This module uses a “linked-classes” approach to teaching socio-environmental
synthesis. A three-week (6 class) module is taught in two different classes (one
in biology, one in policy studies). Students conceptualize and conduct research
around a common focal question from specific stakeholder/expert positions. Our
focal question was: “Should the Federal Energy Regulat...
Estimating the population size of animals is an important task for wildlife biologists, who can use the data to assess the health of a population. It requires diligent observation skills coupled with the ability to use empirical models that effectively determine the number of animals based on field surveys. The most common method for estimating the population size of animals is mark and recapture....
As invasive plant species spread across landscapes, costs of their economic and environmental impacts have sparked interest in regulating their sale and transport. Laws now prohibit the sale and movement of some species. State and local governments are drafting regulations that will affect horticulture, plant nurseries, and options for landscape design. Awareness of invasive plant species is...
Grasping the mathematics underlying the species-area relationship in island biogeography can be difficult for students if they experience it passively. This exercise allows students to take an authentic data set of bird species richness from different islands in the Solomon Islands Archipelago and fit a species-area relationship (S=cAz). Students explore a biological concept in a hands-on...
In this activity, students will play the role of a field biologist quantifying and explaining animal behavior using the scientific method (observation – hypothesis – prediction – test). Powerpoint slides contain a series of photos of scavengers at deer carcasses. Students will form hypotheses about the behavioral interactions in the photos, then make predictions that could be used to test their...