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: 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 ...

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 ...

news: Watch the Archive of the Cyberlearning Research Summit (UPDATED)

Submitted by colleen on 01-11-2012 1:26pm EST

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Does your brain need a little stimulation to get back in gear for the spring semester? On Wednesday, January 18, top figures from the educational technology world met in Washington, D.C. to discuss new trends in cyberlearning. You can be part of the conversation by watching the short TED-style talks given by 32 speakers from academia, non-profits, and industry, and then adding your ideas and reactions to a wiki. You can see the program and speaker bios and watch the YouTube videos at: more ...

news: Search the new Macaulay Library for animal sound and video examples

Submitted by colleen on 11-10-2011 1:58pm EST

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The Macaulay Library, the world's largest scientifically annotated collection of animal behavior recordings, has just launched an all-new interface. The search tools to find audio and video examples have been completely redesigned from the ground up for more user-friendly searching by common or scientific name, location, recordist, catalogue number, or even type of behavior. Some of my favorite features of the new search results are the ability to see thumbnails of the video results and whether sounds have been classified as calls, songs, or mechanical noises. Researcher interviews and ambient sounds from the NPR and National Geographic Radio Expeditions series are now available through the Macaulay Library search results, which adds a whole new component to the biodiversity media available for educational users. There is also a mobile version of the site. As always, there is more ...

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