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Introductory Biology

  • DNA barcoding research in first-year biology curriculum


    Learning Objectives
    • List the major processes involved in scientific discovery
    • Design experiments with appropriate controls
    • Create and evaluate phylogenetic trees
    • Define taxonomy and phylogeny and explain their relationship to each other
    Week 5-6: Ecology
    • Define and measure biodiversity and explain its importance
    • Catalog organisms using the morphospecies concept
    • Geographically map organisms using smartphones and an online mapping program
    • Calculate metrics of species diversity using spreadsheet software
    • Write a formal lab report
    Week 7-11: Cellular and Molecular Biology
    Week 12-13: Bioinformatics
    • Trim and assemble raw DNA sequence data
    • Taxonomically identify DNA sequences isolated from unknown organisms using BLAST
    • Map and report data in a publicly available online database
    • Share data in a formal scientific poster
  • Set Up Fly Traps: The photo is of the fly traps after being set up for the experiment

    Gotcha! Which fly trap is the best? An introduction to experimental data collection and analysis

    Learning Objectives
    Students will:
    • design and execute an experiment
    • collect, organize, and summarize data
    • analyze and interpret data and make inferences