Abstracts for Major Workshops
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* Denotes a replay of a workshop done at a previous ABLE
(year), though many have been revised reflecting new information
and added wisdom through experience!
WEDNESDAY, June 4, 2003
Major workshops #1 to 7, 8:30 AM and repeated at 2:00 PM
1 – Scientific Inquiry* (1990)
George Boone, Susquehanna University
In this exercise, students examine several components of reasoning
with the purpose of helping the student see how these are
used in developing a personal problem solving technique. The
students work through two exercises: determining an object
in a sealed box and identifying the rules that determine responses
in a computer simulation. A procedure for creating teams in
the laboratory will also be demonstrated.
2 – Bacterial Gene Transfer* (1997)
John Mordacq and Roberta Ellington, Northwestern University
This laboratory exercise investigates one form of genetic
recombination in bacteria. This process, called conjugation,
occurs when one bacteria transfers DNA to another bacteria.
Two different strains of Escherichia coli are used: an Hfr
(high frequency of recombination) strain with the F (fertility)
factor integrated into the bacterial chromosome acting as
the donor, and an F-strain lacking the fertility factor acting
as a recipient. The F-strain is auxotrophic for certain genetic
markers and the ordered transfer of markers from the Hfr strain
to the F-strain is used to map gene locations on the bacterial
chromosome.
3 – Using Ant and Butterfly Pollination to Involve Students
in Scientific Exploration* (2000)
Mary Blain Prince and Mary N. Puterbaugh Mulcahy, University
of Pittsburgh
In this exercise, students are presented with a list of all
reported cases of ant pollination. This list consists of a
total of about 20 species of plants. Students compare this
list to much larger (and incomplete!) lists of bee-pollinated,
bird-pollinated, and butterfly-pollinated plants. The students
then generate hypotheses for why reports of ant pollination
are rare, test one or more hypothesis, and present their findings.
Their hypotheses can range from the failure of scientists
to look hard enough to the lack of hairs on an ants’ body.
In our ABLE presentation, we will give participants experience
with techniques that may aid the students’ investigations,
and we will demonstrate the following two ways that an instructor
can expand the lab: a test of whether glandular secretions
on the bodies of ants may kill or damage pollen and a test
of the ability of live butterflies and ants to learn to recognize
plant cues.
4 – Using Dermatoglypics from Downs Syndrome and Class
Populations to Study the Genetics of a Complex Trait*
(1989)
Thomas Fogle, Saint Mary’s College
Dermatoglyphics is the study of epidermal ridges on the hands
and feet. Ridge patterns and counts develop prenatally, are
inherited, and show quantitative variation. This exercise
introduces the preparation and interpretation of finger and
palm prints for quantitative analysis. The techniques are
simple, inexpensive, and can be adapted as an exercise on
genetics for beginning or advanced students. Palm prints from
individuals with Down Syndrome serve as a population sample
to statistically test for differences with the class population
and also create an opportunity to discuss the cause and effects
of Down Syndrome.
5 – DNA Microarray Data Analysis
A. Malcolm Campbell and Laurie J. Heyer, Davidson College
Genomics is the rage now and a part of this excitement is
due to DNA microarrays. DNA microarrays have come on the scene
very recently but their impact has been impressive already.
We have seen recent publications that document the developmental
pathway of Drosophila, the “stemness” of stem cells, and how
DNA microarrays can be used to help diagnose diseases such
as cancer. In this workshop, participants will learn how DNA
microarrays are produced and how experiments are designed
with them. The bulk of this session will be data analysis
using real DNA microarray data. Participants will be given
raw data files and software that they will analyze and explore.
There will be a series of raw data files that increase in
complexity. Since much of genomics is focused on “discovery
science”, this module is designed to help students learn how
to make their own discoveries. Participants will be shown
how to match papers with free online datasets so they can
continue to explore on their own. Each participant will receive
a CD-ROM that contains raw data files and free software for
data analysis.
6 – Invertebrate Locolympic
Charlie Drewers, Iowa Sate University
Invertebrates use a marvelous array of mechanisms for locomotion
within their terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic environments.
Studies of invertebrate locomotor behavior and biomechanics
provide unusual opportunities for instructors and their students
to interrelate principles of mathematics, physics, and biology
in engaging ways. This workshop revolves around an original
videotape (entitled: “Invertebrate LocoLympics”) which documents
a wide range of invertebrate locomotor mechanisms. Each participant
receives a free copy of the tape which may be reproduced for
educational purposes. In the workshop, participants first
consider an overview and comparison of the main types of locomotor
patterns and mechanisms used by all major invertebrate taxa.
