ABLE 2004 conference program

Wednesday Workshops

1 - Horticulture and Bonzai
Joe Baker
This lab is targeted toward introductory botany students. By introducing the techniques of bonzai students learn about comparative plant anatomy and regulation of plant growth. This laboratory could also be used in advanced horticulture or introductory biology courses.

2 - Temperature Receptors
Charlie Drewes
This workshop emphasizes the sensory biology of human touch and temperature reception. Participants will investigate both quantitative and qualitative aspects of touch-sensory functions in human skin, including determination of regional variation in two-point discrimination and calculation of the average error in localization. Values will be compared to Weber’s original data. In addition, novel materials and methods for directly investigating the organization and function of cold sensory reception in human skin will be introduced. These methods permit: (a) estimation of sensory field size for single cold-sensory nerve fibers, (b) demonstration of the discontinuous (mosaic) distribution of cold-sensory fibers in a patch of human skin, and (c) estimation of the density of cold-sensitive fibers per unit area in a skin patch. Conceptual understanding of tactile and thermoreceptor functions will be reinforced through use of tangible models illustrating the underlying neuroanatomy of peripheral sensory components

3 - Bioenergetics of Roaches
Sheryl Shanholtzer
This laboratory exercise is used as a collaborative ecology research project in the second course for majors. The exercise measures energy flow through hissing cockroaches. The labs runs over 5 lab periods: week one set up takes the first 1.5 hours of a lab; the following 3-hour lab is used to measure respiration and take weight measurements; in the next two labs about 20 minutes are needed to weight food, collect feces, and clean cages; and finally in lab 5 the final data collection and analysis takes about 1.5 hours.

4 - Hardy-Weinberg Model Applied to a Mixed Population of Bar and Wild-type Drosophila
Andrea Bixler and Fred Schnee
Unlike most population genetics labs, which involve simulations with beans or beads, this lab provides an opportunity to study a population of living organisms. Using Bar and wild-type Drosophila, students compare allele and genotype frequencies to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Because the Bar mutation in Drosophila is sex-linked and incompletely dominant, students can determine the exact genotype of a fly from its phenotype. Data are then evaluated to determine which (if any) of the five assumptions have been violated. This real-data approach to Hardy-Weinberg enables instructor and student to discover and correct misunderstandings of the model.

5 - Incorporating Original Genomics Research into Genetics and Molecular Biology Courses
Brad Goodner and Kathy Wheeler
There is no doubt that genomics and bioinformatics have revolutionized biology over the past few years. However, their impact on education has lagged, and a new revolution is possible in the undergraduate curriculum. Based on a collaboration that led to finishing the Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 genome (Goodner et al., Science 294:2237-2416), we have incorporated genomics and functional genomics research throughout our genetics and molecular & cellular biology courses using A. tumefaciens and other bacteria. In our workshop, we will (1) show how we accomplish the typical skill development goals in a genetics or molecular biology course while accomplishing novel research, (2) overview the actual research we have incorporated into our genetics and molecular & cellular biology courses, (3) lead brainstorming sessions on using our system directly, applying it to other organisms, or applying the general theme of research within a course to other questions, and (4) propose a consortium idea of shared genomics resources that could be used by many courses at different institutions while allowing for customization for each course.

6 - Labwrite: Extensive Web-based Instruction for Helping College Students Write Lab Reports and Learn Science.
Miriam Ferzli, Michael Carter, Eric Wiebe, & Trina Allen
LabWrite, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a structured set of online materials developed as an alternative to the typical lab report instruction. LabWrite provides extensive resources designed to lead college students through the entire lab experience, beginning with questions that help students to comprehend the essential elements of the lab before they start the procedure and ending with advice for improving their performance on the next lab report. The primary goal of LabWrite is to better enable students to take advantage of the potential that writing lab reports offers for learning science. In a control-group study of students in the biological sciences, those using LabWrite demonstrated significantly greater understanding of the science of the labs and a greater ability to apply formal scientific reasoning to the labs than students receiving the typical instruction in writing lab reports.

This workshop is an introduction to using LabWrite. By the end of the workshop, participants will have all the information and materials they need to incorporate LabWrite in their lab classes (LabWrite is fully accessible on the Web and costs nothing to use). During the session we will review the background and development of LabWrite including studies of LabWrite in the biological sciences, provide an overview of the website and hands-on activities using the site, and offer suggestions on how to incorporate the LabWrite materials effectively in lab classes.

