College Labs: Environmental Science
Ecology is an important part of environmental science, but most ecological experiments take too long to be included in courses—plus, not many places will let you add sewage and toxins to their lakes! Our simulated labs exploring eutrophication and toxin biomagnification, fire regimes and succession, and investigating general ecological principles such as population growth, species interactions and community structure provide a great way to add active learning experiences to environmental science courses. Several labs were developed for non-majors and introductory classes, including our Darwinian Snails EvoBeaker® lab which provides a unique opportunity to teach natural selection using an invasive species example.
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Environmental Science Labs
EcoBeaker: Isle RoyaleThis popular laboratory explores basic population biology concepts including exponential and logistic growth and carrying capacity. It is based on the textbook example of a predator-prey system involving wolves and moose on an island in Lake Superior. Students start out by characterizing the growth of a colonizing population of moose in the absence of predators. ... Read more + Add to course collection |
EcoBeaker: Nutrient Pollution (formerly "Sewage")What will happen if your city starts dumping lots of extra sewage into your local lake? ... Read more + Add to course collection |
EcoBeaker: Intermediate Disturbance HypothesisUsing a model of succession from grasses to trees, students start out by observing a successional sequence without disturbance. Then they get to start setting fires. By systematically varying the size and frequency of fires, they recreate the standard textbook graph of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis showing that species diversity is highest at intermediate levels of disturbance. ... Read more + Add to course collection |
EcoBeaker: Limiting NutrientsIn this lab, students grow three different species of algae in isolation in a medium containing nitrogen, phosphorous, and iron. For each algal species they have to figure out which nutrient is limiting, and what happens when that nutrients is increased. Then, based on the individual growth trajectories, students try to predict which will win out when they are grown in pairs or all together. ... Read more + Add to course collection |
EcoBeaker: Go FishAs "virtual" commercial fisheries managers, students must decide on a strategy for fishing that maximizes their profits while minimizing extinction risk. The first sections of the lab investigate fixed-catch, fixed-effort, and adaptive management strategies for regulating fisheries. ... Read more + Add to course collection |
EcoBeaker: Sampling Under PressureThe model in this lab distributes a number of species around an unexplored area of forests. Students are asked to come up with sampling strategies that will give them the information they would need to determine what parts of the forest should be put into reserves, given that they are allowed to choose but that some of the forest will be cut down. ... Read more + Add to course collection |