They then use the videotape to analyze and compare various
parameters of locomotor performance in a variety of invertebrates,
including nematode, oligochaete, leech, Daphnia, copepod,
centipede, millipede, and springtail. Types of locomotion
that are documented include undulatory swimming, swimming
with appendages, walking, running, jumping, ciliary gliding,
and others. Hard-copy images, derived from frame-by-frame
video replay, are also provided. Using measurements that participants
take directly from videotape images, calculations and comparisons
are made of trajectory, forward velocity, wave velocity, wave
frequency, and Reynolds Numbers for various species. Concepts
of biomechanics are reinforced with an array of hands-on models
that illustrate spatial relationships, timing, and coordination
of locomotor movements in these animals.
7 – All the “Plants” That Aren’t Plants
Lloyd Stark and Clayton Newberry, UNLV
Compared to charismatic trees and flowering plants, the so-called
nonvascular plants-consisting of mosses, lichens and even
the [non plant] mushrooms-are poorly known by the public,
merely background and topdressing over the landscape. They’re
often skipped over in botany courses with little more than
a nod in their direction. Their ecological significance, however,
is generally unappreciated. The purpose of this workshop is
to increase participants’ familiarity with these unpretentious
though important organisms in the terrestrial biota. One hour
will be devoted to each of the three groups mosses, lichens
and mushrooms, covering the general phytography, morphology,
life cycle, ecology, evolution and ethnological history of
each. Live material will be on hand for dissection, examination
and discussion. User-friendly field manuals for the public
and technical publications for the researcher will also be
introduced. Participants will learn to recognize a few common
taxa, and learn some foundational skills and resources to
further their own familiarity hereafter.
THURSDAY, June 5, 2003
Major workshops #8 to 14, 8:30 AM and repeated at 2:00 PM
8 – The Scientific Method: An Introduction Using Reaction
Time* (1998)
Robert Kosinski and John Cummings, Clemson University
Students learn the basics of experimental design and statistical
analysis by making a hypothesis about reaction time, gathering
data with software that allows a variety of reaction time
tests, and then analyzing the results using a chi-square median
test (also included in the software). Finally, they write
a report. Testing reaction time creates a high level of student
interest, and the median test is relatively easy to understand.
However, the students learn that answering even the simplest
questions requires a thoughtful experimental design and adequate
replication.
9 – Introducing Students to Conservation Genetics Using
Sturgeon Caviar and Other Fish Egg Samples* (1999)
Kathleen A. Nolan, Nancy Rosenbaum,Claire Leonard, Anthony
Catalano, Phaedra Doukakis, Vadim Birstein, and Rob DeSalle,
Saint Francis College
In this laboratory exercise students will learn how to: (a.)
Isolate DNA from individual sturgeon, salmon and other fish
eggs,using A Qiagen kit method (b.) Set up control and species-specific
PCR reactions using primers that have been developed for DNA
from sturgeon species and (c.) Employ electrophoresis and
methylene blue and/or ethidium bromide staining to visualize
the PCR products. This laboratory exercise allows students
to contribute to a growing DNA database on endangered species.
10 – Investigating Polyploidy in Marigolds using Fingernail
Polish
Kimberly Hunter, Salisbury University
Approximately 70% of all higher plants are polyploid (have
more than two sets of chromosomes). One of the common effects
of polyploidy is an increase in cell size. Here is a lab using
microscopes and fingernail polish that looks at increases
in the size of stomatal guard cells in marigold leaves as
a consequence of polyploidy. Although growing the plants takes
several weeks, the majority of the lab work can be accomplished
in a 2-3 hour period. This lab can serve as a precursor to
discussions about chromosomes, cancer, plant development,
photosynthesis, and data collection.
11 – Analysis of Cytogenetic Events Using Sordaria
fimicola
Steve deBelle, UNLV
To study what happens to genes and chromosomes when reproductive
cells are made, patterns of inheritance in plants and animals
have certain limitations. Deliverance from theses limitations
can be realized in fungi that keep the four products of meiosis-
“ascospores” in a membrane-bound sac or “ascus”. For this
laboratory we will use Sordaria fimicola and two obvious
genetic markers of ascospore color to analyze the cytogenetic
events of many individual meioses. This is a three hour lab
for a general genetics course which is a 300-level course
at UNLV that all Biology Majors must take.
12 – Using Problem Based Learning (PBL) to Connect Concepts
with Laboratory Application
Deborah Allen and Robert Hodson, University of Delaware
In problem-based learning (PBL), complex problems rooted in
real world situations are used to motivate students to discover
interconnections between important concepts and in doing so
acquire essential skills. Working in groups, students learn
to analyze problems, identify and find needed information,
share their research findings, and formulate and evaluate
possible solutions in a process that resembles that of scientific
inquiry. In this workshop participants will explore several
ways in which PBL strategies can be linked to or used as the
basis for laboratory activities in a course or curriculum.
