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

该项目的目标是在生态学和植物科学领域引入更多的动手实验活动。对生物变异原因的研究是生态学的一个基本方面，也是理解自然选择过程的必要步骤。学生将进行实验，评估生物变异的原因。这些原因要么是环境变异，要么是遗传变异，要么是两者的结合。生物化学特征，如酶活性，与生物体的其他方面一样变化很大，但可以准确定量地测量。学生将在两种不同的环境条件下培养特定的细菌、植物和昆虫菌株，并在特定的环境条件下使用水浴、植物生长室和生物孵化器培养不同的菌株或亚群。分光光度法是用来测定每个生物体内特定生化系统的活性。当学生发现酶变异具有显著的遗传成分时，通过蛋白质电泳对蛋白质多态性进行额外的评估。

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.