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 Reviewing Classroom-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Submitted by ileana on 08-09-2011 11:58am EDT

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Check out a new article in the summer issue of CBE Life Sciences Education, reviewing alternative ways to involve more undergraduates in research, aside from the traditional mentor-apprentice model. Written by AAAS Policy Fellow Cynthia Wei and NSF Program Officer Terry Woodin, the article provides examples of how faculty at diverse institutions are involving their students in authentic biological research experiences, often as part of large and introductory courses. By using online databases, new tools and resource banks, faculty can provide students with access to cutting-edge research opportunities in genomics and related fields, even if they don’t personally run a research lab. 

The article calls upon faculty to implement one of the key AAAS Vision and Change recommendations: to more ...

news: State of the Birds 2011 Report Features eBird Data

Submitted by ileana on 08-08-2011 3:51pm EDT

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Since 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been releasing an annual report entitled, The State of the Birds, with help from partnering organizations including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For the first time, the 2011 State of the Birds report  was created using citizen science data and maps from eBird. The theme of this year’s report is “Birds on Public Lands and Waters,” and a major finding was that more than 300 bird species have half or more than half of their U.S. distribution on public lands and waters. This information highlights the importance of public agencies in the conservation and monitoring of bird populations. eBird’s animated year-round occurrence maps were used to estimate the stewardship and responsibility of each public agency. The closing of the report encourages people to continue contributing their bird sightings to eBird.

The State of the Birds report could be used in many environmental lessons to teach about the roles of more ...

news: Article on Using Science Pipes to Explore Large Datasets

Submitted by ileana on 05-25-2011 11:37am EDT

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Looking to bring a wealth of bird and habitat data into your classroom? Science Pipes provides a user-friendly way to query and visualize large online databases, without needing to teach students how to use Excel or other statistical software. Students can currently explore data from eBird, Project FeederWatch, or the World Wildlife Fund’s WildFinder to design and answer their own questions about biodiversity.

We'd like to bring your attention to a great article by our colleagues from the Crossing Boundaries project, "Science Pipes: A World of Data at Your Fingertips" highlights how students used data they accessed through Science more ...

news: Lesson on variation within a species and its role in natural selection

Submitted by ileana on 05-20-2011 9:44am EDT


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One of the most talked-about lessons at our 2009 AOU workshop was Dan Ardia’s “Natural Selection & Variation: A Hands-on Lesson Using Bird Specimens.” One thing that makes this lesson so flexible is that it provides hands-on experience measuring beaks and plumage from real bird specimens, but lets the instructor decide if they want to use museum skins, calibrated digital photographs, or both. This interactive lesson, suitable for  high school or  college students, provides an opportunity to explore the  importa nce of intraspecific variation in natural selection. Using museum study skins or digital photographs, students practice observing, measuring, and then analyzing more ...

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