Browsing by Author "Livernoche, Kelly"
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Item The Edge Effect(QUBES, 2023-05-03) McNamara, Sean; Newtoff, Kiersten; Livernoche, Kelly; Bell, Allison; Leips, Jeff; Wesley, Gina; Gretes, WilliamThis module has students venturing outdoors to take a 50m transect and collect abundance data on plants utilizing quadrats in both edge and interior environment. Mathematically the goals of this module are to emphasize how sample size can influence data analysis and variance within the data set. Students perform calculations for species diversity using the Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index. They will then take averages and the standard error of their data set, and use this information to create a graph. They will repeat this process for the entire class data set. Students will also run the student’s t-test to test for significance between the two environments.Item RAT ATTACK! Population growth(QUBES, 2023-04-07) Newtoff, Kiersten; Wesley, Gina; Gretes, Will; Bell, Allison; Livernoche, Kelly; McNamara, Sean; Leips, JeffThis module contains exercises focused on the use and interpretation of logistic and exponential growth models. The module is based on an actual ecological phenomenon, the black rat population explosion that occurs every 48-50 years following the flowering and seed set of the bamboo Melocanna baccifera. As part of this module, students will gather life history information from the PBS Nova Documentary ‘Rat Attack’ describing this phenomenon for use in population models. Optionally the text of the documentary can be provided to students. The module activities will take approximately 160 minutes to complete.Item The Stomata Lab. What the past can tell us about our future - using fossil and modern plants to model atmospheric carbon dioxide(QUBES, 2023-11-02) Wesley, Gina; Livernoche, Kelly; McNamara, Sean; Gretes, William; Bell, Allison; Newtoff, Kiersten; Leips, Jeff; Barclay, Richard; Killen, HeatherStudents will develop a mathematical model of the relationship between atmospheric CO2 and the number of stomata on a leaf (Stomata Index). They will evaluate the model graphically, statistically, and biologically, and then use it to estimate CO2 levels in the distant past.Item Using the Hardy-Weinberg Equations: Quantifying Natural Selection and Allele Frequencies(QUBES, 2023-05-11) Wesley, Gina; McNamara, Sean; Livernoche, Kelly; Newtoff, Kiersten; Gretes, William; Bell, Allison; Leips, JeffThis module contains exercises designed to walk students through a real-world example of the coevolution of fruit color and primate frugivore color vision. Students will apply the Hardy-Weinberg Principle to quantitatively determine if evolution is occurring. This will be accomplished through calculating allele and genotype frequencies, analyzing data sets, and evaluating hypotheses through Chi-square statistical analyses. LEGOs are used to simulate population genetics.