A Comparative Animal Physiology Teaching Laboratory That Explores Cellular, Systems and Organismal Physiological Phenomena

该项目加强了高年级本科生在比较动物生理学广阔领域的培养。目标是开发一门综合的比较生理学课程，学生使用现代设备和技术来学习所有级别的生理组织。用于向学生介绍细胞和整个动物生理学的新设备使之有可能为参加动物生理学课程的学生提供更严格和最新的练习，并增加高级论文研究项目的复杂性和可能性。在细胞层面，新的放大器使学生能够进行细胞内录音，并学习细胞和膜生理学的基本原理。在生物体水平上，氧气分析仪使学生能够确定小型陆地动物在活动期间的代谢成本。该计划的设计可以适用于任何强调实验室培训的生物学计划，该系准备通过演示文稿、出版物和互联网来交流实验室创新的结果。综上所述，该项目可以改善核心课程中高年级学生的教育，为高年级本科生提供一个示范的生理学实验室计划，并丰富实质性的师生合作研究的可能性。最后，这个项目很可能最终导致影响比较动物生理学领域的研究出版物。

This project enhances the training of upper-division undergraduate students in the broad field of comparative animal physiology. The goal is to develop a comprehensive comparative physiology curriculum where students employ modern equipment and techniques to study all levels of physiological organization. The new equipment being used to introduce students to cellular and whole animal physiology makes it possible to offer more rigorous and up-to-date exercises for students taking the animal physiology course and to increase the sophistication of, and possibilities for, senior thesis research projects. At the cellular level, the new amplifiers enable students to perform intracellular recordings and study basic principles of cellular and membrane physiology. At the organismal level, the oxygen analyzer enables students to determine the metabolic costs of small terrestrial animals during activity. The program design can be adapted to any biology program that emphasizes laboratory training, and the department is prepared to communicate the results of the laboratory innovations through presentations, publications, and the Internet. In summary, this project can improve the education of upper-level students in the core curriculum, provide a model physiology laboratory program for upper-division undergraduates, and enrich the possibilities for substantive collaborative student/faculty research. Finally, it is likely that this project can ultimately result in research publications that influence the field of comparative animal physiology.