Online Research in Biology

What traits can be used to understand evolutionary relationships among organisms? In the investigation Sound Trees, students examine morphological behavioral traits of owls in order to make hypotheses about how they are related. By learning to access the Macaulay Library and interpret graphic representations of sound, they also prepare to do their own independent inquiries. View

What defines a species? And what are the conservation implications of the species definitions we choose? In the investigation Species Concepts in Birds, students examine sound and video recordings of pairs of species to look for evidence of possible hybridization or behavioral reproductive isolation. View

Are the distributions of breeding birds in New York state increasing, or decreasing? To what extent do these changes appear to result from human-caused changes in the habitat? Using data from two Breeding Bird Atlas projects conducted 20 years apart, students investigate Birds in Human Landscapes. This activity uses Google Earth and the New York State Breeding Bird Atlas database. Useful resources are also provided to create your own national or international adaptation of this lesson. View

Why are some bird species so elaborately plumaged? Why do the sexes look alike in some bird species but not others? In the investigation Ornamentation in Birds, students use the Birds of North America Online and the Macaulay Library to learn about the evolutionary forces driving sexual dimorphism. View

news: Article on Teaching with the Macaulay Library

Submitted by colleen on 05-04-2012 9:51am EDT

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In the May issue of the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, there is a Tips and Tools article on teaching with the Macaulay Library and Raven software. Our undergraduate intern, Ileana Betancourt was the first author. The American Society for Microbiology just decided to make the journal completely open access, so we encourage you to check it out as a resource if you teach introductory or general biology, microbiology, and related subjects! While designed primarily for undergraduate educators, the journal publishes articles that feature good pedagogy at all levels. By registering with the JMBE site, you can receive electronic Table of Contents alerts when new issues are published twice a year.

Also in this issue, you'll find the abstracts from this year's ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators. This is a high-quality summer conference with a variety of more ...

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news: Early-bird conference registration deadlines approaching (UPDATED)

Submitted by colleen on 04-26-2012 10:51am EDT

If you're trying to pinch pennies to travel to a science or education meeting this summer, consider this a helpful reminder that several advance registration deadlines are looming! Here's a short list in order of deadlines:

Evolution 2012 in Ottawa is shaping up to be quite interesting with a wide range of symposia, workshops, and mini-conferences. At the start, our collaborators Sam Donovan and Kristin Jenkins are organizing an Education Symposium on "Teaching with Data", and at the end, there will be a concurrent iEvoBio conference on informatics, including a "Software Bazaar." Early-bird registration is due April 30.
Early registration for the Animal Behavior Society meeting has been extended to May 8. There will be several educational symposia and workshops, including talks by past winners of the distinguished teaching award, and an education poster session.
Late-breaking poster abstracts for the Ecological Society of America meeting are due May 10, with early-bird registration until June 14. Between now and May 15, you can apply to present a poster or get a scholarship to attend the Public Participation in Scientific Research conference that will proceed the ESA meeting.
Early-bird registration for the North American Congress for Conservation Biology has been extended to May 11.
This just in: registration for the BioQUEST summer workshop on teaching with data has been extended to May 15!
Early-bird registration for the North American Ornithological Conference is due May 15. In addition to

more ...

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news: BioQUEST Summer Workshop on Data Literacy - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 15

Submitted by colleen on 03-20-2012 5:27pm EDT

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Are you a faculty member interested in learning how to teach with biological and ecological datasets? The well-regarded and long-standing BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium will be focusing their annual summer workshop on the topic, "Making a Difference with Data." This conference is relatively inexpensive and promises to be highly interactive and thought-provoking. There will be a mix of presentations and focused time for group work on determining how to use the resources and techniques presented in your classroom.

We are very pleased to have been invited to lead one of the three investigative workshops. Ileana Betancourt and I will be presenting on "Using Geo-referenced Animal more ...

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news: Used a lesson? Tell us what you think!

Submitted by colleen on 02-09-2012 11:14am EST

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On the Investigations page, you can see a growing collection of resources to help college biology and environmental science instructors teach with citizen science data and animal behavior recordings. We are assessing the lessons learned so far in this project and deciding where to put our efforts next, in terms of developing guided and open inquiry resources, offering professional development workshops, and developing other supports such as assessment resources. In order to do this effectively, we want to hear from you!

Whenever you download an investigation, you should receive an email with a link to a survey asking you about your goals and outcomes for using the lesson. If you have used one of the ideas from this site, either in original or modified form, please contact us so we can be sure to get you an easy follow-up questionnaire, if you've lost yours or never received it. It's up to you whether you want to take it anonymously or have us get in touch with you to discuss ways to improve teaching with Cornell Lab data. Either way, we really appreciate your help to reflect on how these investigations are working, and will enter you in a drawing for a birding iPhone app or animal sounds CD. more ...