Plant Growth Chambers to Enhance Undergraduate Laboratories and Student Research

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The addition of two environmental chambers to the Biology Department facilities is enhancing laboratory courses (Botany, Ecology, Physiology, Developmental Biology) and student research (required of all seniors for graduation). The two chambers, in conjunction with a biological incubator already available, allow the faculty to establish controlled environments in which experiments with plants and animals can be performed. The chambers are being used in three ways: to compare responses of plants and animals to different environments; to physiologically prepare organisms for experimental treatments; and to maintain organisms in controlled conditions to reduce extraneous environmental variation in experiments in which environmental factors are not designed to be experimental variables. By expanding the types of experiments available to this department and especially by allowing comparative studies of environmental effects on organisms, these chambers greatly enhance undergraduate biology laboratories. Good, clear results from lab exercises with living plants and animals allow students to gain better perceptions of the concepts they read about or hear about in lectures. For student research, the chambers increase precision and accuracy and significantly expand the range of possible studies.