Gas Exchange as a Primary Component of a Research-Oriented Biology Curriculum

一门新的生物学课程在四年的专业课程中整合了以项目为导向的实验室，以增强学生进行独立研究所需的经验、信心和技能。一系列的实验室活动引导学生逐步通过更重要的研究经验，从引入生物学概念到指导设计自己的实验，再到制定研究方案。这个系列贯穿三个连续的课程：生物学前沿，有机生物学和植物生理学，并为学生准备涉及有机代谢和气体交换的独立研究项目。红外气体分析系统使生物学前沿的学生参与到光合作用和呼吸作用概念的发展中来。有机生物学专业的学生使用扩散光度计和便携式光合作用系统来研究蒸腾的控制机制，限制光合作用的因素，以及矿物质营养对光合作用和蒸腾的影响。在植物生理学课程中，学生们运用在预修课程中使用的气体交换技术来研究沙漠灌木的水分利用效率、原生植物的果实成熟和叶片衰老机制。

Gas Exchange as a Primary Component of a Research-Oriented Biology Curriculum A new biology curriculum integrates project-oriented laboratories in all four years of the major to empower students with experience, confidence, and skills necessary to undertake independent research. A series of laboratory activities leads students through progressively more significant research experiences from introduction of biological concepts through guided design of their own experiments to development of research protocols. This series develops throughout three sequential courses: Frontiers in Biology, Organismal Biology, and Plant Physiology and prepares students for independent research projects involving organismal metabolism and gas exchange. Infrared gas analysis systems engage Frontiers in Biology students in the development of concepts in photosynthesis and respiration. Students in Organismal Biology use a diffusion phorometer and a portable photosynthesis system to investigate mechanisms of control of transpiration, factors that limit photosynthesis, and the effects of mineral nutrition on photosynthesis and transpiration. In Plant Physiology, students apply gas exchange techniques used in prerequisite courses to develop research protocols for investigating water use efficiency of desert shrubs, fruit ripening in native plants, and mechanisms of senescence in leaves.