Group items tagged

This case study follows two beginning undergraduate researchers on a quest for a summer research project related to food web ecology. While writing their research proposal, the students receive feedback indicating that they have neglected an entire group of organisms from their food web-parasites, which leads them to a scientific research paper discussing how these organisms have been overlooked by scientists studying food webs, the challenges involved with including parasites in food webs, and the contributions parasites ultimately make to food webs. An integrated activity in which students visualize the food web using images of organisms and answer questions about species interactions provides opportunities to examine key concepts such as omnivory, ontogenetic diet changes, trophic levels, complex life cycles, and taxonomic aggregation. This case study was originally written for an undergraduate general ecology course, but could easily be adapted to undergraduate general biology courses covering community ecology or specific courses in invertebrate zoology, parasitology, or disease ecology. The teaching notes also discuss how the included code for R statistical computing software can be used to extend the case study in a more quantitative direction if desired.

In this case study students are provided with information for piecing together the story of how forest fragmentation and biodiversity loss can affect the risk of Lyme disease transmission to humans. The case introduces the dilution effect, a widely accepted theory-and one of the most important ideas in disease ecology-which suggests that disease risk for humans decreases as the diversity of species in an area increases. It also explains how landscape fragmentation, one of the most common threats to biodiversity, can influence the risk of Lyme disease for humans. Students interpret and discuss various figures to develop a concept map that connects all the individual results of the story. Students gain an appreciation for the complexity of species interactions in an ecosystem, the effects of forest fragmentation on these interactions and the possible consequences for human health. This activity was developed for an undergraduate introduction to environmental sciences course under the topic of biodiversity and conservation, but would also be suitable for interdisciplinary studies interested in examining the connections between conservation and public health.

Fact sheets explain ecological issues, define terms and concepts, and provide references for additional information.

The world is becoming more urban every day, and the process has been ongoing since the industrial revolution in the 18th century. The United Nations now estimates that 3.9 billion people live in urban centres. The rapid influx of residents is however not universal and the developed countries are already urban, but the big rise in urban population in the next 30 years is expected to be in Asia and Africa. Urbanization leads to many challenges for global health and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. New megacities can be incubators for new epidemics, and zoonotic diseases can spread in a more rapid manner and become worldwide threats. Adequate city planning and surveillance can be powerful tools to improve the global health and decrease the burden of communicable diseases.

Simulators which display cummulative generation graphs for variables.  Very cool data rich resource!  Includes Carbon cycle, demographis (human populations), Disease transmission, ecology, and energy simulations.

Although rabies still causes thousands of deaths globally every year, it has essentially been eradicated from most industrialized countries. Part of the success story is due to an unusual project undertaken by the Swiss prompted by a series of large outbreaks in the 1970s: the large-scale vaccination of wild foxes to stop the epidemic. In this directed case study, students use an easily accessible MS Excel-based model to understand key epidemiological parameters of rabies outbreaks in wild foxes. The simple model allows students also to predict what proportion of foxes needs to be vaccinated to eradicate the virus from the population. The case fits into both ecological and microbiological (epidemiological) courses and offers opportunities to explore zoonotic diseases and "One Health" questions. The mathematical basis of the differential equations in the models is explained, although prior knowledge of calculus is not essential. A key learning outcome is the critical understanding of both the power and limitations of simple epidemiological models. This case was written for an online course but could also be used as a face-to-face activity if students have access to computers in class.

How does it spread? The Varroa mite carries the disease, feeding on bee larvae, then the virus itself kills off the bees. The study's lead author, Dr. Lena Wilfert, of the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, said they found evidence that human involvement has played a key role in the epidemic.

2:25 video  Scientists have recently discovered that the limbs of some sea stars have been turning into goo, and populations are dying off! Why is this happening, and will this hurt their ecosystem? Join Laci as discusses how this disease is spreading, and why it have some negative consequences.

Before civilization began to impact the human life cycle approximately 10,000 years ago, human beings had high birth and death rates. Today the world is in the midst of a demographic transition - a transition to low birth and death rates - as the ability to control both disease and reproduction increases. Along the way, between these extremes, populations go through an intermediate period of continued high birth rates, combined with low death rates, resulting in a population explosion.

Activity A Better Fire!! Activity Advanced Fire Activity Directable Fire!! Activity Fire!! Activity Life Activity Life Lite Activity Spread of Disease Discussion about Agent Modeling Discussion about Chaos Discussion about Chaos is Everywhere Worksheet Emerging Patterns Worksheet Worksheet Emerging Patterns Worksheet (doc) Worksheet Rabbits and Wolves Exploration Questions Worksheet Rabbits and Wolves Exploration Questions (doc)  

This index organizes teaching resources by topic-related issue and provides teaching resources (case studies, problems, videos, articles, activities, and other resources) which can be used to to facilitate the teaching of introductory non-majors biology using Problem or Case Studies Based Learning.

Resource rich site for Regent's Biology and AP Biology

Variety of free tutorials, data sets, and virtual labs

Variety of lesson plans