An Integrated Core Curriculum of Cell Biology, Genetics, and Ecology Using the Desert Tree Lizard as a Thematic Organism

生物科学（61）。CCLI适应与实施II型项目支持实施综合核心课程，通过重点生物——树蜥蜴、花尾龙——将细胞生物学、遗传学和生态学联系起来。这种数量众多的蜥蜴原产于亚利桑那州，为多学科调查研究提供了一个框架，贯穿了五门课程的生物学核心（生物学入门I & II、遗传学、细胞生物学和生态学），从而展示了各个分支学科的相互关系，以及它们对数学、化学和物理的依赖。以戴维森学院的课程为基础，在入门课程中向学生介绍科学方法、树蜥蜴及其栖息地。随后，学生探索各种主题，如蜥蜴鼻道的微生物菌群，其栖息地的详细化学和生物学分析，凤凰城城市生态系统内的人口流动分析，求偶和攻击的观察，以及热休克蛋白表达的分析。所有模块都以主动学习的方式进行，并期望学生为实验设计做出贡献。该项目的高潮是对树蜥蜴及其栖息地的详细分析（由生态学课程的学生完成），使用在给定学期的每节课上收集的数据。除了以动物为主题，以研究为基础的实验室模块（包括实验室和实地）和学习社区也被用作提高学习的策略。该项目还评估了与以前使用的传统格式相比，这种新方法的有效性。

Biological Science (61). This CCLI Adaptation and Implementation type II project supports the implementation of an integrated core curriculum, linking cell biology, genetics and ecology via a focal organism, the tree lizard, Urosaurus ornatus. This abundant lizard, which is native to Arizona, provides a scaffold for multidisciplinary investigative studies that thread their way through a five-course biology core (Introductory Biology I & II, Genetics, Cell Biology, and Ecology), thereby demonstrating the interrelatedness of the various subdisciplines, as well as their dependence on mathematics, chemistry and physics. Based on a curriculum taught at Davidson College, students are introduced to scientific method, the tree lizard and its habitat in the introductory course. Subsequently, students explore a variety of topics, such as the microbial flora of the lizard's nasal passage, the detailed chemical and biological analyses of its habitat, analyses of population flow within the urban Phoenix, Arizona ecosystem, observation of courtship and aggression, and analysis of heat shock protein expression. All modules are being conducted in an active-learning manner and students are expected to contribute to experimental design. The culmination of the project is a detailed analysis (done by students in the Ecology course) of the tree lizard and its habitat, using data gathered in each of the classes during a given semester. In addition to the thematic animal focus, research-based lab modules (both in the laboratory and the field) and learning communities are employed as strategies to improve learning. The project also evaluates the effectiveness of this new approach compared to the traditional format used previously.