7 - A Field Trip for Applied Population Biology: Mark/recapture of White-footed Mice in a Local Woodlot
John Cummings
We will take participants in the field to a local woodlot that has been extensively used for a long-term study of White-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus. Participants will walk an established live-trapping trap line and will collect data for any captured animal. Because this population is under continuous monitoring, estimations of the population size will be made by both the Lincoln-Peterson and Jolly methods.

Thursday Workshops

8 - Western Blots
Ted and Tucker Gurney
Western blots are used in many aspects of cell biology research, diagnostic medicine, and even forensics. We demonstrate this important technique by measuring expression of SV40 large T antigen and the cellular tumor suppressor protein p53. A p53 induction experiment using UV light and Western blots is described. Students grow tissue culture cells and make crude extracts with a nonionic detergent. The extracts are electrophoresed in SDS-polyacrylamide gels which are electroblotted to nitrocellulose. The blots are probed with anti-T or anti-p53 mouse monoclonal antibodies from hybridoma cultures students grow themselves. The probes are revealed using a commercial horseradish peroxidase conjugated anti-mouse IgG and detection by Luminol chemiluminescence and x-ray film.

9 - “Conversion Immersion”: Working Together to Create Investigative Labs
Mariëlle Hoefnagels and Mark Walvoord
Participants will work together in small groups to generate ideas for modifying traditional (“cookbook”) labs to a more investigative format. We will contact the participants in advance and have them submit a summary of the traditional lab (or labs) that they would like to modify. We will categorize the labs by topic in advance. On the day of the workshop, we will divide the participants into small groups and assign each group a lab or set of related labs. Participants will spend about half of the workshop working in their small groups, brainstorming and summarizing their ideas for making the labs more investigative. For the remainder of the workshop, each group will report its ideas to the rest of the workshop participants.

10 - Systematics: Morphological and Molecular Phylogenies
Dan Johnson
This two–part lab introduces students to basic methods used for reconstructing evolutionary relationships between groups of organisms. It is designed for freshman pre–majors, but more complex homework assignments would make it appropriate for advanced majors as well. Each part can be completed in one week, and they may be integrated as one unit, or separated into 2 standalone exercises.

The printed background material explains basic principles and terminology of phylogenetic analysis. In Part 1, students use shared, derived morphological features to map out a phylogenetic tree for a group of fictional organisms. For homework, they apply these skills by determining the evolutionary relationships within 1 of 4 living groups: selected rodents, Scaraboid beetles, Fagales (oaks, birches, myrtles, beeches and walnuts), or Caryophyalles (a very diverse plant group containing carnations, pokeweeds, and cacti!).

In Part 2, students learn to use BioWorkbench, a suite of free bioinformatics tools hosted by the San Diego Supercomputing Center. They retrieve and align amino acid sequences of insulin from several species of rodents, then use the alignment to generate a phylogenetic tree for the group. For homework, the students complete a molecular phylogenetic analysis on their own for one of several groups: Cetaceans (the whales), Caryophyalles, Fagales, or Haplorhini (the great apes). We supply an outline of essential information, but students are on their own to retrieve and align the amino acid or nucleotide sequences, and create the phylogenetic tree.

In the workshop we will work through the basic procedures for each week. As time allows we will discuss how students (and scientists) can use phylogenetic analysis to answer questions in ecology and other areas of biology. In addition to the lab exercises I will supply participants with copies of all the student handouts we use for the two homework assignments, and a set of instructor’s preparatory and teaching notes.

11A - The Kankapot Creek Coast Guard: Public Service Through Water Quality Monitoring of a Stressed Stream
Joy Perry
Morning workshop: The University of Wisconsin – Fox Valley Biology Department is carrying out a longterm project in which students gather water quality data on an impaired stream near our campus. The data will eventually be used to help formulate a restoration plan for the stream. Participants in this field-based workshop will follow the procedures our introductory students use and assess habitat quality, chemical and physical parameters, and benthic macroinvertebrate diversity of a stream near the Bowling Green campus. Most data collection will be completed in the field using relatively simple – but informative – techniques. Some waders and boots will be provided, but participants should be generally prepared for in-stream work. Sources and modifications of equipment will be discussed, as well as possible linkages to state-based volunteer water quality monitoring programs.