Participants will be introduced to PBL by working through
a sample problem (“Who Owns the Geritol Solution”), then discuss
options for connecting the problem’s essential concepts to
existing laboratory activities, both traditional and inquiry-oriented.
In the second part of the workshop, participants will have
the opportunity to work through a PBL problem designed for
introductory biology, in which resolution of the problem depends
on observations made in the laboratory, using probes and computer
data acquisition systems.
13 – Expanding the Nature of Science in Teaching Laboratories:
From Descriptions of Behaviour to Hypothesis Formation and
Evaluation
Ralph Prezler, New Mexico State University
ABLE participants will consider how this laboratory exercise
has evolved from an exercise presented in the 1981 ABLE workshop
/ conference which emphasized ethological observation (Larsen
and Meyer 1984), to a guided inquiry lab in which students
are given the hypotheses and methods (Preszler and Haas 2000),
to a more open inquiry experiment in which students generate,
evaluate, and present their own experiments (Preszler and
Haas 2002). After using this example to initiate a discussion
of the more general process of developing inquiry-based laboratory
experiments, we will conduct the latest version of the exercise.
In this hands-on stage of the workshop, participants will
make a series of initial observations, and consider a set
of prompts, as each group proposes a hypothesis about the
social behavior of crickets. These hypotheses typically address
aspects of cricket’s dominance hierarchies and mating behaviors.
Each group will evaluate their hypothesis by designing and
conducting an experiment which involves manipulating aspects
of the cricket’s social or abiotic environment and observing
the effects on cricket behavior.
14 – Discover the Mohave Desert’s Secret Wetlands – A
Unique and Useful Habitat
John Bare, UNLV (FIELD TRIP 7:30 AM – 10:00 AM)
Participants will be transported from the UNLV campus to the
Clark County Wetlands park via van pool. At the park’s Nature
Center, a brief lecture will introduce the hydrology, geology,
archaeology, flora and fauna of desert wetlands, including
the function and benefits of wetlands to the ecosystem. Then
participants will go on a guided tour of the Nature Center
trails to observe and identify native flora and fauna, pariticpate
in field exercises involving soil chemistry, water quality,
etc.
FRIDAY, June 5, 2003
Major workshops #15 to 18, 8:30 AM
15 – Diversity of Photosynthetic Pigments* (1994)
Alex Motten, Duke University
The prominence of color in the biology of algal divisions
is emphasized by their names. Using readily available source
materials, students extract polar and non-polar photosynthetic
pigments from red, brown, and green algae and from a cyanobacterium
and an angiosperm. The polar pigments are then quickly and
cleanly separated by thin layer chromatography on narrow strips
of plastic-backed silica gel with minimal amounts of solvent.
The resulting patterns can be used to infer the origins of
chloroplasts in eukaryotes and the phylogenetic relationships
among the source taxa or to illustrate a wider assortment
of accessory pigments than those found in angiosperms alone.
16 – Revisiting A Practical Guide to the Use of Cellular
Slime Molds for Laboratory Exercises* (1992)
Donna Bozzone, St. Michael’s College
The cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum,
is particularly well suited for laboratory instruction in
a variety of areas, including cellular biology, developmental
biology, biochemistry, and population biology, and for a range
of educational levels, such as introductory courses, upper-division
courses, and independent student research projects. As with
the workshop presented in 1992, I will demonstrate methods
to: (a) prepare and maintain stock cultures of D. discoideum,
(b) grow and harvest cells for experiments, and (c) set up
several experiments. I will also present information about
the lab work my students have done using both D. discoideum
and another species that is quite promising for use by
students, D. purpureum.
17 – Expression Vectors Used in Project-Oriented Teaching
Laboratories* (1995)
Susan Karcher, Purdue University
One lab of a multi-week project taught in an upper level cell
and molecular biology laboratory is given. Isolation of sufficient
quantities of rare proteins from biological tissues can be
difficult. These native proteins are often required for raising
antibodies, and for studying enzymatic or regulatory function.
Expression vectors are used to obtain large quantities of
proteins. The cDNA encoding a protein is cloned into an expression
vector. The fusion protein is over-expressed in E. coli,
and large quantities of the fusion protein are obtained by
affinity chromatography. Participants isolate proteins from
E. coli, and separate proteins by SDS-polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis.
18 – Discover the Mojave Desert’s Secret Wetlands – A
Unique and Useful Habitat
John Bare, UNLV (FIELD TRIP 7:30 AM – 10:00 AM)
Participants will be transported from the UNLV campus to the
Clark County Wetlands park via van pool. At the park’s Nature
Center, a brief lecture will introduce the hydrology, geology,
archaeology, flora and fauna of desert wetlands, including
the function and benefits of wetlands to the ecosystem. Then
participants will go on a guided tour of the Nature Center
trails to observe and identify native flora and fauna, pariticpate
in field exercises involving soil chemistry, water quality,
etc.
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