Sampler: Intro Bio: Eco/Evo
Our Introductory Biology: Eco/Evo Sampler contains demonstration versions of the following labs.
Demo video availableCourse Pack | SimUTextLab: Darwinian Snails $3$5An introductory lab that examines the assumptions behind natural selection using an engaging interactive simulation of green crabs preying on periwinkle snails. Students are able to "violate" each assumption in turn to explore whether evolution by natural selection still occurs. Exercises are targeted to address common misconceptions among biology students. Suitable for non-majors and introductory biology courses.
View sample screen Level: Intro Key Concepts: Experimental design | Genetic variation | Heritability | Natural selection Courses: Evolution | Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics | Intro Bio: Non-majors | Marine Biology Reviews: "Our experience with [the Isle Royale and Darwinian Snails labs] last Spring in our majors introductory course was excellent. " Dr. Lawrence Blumer, Morehouse College "[I like] the way [the Snail lab] walks the students through the requirement for natural selection one by one, and shows what happens if each of the requirements isn't met. I also like that it has students working with real data." Dr. Jennie Hoffman, Everett Community College "[In the snail lab, I liked] the active student participation. Students were very involved and excited about 'being a crab' and actually eating the snails. Students reinforced their ability to graph data and made use of critical thinking skills; reinforcement of the fact that it is populations, not individuals, that evolve and the factors that effect evolution of populations; the knowledge that they could study an evolutionary process in real time. " Dr. Laura Pannaman, New Jersey City University |
Lab: Isle Royale $3$5This popular laboratory explores basic population biology concepts including exponential and logistic growth and carrying capacity. It is based on the textbook example of a predator-prey system involving wolves and moose on an island in Lake Superior. Students start out by characterizing the growth of a colonizing population of moose in the absence of predators. Next they introduce wolves, and study the resulting predator-prey cycles. Do predators increase or decrease the health of their prey populations? Students investigate this question by sampling the energy stores of moose with and without wolves present. Finally, they try changing the plant growth rate to see how primary productivity influences population dynamics.
View Sample Screen Level: Intro Key Concepts: Carrying capacity | Population growth | Predator-prey dynamics Courses: Ecology | Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics | Intro Bio: Non-majors | Population Biology Reviews: "Our experience with [the Isle Royale and Darwinian Snails labs] last Spring in our majors introductory course was excellent. " Dr. Lawrence Blumer, Morehouse College "Our experience with [the Isle Royale and Darwinian Snails labs] last Spring in our majors introductory course was excellent." Dr. Lawrence Blumer, Morehouse College "Our intro ecology course did the new Isle Royale lab this week and all of the instructors agreed that the new version is GREAT - so thanks for the great educational tool!!!! We all love how you worked global climate change into the new version and we also love the t-test at the end." Billy Flint, James Madison University |
Lab: Keystone Predator $3$5This laboratory recreates the famous experiments of Paine and colleagues in the Pacific Northwest with the sea star Pisaster (and 8 other marine intertidal species). Students do transplant experiments to figure out competitive relationships and sample gut contents to construct a food web. Next they use their data to predict what will happen when each predator is removed from the system. Finally, they do the removal experiments and compare their results with their predictions. This is a great introductory lab in that it explores basic ecological concepts and although it is not difficult, it asks students to think critically, synthesizing experimental data to make predictions. It also provides a nice foundation for discussions of the important roles that different species can play in a community.
View sample screen Level: Intro Key Concepts: Competition | Ecological communities | Food webs | Keystone species Courses: Community Ecology | Conservation Biology | Ecology | Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics | Intro Bio: Non-majors | Marine Biology Reviews: "I had great success using your EcoBeaker™ labs, Keystone Predator and Sickle-Cell Alleles, in my BIO102 General Biology II class (4 lab sections, 96 students) this spring semester. " Dr. Daniel Vogt, Plattsburgh State University, General Biology |
Lab: Nutrient Pollution $3$5What will happen if your city starts dumping lots of extra sewage into your local lake? This laboratory provides students with tools to explore nutrient enrichment, eutrophication, and bioaccumulation of toxins. Using a simulated lake containing phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish, they try varying phosphorus and nitrogen inputs, and record and graph the resulting algal and oxygen levels in the lake. They also sample species at each trophic level to determine what would happen if the sewage were to contain a biomagnifying toxin such as mercury. At the end of the lab they write a "letter-to-the-editor" about their findings and provide recommendations for the city regarding the consequences of sewage in the lake. This lab is used widely in non-majors and introductory biology classes as well as intro environmental science classes.
