We present a drawing discovery lab that crosscuts multiple disciplines in biology and links concepts in genetics and evolutionary thinking to enhance understanding of the genotype-to-phenotype transformation. These combined concepts are also linked to ecological frameworks in nature through the model of biological plasticity. Students and teachers explore drawing skills to flesh out the future of a predator while engaging with the computational software MEGA, which introduces students and teachers to nucleotide changes, mutations, variation, phylogenetics, and molecular evolution.

The current COVID-19 pandemic shows how little many people know about viruses. Yet apart from COVID-19, the world has observed epidemic spread of another SARS virus, of the Ebola virus, and of the Zika virus during the last two decades. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is still one of the most dangerous viruses worldwide. Some types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) are the main cause of cervical cancer. Cases of measles, also caused by a virus, increase in numbers due to lack of access to or refusal of vaccination. Furthermore, there is the widespread belief that viruses are similar to bacteria and may thus be fought off with antibiotics. Yet viruses have no metabolism. Thus, antibiotics cannot work against them, but may instead cause more harm than help, given side effects such as killing beneficial bacteria (e.g., in the intestine). Second, misuse of antibi-otics is one key factor in the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains – a strong public health issue nowadays. This article informs readers what viruses are, how they are distinct from bacteria, how they may have evolved, and how diseases they cause may be prevented. Additionally, insights from studies concerning students’ virus-related knowledge are summarized.

This article presents the development and testing of a content-based video exchange model as a motivating means to introduce lower secondary English learners to English as the language of science. The central goal was that students reach the required curricular content knowledge despite learning some of the content in a foreign language. The model was tested in German seventh-grade classes ( n = 133), in which the students communicated with U.S. eighth-graders on the topic of ecology. Following field trips to a forest and a desert ecosystem, students presented and compared biotic and abiotic data in videos. The German students’ content knowledge and their motivation were assessed in a pretest/posttest design. They met the curricular outcome requirements, and their motivation was remarkably high at both test times. We discuss implications for further application of the exchange model.

Students sometimes struggle to organize complex concepts and visualize the connectedness of hierarchical groups, yet much of the biological sciences depends on ranking, ordering, or grouping of information. Diagnosing disease, converting units, and evolutionary relationships all follow stepwise ranking of groups of information. This article presents a cooperative, low-stakes, inexpensive method for novice students to organize hierarchical information. As an example, students work together placing and rearranging animal cards according to taxonomic and evolutionary relationships along a string using shared characteristics. The cards provided address Next Generation Science Standards pertaining to inheritance/variation (LS3) and unity and diversity (LS4). I provide a detailed description of the activity as well as the tools needed to perform this lesson.

What do animals eat? What animals are present in a habitat? How many animals are present? How was the habitat different years ago? How old is this animal? These are all questions that scientists want to answer. We know the answers to questions like these from data collected by scientists in a variety of ways. Science is evidence based, and conclusions are arrived at after multiple replicable experiments. Presented here are six ecological scenarios that demonstrate how scientists arrive at answers to population ecology questions. These lessons can be implemented as single activities that supplement a high school ecology or environmental science curricular unit or as a multiday rotation of stations in which students practice field sampling techniques used in population and community ecology, designed to answer ecological questions. Student scientists learn how to use indirect sampling methods to estimate abundance, density, age, and population size using mark–recapture, transects, and quadrats to model authentic field methods. They calculate species richness and biodiversity with a simplified Simpson’s diversity index and describe species age structure and distribution using tree rings, sheep horns, and camera trap images. Students also learn to display population data appropriately, graphing survivorship and richness vs. area and studying trophic pyramids.

The proposed lesson, a model active-learning activity designed to give college students experience in synthesizing information and developing a solution, can be used to address socioscientific issues across fields. As a consequence of climate change, global temperatures are anticipated to rise. This rise in temperature is expected to have a negative impact on agricultural systems due in part to increased disease incidence and decrease in crop yields. This activity is written in the context of plant pathology and agricultural systems to emphasize the importance of collaboration and communication among scientists or experts in different fields to address global agricultural issues. Students will gain an understanding of the importance of agriculture on a global scale and work together to develop a solution through the development of an agricultural policy.

Because mosquitoes are a public health concern, several chemical insect repellents have been created and used for many years. While some of these products, such as DEET and permethrin, are effective at controlling mosquito populations, their excessive use may lead to animal, human, and environmental harm if applied improperly. Understanding the life cycles of mosquitoes, their feeding preferences, and their responses to natural plant extracts could enable scientists to develop more environmentally safe but still effective insect repellents. Various types of plant extracts (e.g., American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana ) hold promise. In order to study such plant–mosquito interactions, we had to establish basic husbandry practices for successfully rearing and maintaining mosquito populations in the lab. We discuss the protocols we have used for housing mosquitoes and creating plant extracts and offer suggestions for how students can use both for inquiry.

The inability of students to properly understand the principles underlying osmosis and tonicity leads to misconceptions that further impair their ability to apply these concepts to physiological situations. We describe a simple and inexpensive visual exercise using beads and water to mimic solutions. Using these model solutions, students will understand the concepts of tonicity and osmolarity. The hands-on exercise is supplemented with a worksheet that reinforces the concepts they learned in doing the activity. This exercise has broad application with respect to both the level of students targeted and the courses in which it can be utilized, and it is flexible enough to personalize for each situation.

Effective laboratory and classroom demonstration of microbiome size and shape, diversity, and ecological relationships is hampered by a lack of high-resolution, easy-to-use, readily accessible physical or digital models for use in teaching. Three-dimensional (3D) representations are, overall, more effective in communicating visuospatial information, allowing for a better understanding of concepts not directly observable with the unaided eye. Published morphology descriptions and microscopy images were used as the basis for designing 3D digital models, scaled at 20,000×, using computer-aided design software (CAD) and generating printed models of bacteria on mass-market 3D printers. Sixteen models are presented, including rod-shaped, spiral, flask-like, vibroid, and filamentous bacteria as well as different arrangements of cocci. Identical model scaling enables direct comparison as well as design of a wide range of educational plans.

The Hardy-Weinberg principle (HWP) is an application of the binomial expansion theorem that is foundational to the field of population genetics. Because of the important history of the HWP in answering how variation is preserved during evolution, and the ability of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) to detect natural and sexual selection acting on a trait, the HWP is a staple of the introductory biology undergraduate curriculum in the United States. Introductory courses often cover a wide range of topics in ecology and evolution, and it is important that students have enough time during the semester to grasp the foundations of population genetics. At the same time, information needs to be presented clearly to ensure that the student gains a correct understanding of the HWP. This article discusses the importance of the HWP to undergraduate education in biology and describes misconceptions from the instructor’s perspective. These misconceptions are pervasive and risk undermining a proper understanding of the HWP. We provide examples adapted from university- and AP-level standardized tests.