Enhancing Instruction in the Ecological Sciences: An Experimental Approach to the Study of Variation in Plants and Animals

该项目的目标是引入更多的实践 生态学和植物科学领域的实验室活动。 对生物体变异原因的研究是一项 生态学的一个基本方面， 理解自然选择的过程。学生将 进行实验，在这些实验中，他们评估了 生物变异 这些原因要么是环境因素， 遗传变异，或两者的组合。 生化 性状，如酶活性，与其他方面一样， 但可以精确定量地测量。 学生们将培养特定的细菌、植物和 昆虫在两种不同的环境条件下， 特定环境中的不同菌株或亚群 条件使用水浴，植物生长室和 生物孵化器分光光度法用于测定 每个生物体的特定生化系统的活动。 当学生发现酶的变异有显著的 遗传成分，蛋白质的额外评估 通过蛋白质电泳进行多态性。

The goal of the project is to introduce more hands-on laboratory activity in the areas of ecology and plant science. The study of the causes for variation in organisms is a fundamental aspect of ecology and an essential step for understanding the process of natural selection. Students will conduct experiments in which they evaluate the causes for biological variation. These causes are either environmental or genetic variation, or a combination of each. Biochemical traits, such as enzyme activity, vary much like other aspects of organisms but can be measured accurately and quantitatively. Students will raise given strains of bacteria, plants and insects in two different set of environmental conditions, and different strains or subpopulations in a given environmental condition using water baths, plant growth chambers and biological incubators. Spectrophometry is used to assay the activity of specific biochemical systems from each organism. When students find that enzyme variation has a significant genetic component, an additional evaluation of protein polymorphism is conducted by means of protein electrophoresis.