This document contains analyses of data collected by students completing the Frontiers of Science fieldwork activity on Conservation Reserve Design. (A teacher's guide and student guide to this activity are provided in accompanying documents.) These analyses are provided to guide instructors who wish to implement the activity and analyze data collected by their students.
This document serves as a teaching guide for the third of three seminars in a unit on biodiversity. This seminar focuses on invasive species in order to underscore the difficulties of managing and restoring ecosystems and the potential damage of intended or unintended manipulation. As explained in the corresponding lecture, biodiversity theory can explain the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss and provides recommendations for mediating the sixth global extinction event and thus ensuring the availability of ecosystem services, the health of the biosphere, and the quality of human life. The guide includes an overview, reading list, and step-by-step seminar plan, including suggested discussion questions, activities, and reference to assignments. Related seminar activities and assignment questions are provided in accompanying files.
This document serves as a teaching guide for the second of three seminars in a unit on biodiversity. This seminar focuses on the concept of "ecosystem services" and the importance of biodiversity to ecosystem function. The guide includes an overview, reading list, and step-by-step seminar plan, including suggested discussion questions. Related seminar activities and assignment questions are provided in accompanying files.
This teaching guide provides ideas for an alternative or additional seminar to include in a unit on biodiversity. The topics included in this guide are related to species decline in aquatic ecosystems. The guide contains an overview of the seminar, a reading list, and a step-by-step seminar plan, including suggested discussion questions, activities, and references to associated assignments. The related assignment questions are provided in an accompanying file.
In this assignment, students will consider the effects of invasive species on ecosystems, and look at population dynamics in predator-prey relationships. In examining data from previous studies, students will apply their understanding of graphical displays of data and of statistical concepts (mean, standard deviation, variance, correlation, significance) to interpret research findings. This document serves as a student handout; an answer key is provided in an accompanying document.
In this assignment, students will consider the effects of invasive species on ecosystems and look at population dynamics in predator-prey relationships. In examining data from previous studies, students will apply their understanding of graphical displays of data and of statistical concepts (mean, standard deviation, variance, correlation, significance) to interpret research findings. This document serves as an answer key; a student handout is provided in an accompanying document.
In this handout, students are introduced to a study by Claire Kremen, Neal M. Williams, and Robbin W. Thorp that explores the role of biodiversity in crop pollination—an essential ecosystem service that is threatened by the decline of natural pollinator species. Students engage with these concepts in depth through the accompanying activity on pollination.
This unique field ecology experiment engages students with the processes of scientific research methods and testing hypotheses about conservation reserve design. The activities involved are novel—students will gather data on the relationship between biodiversity and patch size and shape. As designed, this activity takes place in Manhattan; the relationship under investigation has not been studied in a human-dominated urban setting like Manhattan, so the outcome of students' investigations is not known in advance. The activity may easily be adapted to another setting or research questions, and so provides a useful example for instructors wishing to engage undergraduates in original fieldwork. This document is a student guide; a teacher guide and data analysis example are available in accompanying files.
This unique field ecology experiment engages students with the processes of scientific research methods and testing hypotheses about conservation reserve design. The activities involved are novel—students will gather data on the relationship between biodiversity and patch size and shape. As designed, this activity takes place in Manhattan; the relationship under investigation has not been studied in a human-dominated urban setting like Manhattan, so the outcome of students' investigations is not known in advance. The activity may easily be adapted to another setting or research questions, and so provides a useful example for instructors wishing to engage undergraduates in original fieldwork. This document is a teacher guide; a student guide and data analysis example are available in accompanying files.