11B - Water Quality Monitoring for Fun and (Educational) Profit
Joy Perry
Afternoon workshop: Water quality monitoring activities can support student inquiry into ecological concepts and pollution issues, as well as offer insight into integrating field and lab work and provide a basis for service projects. This lab-based workshop will provide participants with protocols to assess streams for habitat quality, chemical and physical integrity, and ability to support a diverse macroinvertebrate community. We will review needed equipment and supplies, and discuss articulation with volunteer water quality monitoring programs established in many states. This workshop will also offer ideas for more advanced extensions of this activity, and will include practice in more precise identification of macroinvertebrates to allow use of several biotic indices as indicators of water quality. Registration priority given to those attending “The Kankapot Creek Coast Guard” workshop.

12 - Photosynthetic Strategies and Their Consequences for Plant Community Structure
Greg Murray, Kathy Winnett-Murray and Lori Hertel
F or plants, light is often a limiting resource - most plants can be stimulated to higher photosynthetic rates and higher growth rates by increasing the amount of light they receive. At the same time, many plants are well-adapted to living in low-light environments, like the shaded understory of a forest. In this lab, students test some working hypotheses about the photosynthetic responses of representative pioneer and primary forest tree species that might account for the successional patterns observed in the forest. Specifically, these hypotheses are: a) Light intensity in treefall gaps exceeds that in adjacent forest understory. b) Pioneer species have faster photosynthetic rates than do primary forest species under gap light conditions. c) Primary forest species have faster photosynthetic rates than do pioneer species under forest understory light conditions. d) Growth rates of pioneer species exceed those of primary forest species in gaps. e) Growth rates of primary forest species exceed those of pioneer species in forest understory.

Students collect data on light intensity in gap and understory patches with light ceptometers that are sensitive only to the wavelengths (400-700 nanometers) used for photosynthesis, on growth rates of representative pioneer and primary species over the previous year by measuring the increase in shoot length, and on photosynthetic rates of representative species under gap and understory light conditions using a portable photosynthesis system (Li-Cor Portable 6400).

13 - Alternative Strategies to the Use of Vertebrates for Physiology Undergraduate Laboratories
Flora Watson and Charlotte Omotto
The use of vertebrate animals has been a staple of physiology labs. Yet, there are good reasons to find alternatives to the use of vertebrates when possible. The first reason being the cost of the specimens and secondly the concerns dealing with procedures on the animals. This major workshop explores alternatives in four separate experiments. One explores thermoregulation without using animals at all! Another investigates actomyosin function and membrane excitation using giant algal cells. Finally, the use of insects is exemplified in the investigation of taste receptors and digestion. This workshop will explore the importance of providing good background information to the vertebrate processes and connecting the alternative experimental system to homologous physiological processes in vertebrates. Students can then appreciate the commonality in biological processes and the importance of underlying physiological principles.

14 - Allometry: Size and its Consequences or: “Why aren’t there 20 foot tall ants?”
Susan Schenk
Body size is linked to the shape, physiology, anatomy, and ecology of an organism. This exercise explains how to determine the allometric (power) relationship between two variables, and begins by examining the relationship between surface area and volume for a set of beakers and a set of graduated cylinders. Students use the data to determine if either set is isometric, and if not, how they differ. Each group then takes a set of measurements for celery and determines relationships between length and width, length and area, and length and weight for leaves of different ages. Finally, each group measures the sizes in a set of small to large woodlice as well as the time taken for each one to stop moving when chilled (the woodlice are not injured). Relationships are determined between length and width, length and weight, and weight and cooling time. Students try to explain any changes in shape (or cooling time) as size increases for all of the data sets, and use the information to discuss the relationship of shape to heating and cooling and to metabolic rate. Finally, they explain, in allometric terms, why 20 foot tall ants are unlikely. This lab can be completed in well under 3 hours and is simple and inexpensive to set up. It does, however, require the students to make graphs, so a set of homework exercises that teaches students how to use Excel is included.

