This Web site, created to complement the Museum's Darwin exhibit, examines the man and theory that changed the course of science and society.
This BioBulletin Web site takes an in-depth look at the fires in Indonesia that burned millions of hectares of rain forest -- a local tragedy with global consequences. The site includes text, videos, photographs, and interviews with key scientists.
Light is often a limiting resource for plants, which can be stimulated to higher photosynthetic rates and higher growth rates by increasing the amount of light they receive. However, many plants are well adapted to living in low-light environments, like the shaded understory of a forest. In this lab, students test working hypotheses about the photosynthetic responses of representative pioneer and primary forest tree species that might account for the successional patterns observed in the forest. Students collect data on light intensity in gap and understory patches, on growth rates of representative pioneer and primary species, and on photosynthetic rates of representative species under gap and understory light conditions.
This field and laboratory investigation is an open-ended exercise designed to test predictions from island biogeography theory using various-sized fragments of leaf litter arthropod communities as "island" systems. Litter islands are constructed in a deciduous forest and students collect samples of leaf litter and extract arthropods using the Berlese Funnel technique. After arthropods are collected, students learn identification techniques, compute diversity indices, construct dominance-diversity and species area curves, and draw conclusions about the effects of fragment size and insularity on arthropod community diversity.
Understanding Biodiversity presents an overview of biodiversity, its importance and relevance to humans, all living things, and the Earth. It includes species pages and a template to engage and involve students in real-life data collection.