View sample screen Level: Intro Key Concepts: Aquatic communities | Bioaccumulation of toxins | Eutrophication | Limiting nutrients | phosphorus Courses: Applied Ecology | Aquatic Ecology | Ecosystems | Environmental Science | Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics | Intro Bio: Non-majors |
Lab: Sickle-Cell Alleles $3$5An interactive simulation of the classic malaria and sickle-cell anemia system is used to explore natural selection and genetic drift. Students examine African villages with different malaria death rates. First they use the Hardy-Weinberg equation to calculate the expected proportion of sickle-cell carriers from HbS and HbA allele frequencies. Then they examine how the allele frequencies change with changes in malaria risk and with different "founder" scenarios. Finally they explore genetic drift without selection by looking at different-sized villages where both diseases have been cured. An optional advanced section allows independent exploration of evolutionary forces using a basic population genetics model with adjustable parameters for selection strength, immigration rate, and population size. This is one of our most popular labs for introductory biology courses. View sample screen Level: Intro Key Concepts: Genetic drift | Hardy-Weinberg Equation | Natural selection Courses: Evolution | Hardy-Weinberg | Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics | Intro Bio: Non-majors | Population Genetics Reviews: "We used the Sickle-Cell EcoBeaker™ lab with all 1100 freshman enrolled in our majors biology course in the fall of 2003. The results truly impressed me — I felt like the students had a much stronger grasp of Hardy-Weinberg theory as a result of this interactive exercise and exam scores went up as well. " Dr. Linda Walters, Central Florida University, Majors Introductory Biology "I had great success using your EcoBeaker™ labs, Keystone Predator and Sickle-Cell Alleles, in my BIO102 General Biology II class (4 lab sections, 96 students) this spring semester. " Dr. Daniel Vogt, Plattsburgh State University, General Biology "This is just a quick email to let you know that the Sickle-cell lab went very well last week!! The TAs thought it went very well and the feedback from number of students I spoke to was also very positive. ...I was very pleased to be able to introduce this topic into a compulsory course here at the Technion in a Faculty that has major emphasis on molecular biology and less on populations, ecology and evolution." Dr. Debbie Lindell, Technion, Israel |
Lab: Flowers and Trees  $3$5Introduces students to evolutionary trees using an interactive simulation of Columbine flower diversification. Students observe Columbine populations split and diverge while an expanding evolutionary tree illustrates each population's history. Students further learn to interpret evolutionary trees by creating their own and reconstructing the history of mystery populations. Suitable for both introductory and advanced biology and evolution courses.
View sample screen Level: Intro or Advanced Key Concepts: Evolutionary trees | Neutral evolution | Phylogenetic reconstruction | Tree-thinking Courses: Evolution | Intro Bio: Eco/Evo/Genetics | Intro Bio: Non-majors | Macroevolution Reviews: "I did tell you that I like EvoBeaker very much. The programs compliment each other really well and I'd love to work with several of them that highlight common ancestor, but I am limited in the time I have. I am going to try to fit in two of them, near the end of the semester. I think 'Flowers and Trees' with its phylogenetic trees and either Dogs or HIV, to get the sequence comparisons. " Dr. Robert Hodson, University of Delaware, 600 Student Introductory Biology Class "I was very impressed with the lab exercises when I ran through them last night — they are not only fun, but move seamlessly through the logic of building cladograms. I will definitely incorporate the lab into my future classes. " Dr. Robin Andrews, Virginia Tech University "I just wanted to let you know that we've completed our first lab of the three as of yesterday [Flowers and Trees]. The students thought it was "easy" and yet, were challenged as they continued to work through the exercises. It was not only promising, but reinvigorating for the Teaching Assistants who had taught it prior to this semester. Thank you!! We're looking forward to completing the next one soon." Dr. Faye Farmer, Arizona State University, Introductory Biology Course |
