Volatile-mediated impacts of microbes on plants have aroused interest among scientists in the life science field. This study describes an inquiry-based laboratory module named "Microbial Talk", which related to microbial volatile-mediated communication, including the process of design, implementation, and assessment. First-year biology…

Diverse communities of arthropods and microbes provide humans with essential ecosystem goods and services. Arthropods are the most diverse and abundant macroscopic animals on the planet, and many remain to be discovered. Much less is known about microbial diversity, despite their importance as free-living species and as symbionts. We created…

Pioneering Mars: Turning the Red Planet Green with the Earth's Smallest Settlers (http://pioneeringmars.org) provides a partnership model for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning that brings university scientists together with high school students to investigate whether cyanobacteria from Antarctica could survive on…

Describes a student-centered laboratory course in which student teams select phage from sewage samples and characterize the phage in a semester-long project that models real-life scientific research. Results of student evaluations indicate a high level of satisfaction with the course. (Author/MM)

Reports on the development of a series of assignments for use in a basic microbiology course involving sophomore-, junior-, and senior-level students from five different biology majors. Assignments include writing, a class debate, and case history studies. (Author/MM)