Friday Morning Workshops
(These workshops will only be offered once)

15 - Case It! Case Study Learning: An Update
Mark Bergland and Kern Klyczek
Case It! is an NSF-sponsored project to promote collaborative case-based learning in biology education worldwide. This workshop will update information presented at ABLE in 1999 (Lincoln, Nebraska), and will give workshop participants an opportunity to use the latest version of the Case IT software simulation (DNA gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting, and PCR), as well as a beta version of the new ELISA/western blotting simulation begin developed with support from the CCLI program of NSF. Participants will use these open-ended molecular biology computer simulations to analyze case studies involving genetic and infections diseases of humans and domestic animals, then discuss results with their peers at other institutions via web-based “poster sessions”. Workshop participants will use Case It software to gather background information and analyze DNA and protein sequences, then create web-page posters and discuss them via a web editor / conferencing system at the Case It! web site (http://www.uwrf.edu/caseit/caseit.html).

16 - Using Microbial Eukaryotes for Laboratory Instruction and Student Inquiry
Donna Bozzone
I will present the care and feeding, and handling instructions for two microbial eukaryotes Tetrahymena and Physarum. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn/reinforce culturing techniques for each of these organisms as well as do detailed observations of them. For each organism, I will provide information and a hands-on example of an introductory lab I have done as well as an exercise /experiment done in an upper division course.

17 - A “Toolbox” for Working with Living Invertebrates
Charlie Drewes
The objective of this workshop is to promote more successful collection, culture, handling, viewing, and classroom investigation of living invertebrates by using the ‘right tool for the right job.’ The workshop will offer: (a) ideas for building and using novel, inexpensive tools for efficient collection of a wide variety of living invertebrates in the field, and (b) new approaches, materials, and tools for improved handling and viewing of living invertebrates in the laboratory. Central themes of the workshop will be minimizing distress to organisms and reducing frustration for students and instructors. Among the array of featured “gadgets and gizmos” that participants will assemble and use are: (1) Handy-Dandy ‘FleXacto’ Invertebrate Detachment Tool, (2) Pour-Person’s Plankton Net, (3) Stretch Pipets, (4) Mini-Widgets: Flexible Tactile Probes, (5) ‘Foamie’ Foam-well Slides, (6) Microrulers, (7) Many-View Mini-Box, (8) invertebrate food and food shakers, and (9) ultra-bright light-emitting diodes (LEDS) for phototaxis, phototropism, and auxiliary illumination. Participants will take home many samples of raw materials and assembled tools.

18 -Competition Within and Between Species of Parasitoid Wasps
Judy A. Guinan, Christopher W. Beck, Lawrence S. Blumer, and Robert W. Matthews
Although competition plays a significant role in the shaping of biological communities, it is sometimes difficult to demonstrate the complexities of competitive interactions to students in an introductory biology class. This exercise is an investigation into the effects of competition for resources on reproductive output within and between two species of parasitoid wasps. Students design an experiment in which females are placed on a host, alone, with conspecific competitors, or with interspecific competitors. In a subsequent lab, the students gather data on the number of offspring produced by females under each condition and discuss the implications of the results. For more advanced students, information is also included on using the appropriate statistical analyses to compare the impacts of interspecific vs. intraspecific competition.

19 - Caenorhabditis elegans (The Worm!) to Teach Genetics and Developmental Biology
Jennifer Knight
C. elegans is an easy to work with model organism ideal for teaching genetics and developmental biology at any level. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of identifying and using worms in the undergraduate lab setting (including worm handling, physical characteristics of worms, how to set up crosses, etc). In addition, specific techniques and experiments will be demonstrated for carrying out hypothesis-driven experiments with the students (including using GFP transgenic worms, epistasis tests, and RNAi). Protocols, lists of reagents, and resources will all be provided.

20 - Introduction to Mark-Recapture Census Methods Using the Seed Beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus
Alexander E. Olvido and Lawrence S. Blumer
Population size, or the abundance of organisms in a study site, is the most fundamental of the primary demographic statistics. Here, we present a laboratory that introduces college undergraduates to mark-recapture methods that estimate population size. Students will apply a simple mark-recapture method to estimate population size in cultures of a seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. After completing this study, students not only will have rudimentary knowledge of statistical methods, e.g. standard deviation and 95% confidence limits, but will also know how to obtain reliable estimates of population size.

ABLE 2004 conference program