EPIC Bioscience

This upcoming, standards-aligned investigations is designed to engage your students in a unique phenomena that drives some ecosystem relationships and interactions - Mimicry. Students will explore the phenomenon first by using a game-based interactive to consider the kinds of physical cues predators use to make decisions on what to eat. Along the way, students are guided by input from a NHMU entomologist and science-based comics. Then, students will use museum collections to compare select specimens as they look for evidence that may reveal the physical cues that do drive prey choice. Working through real research and using the same science processes our own scientists use will help students understand how knowledge is generated and provide a foundation for transferring these ideas to other organisms and different ecosystems.

If you would like to help test the beta version of this investigation please contact mlarson@nhmu.utah.edu

This upcoming, standards-aligned investigations is designed to engage your students in evaluating the impacts of change in an ecosystem on resource availability critical to animals’ diets. To do this, students will examine how adaptable the diet of bats – critical to healthy ecosystems all over the world - are in responding to changes in their food sources – insects! Students will explore the phenomenon first by virtually dissecting bat stomach contents to learn what different species of bats eat. Then, led by a research scientist who studies bats, they will use museum collections to gather data designed to help them compare and analyze the diets of several bat species. Their research will help them figure out which bat populations are likely to survive, thrive or decline as a result of changes in insect populations.

If you would like to help test the beta version of this investigation please contact mlarson@nhmu.utah.edu

In this investigation, students learn more about the role of fungi as decomposers in the matter cycle. In Part 1, Ready, Set, Rotten! They explore how long decomposition takes for organisms in xeric (dry) and mesic (moist) environments. In Part 2, Hidden Soil Heroes, students learn more about the role of fungi as decomposers and how fungi impact the rate of matter cycling in ecosystems. They generate their own data by categorizing microscopic fungi and then analyze the implications of their findings on matter cycling in urban and wild settings. Next, in Part 3, Human Help or Harm?, students learn how to predict the relative amount of organic material in soil and make inferences about how human activities impact the matter cycle.

If you would like to help test the beta version of this investigation please contact mlarson@nhmu.utah.edu

In this investigation, students work with forestry land managers and scientists to evaluate and support aspen forest populations. Students begin by playing a game that allows them to use observation skills and previous knowledge to assess the health of aspen forests. Then, students will select an actual aspen site to study. They will collect data from museum collections that were gathered there to to figure out if their aspen forest is healthy or if it is struggling from a variety of biotic or abiotic factors.

If you would like to help test the beta version of this investigation please contact mlarson@nhmu.utah.edu