Despite the growing awareness of the importance of plant secondary metabolites in insect-plant interactions, undergraduate degree content in agronomy and biology generally does not provide a clear concept to students in relation to secondary metabolite induction of plant defences, implying that students do not obtain a good understanding of the…

Field-based undergraduate geography courses provide numerous pedagogical benefits including an opportunity for students to acquire employable skills in an applied context. This article presents one unique approach to teaching geographic field methods using paleoecological research. The goals of this course are to teach students key geographic…

Many topics in the secondary science classroom can be difficult to introduce to students in a manner that fully engages them, especially when presented using traditional teaching methods. However, with a little innovation and an emphasis on inquiry, even dry subjects can be presented in an appealing way. The authors developed an inquiry-based…

Using aerial photographs to study shrubs biomass allows students to avoid unpleasant working conditions and to study communities that are inaccessible or distant. (BB)

Includes procedures for demonstrating anaerobic respiration in peas, isolating virgin Drosophila females, solving mortality problems in young gerbils, measuring dissolved oxygen, constructing models for transpiration and DNA molecules, freezing chick embryos, mixing nutrient media, illustrating Darwinian ecological principles, and detecting…

Described is a laboratory study designed to demonstrate loss of vegetation, alterations in the species composition of a community, and the impoverishment of a community with respect to desirable food plant species when herbivore feeding exceeds the rate of vegetation regrowth. The laboratory uses a classroom aquarium. (CW)

Describes a rapid staining technique for investigating the anatomical expression of two recessive genes. The demonstration is intended to stimulate students who are interested in the practical applications of genetics. (Author/SA)

Describes a simple experimental system whereby the comparative actions of long, medium, and short-acting barbiturates can be demonstrated in a relatively short period of time under optical microscopy using pollen grains as the biological test or assay system. (Author/HM)

A field-based exercise which illustrates one aspect of how leaves in multilayered trees take advantage of light microenvironments is presented. Procedures, tree selection and data analysis are discussed. (CW)

Describes procedures for identifying the protein ribonuclease from plant tissue extracts using mini-gel electrophoresis. (PR)

Outlined are materials and testing procedures in which various plant species are screened to determine if they are producing antibiotics. Diagrams are included. (RT)

Describes an experiment for undergraduate chemistry laboratories involving a chemical found in plants and some sea animals. Discusses collection and identification of material, a hemolysis test, preparation of blood-coated agar plates, and application of samples. (CW)

Described is a laboratory procedure for teaching seed stratification. Materials, methods, results, and applicability of the experiment are explained. Diagrams showing the percent of total germination as a function of stratification time and the germination rate of stratified seeds are included. (RT)

Deals with a fungus that plays an important role in the forests of Asia as a decomposer of recently dead trees and in agriculture as an important edible mushroom. Describes how to culture these mushrooms including materials, conditions, and troubleshooting. Gives ideas for classroom activities. (CW)

Activities that use dandelions to show the phenomena of geotropism and autotropism are described. Directions for collecting the stalks and observing the gravitropic response are included. The topics of lag time and bending rates, autotropism, growth rate changes, presentation time, and gravity detection are discussed. (KR)