This is a laboratory exercise appropriate for sophomore level students. No prior math is required, and lab exercise can be adapted if computer facilities are available.
By manipulating a simple kinematic model representing the leg and foot, students can get hands on information about the interaction of bones and muscles in humans. Having worked with the model, they then are able to predict and analyze the properties of bone/muscle systems in other vertebrates and understand how these systems have become modified during the course of evolution for a particular life style. By the end of the exercise, students have learned both traditional information (cellular structure, names of bones, taxonomy of vertebrates) and how to project the knowledge they gained from working with a model to the biological world.
This laboratory exercise can be used to examine the anatomical, physiological, behavioral, and ecological components involved in reproduction in animals using a simple animal model.
Methods for the collection and the culturing of a variety of experimental organisms used in teaching biology are discussed. The organisms include protozoans, hydra, planaria, vinegar eels, aquatic snails, Daphnia, brine shrimp, frogs, turtles, flesh flies, and Tenebrio. Culturing parameters, overall care, handling, diet, feeding procedures, and specific environmental conditions are examined.
Mark-recapture techniques were used to determine the size of a white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) population in a woodlot in Bowling Green, Ohio. Sherman live traps were used to capture the mice, which were then marked by attaching an ear tag. Population size estimates were obtained using a Lincoln-Peterson method, and a Jolly method.
College calendars that include a January intersession afford opportunities for extended field trips involving international travel. An ideal destination for a January field biology course is the East African savanna with its unique abundance of large mammals. This chapter provides essential details for planning and conducting a camping safari in the major game parks of Kenya and Tanzania.
These exercises are taken from a vertebrate physiology course, and use either a human subject or a dissected frog, thus providing relatively simply alternatives that may suit your needs. Nerve conduction velocity can be measured in the frog sciatic nerve with recordings of the biphasic action potential on the outside of the nerve trunk. Absolute and relative refractory periods can also be determined. Conduction velocity in the human can be obtained from electromyograms taken from the fourth and fifth fingers following stimulation of the ulnar nerve.
This laboratory exercise utilizes a zoological collection to teach vertebrate zoology in an introductory biology lab. Many colleges are near major vertebrate collections kept in zoos and aquariums. Most of these institutions maintain education departments with extensive information about individual collections. Major zoos are engaged in research in the areas of conservation, behavior, genetics and reproduction of endangered species, and animal health and nutrition. Students utilize the animal collection to observe and identify distinguishing characteristics of the various orders of vertebrates, relate structures to physiological function, correlate physiological adaptations to habitat, and observe and interpret behavioral characteristics.
In this computer-assisted exercise first-year students explore the fundamental concept of allometry: the study of size and its consequences. Students examine the relationship between size and shape and learn how to quantify changes in proportions. They investigate how North American mammals of various sizes change proportions to compensate for changes of surface area and volume. Interactive computer programs aid each student in calculating standard dimensions from an Audubon illustration, process class data, identify lines of best-fit (using linear regression), and statistically test whether relationships between selected morphological variables exhibit isometric or allometric change.
This workshop demonstrates on-line use of the national electronic bulletin board, complete with electronic mail started in 1987 by the National Association of Biology Teachers. Once on-line, 14 special interest areas are available, such as AP- Biology, magazine and book reviews, ABT Journal, NABT membership services, question and answer forum, software reviews, and swap/sale of used equipment. Also available for downloading onto your computer are extensive files of labs, graphics, and handouts. Discussions of this and other databases will emphasize the power of these new professional communication tools. Note: This workshop is not included in the published proceedings volume because it was not submitted by the author.
This exercise demonstrates the crucial role insulin plays in blood glucose homeostasis in mammals. Three pairs of fasted rats are tested in each of three different regimes; one rat of each pair is normal and the other is diabetic. The first pair is administered an oral glucose load and a placebo injection of saline. The second pair is administered an oral glucose load and an insulin injection. The third pair is administered an oral placebo of water and a placebo injection of saline. The blood glucose levels of the six rats are monitored at 20-minute intervals for 2 hours by taking blood samples from each rat's tail.
This exercise, which is adaptable for introductory biology students or advanced physiology classes, uses a simple radio telemetry system for measuring body temperature from unrestrained and undisturbed animals. The advantages of this system over traditional probe-type thermometers are enormous. The laboratory will include practice in calibration of the transmitters, instruction in inserting the transmitter into the animals, and experience in interpreting the data obtained.
This exercise is designed for experienced students and is meant to introduce the students to basic surgical procedures and to show a technique for intravenous infusion and blood sampling of live rats.
