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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Are Humans Natural? Part 3: Nature Relatedness And The American Dream, Nathan Ruhl, Taylor Dobson
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
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
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, …