hands-on exercises and case studies.

This is cool!

Students explore how climate is changing from the recent record. Produced by Project EDDIE.

Students link human behavior in various climate change scenarios to predicted temperature outcomes at both local (their assigned Latitude) and global (Latitudinal trends) scales. This adaptation is intended to be more accessible to non-majors.

The module was used in lab following lecture material on pairwise interactions in ecology (emphasizing consumption, competition, mutualism), and parallel to community ecology (emphasizing food web structure, succession, resistance and resilience).