Life Sciences Commons^™

Scents Of Place: Exploring Self, Place And Planet Through Botanical Fragrance, Jennifer L. Kitson, Donna M. Sweigart

Open Educational Resources

This learning module provides instructors with an experiential field guide for introducing students to the United Nations Inner Development Goals Framework through self-guided mindful smelling activities and reflection prompts related to botanical fragrance. The interdisciplinary nature of this module allows for use or adaptation in a wide range of courses looking for outdoor, place-based and self-guided experiential learning to explore the role of botanical fragrance for people, plants and pollinators. The overarching goal is to deepen students’ connections to their senses (and scents) of self, place and planet through exploring botanical fragrance with mindful smelling. The learning activities in this …

Science, Physiology, And Nutrition For The Nonscientist, Judi S. Morrill

Open Educational Resources

A wonderful blend of physiology, nutrition, biochemistry, genetics, biology, evolution, chemistry--what we all need to know as informed citizens. A basic knowledge of the life sciences and how our bodies work--to promote our own good health, especially as we're bombarded with misleading advertisements, soundbites, and the like. DNA fingerprinting, calorie requirements, dietary advice, genetic engineering (including gene editing with CRISPR cas9)--all in an easy-to understand book.

Biol 352 Cell Biology: Journey From The Center Of The Cell, Meredith A. Rowe Ph.D.

Open Educational Resources

This project is intended to be a long-term, scaffolded project across an entire semester course. Due dates are spread throughout the semester, and points are distributed as the professor deems appropriate across the sections of the project.

Are Humans Natural? Part 4: Human-Nature Relational Values Through Time, Nathan Ruhl, Sirena Pimenta

Open Educational Resources

This activity assumes students have a background in evolutionary theory, so students without such a background should have additional instruction prior to conducting this part of the activity. Consider a discussion of mechanisms that drive evolution, including genetic drift, natural selection, and gene flow. Evolution is a change in gene frequencies in a population over the course of several generations.

Genes are the genetic code controlling many individual characteristics or traits, so the frequency at which genes occur dictates, in large part, the frequency at which individual characteristics or traits exist in a population. The frequency of a gene can …

Computational Neuroscience, Michelle Greene, Ns/Py 357 Students

Open Educational Resources

In Fall 2019, the Computational Neuroscience class at Bates College collaborated to begin an open textbook. Eight students across three majors collaborated to present the content they were learning to students who were similar to themselves. This project serves both pedagogical and social goals. By writing for fellow students, we leveraged the power of teaching for learning. By bringing together students of diverse academic backgrounds, we leveraged the power of peer instruction. Finally, by writing in the open, students not only brought their best work forward, but are working to contribute to an open knowledge environment that democratizes information. This …

Environmental Cost Vs. Health Benefit Of Radioisotope Usage In Medicine, Nicholas Whiting

Open Educational Resources

This module is developed for implementation in a class that discusses the use of radioisotopes in a biomedical setting. The inspiration is a class I teach (Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation), which covers the use of radioisotopes as tracers in biomedical imaging (scintigraphy, SPECT, PET, etc.). The goal of the module is to go further in depth regarding the environmental impact of the use of radioisotopes (from their generation to their disposal—keeping track of any radioactive byproducts), and compare that to the potential for benefits in the quality and/or quantity of a patient’s life (does using the radioisotopes allow patients to live …

Are Humans Natural? Part 3: Nature Relatedness And The American Dream, Nathan Ruhl, Taylor Dobson

Open Educational Resources

This learning module is part of a series of activities designed to encourage students to develop relational values with nature. In this activity, students reflect on their relationship with nature and consider the impact of their plans/goals for the future on the environment and the larger goal of sustainability. Students evaluate their relationship with nature through the Nature Relatedness (NR-6) Test (Nisbet and Zelenski, 2013), compare their NR-6 score to others, consider how their goals (“dreams”) are related to the American Dream, and speculate on the attainability of sustainability given our individually driven goals for the future. This activity challenges …

Are Humans Natural? Part 2: Exploring Human-Nature Relational Values And The Balance Of Nature, Nathan Ruhl

Open Educational Resources

This learning module is part of a series of modules that seeks to help students develop human-nature relational values. Relational values are more readily developed when the methods employed reference species/environments/landscapes/situations that students are familiar with already and may encounter during their everyday lives. In this activity students are asked to consider whether nature is in balance. The idea that nature is in balance extends deep into human history, but modern scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that nature is not in balance. Despite scientific evidence, the perception that nature is stable or in balance persists in human culture. This activity challenges …

Crispr/Cas9 In Yeast: A Multi-Week Laboratory Exercise For Undergraduate Students, Randi J. Ulbricht

Open Educational Resources

Providing undergraduate life-science students with a course-based research experience that utilizes cutting-edge technology, is tractable for students, and is manageable as an instructor is a challenge. Here, I describe a multi-week lesson plan for a laboratory-based course with the goal of editing the genome of budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Students apply knowledge regarding advanced topics such as: CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, DNA repair, genetics, and cloning. The lesson requires students to master skills such as bioinformatics analysis, restriction enzyme digestion, ligation, basic microbiology skills, polymerase chain reaction, and plasmid purification. Instructors are led through the technical aspects of the protocols, …

Are Humans Natural? Exploring Relational Values In The Human-Nature Relationship In An Evolutionary Context, Nathan Ruhl

Open Educational Resources

This learning module is a three-part series of learning activities focused around the following themes:

1. The words “nature” and “natural” mean different things to different people;
2. Humans and other species both effect and are affected by the environment;
3. Most “human-traits” are not unique to humans and are adaptive traits shared by other species.

The larger goal of this set of learning activities is to promote a holistic/equalistic view of the human-environment relationship by leveraging humanistic content to support learning goals in both introductory post-secondary courses and general education courses (secondary or post-secondary) in the biological sciences. The learning activities in …