Title of the Course: Biological Diversity
Instructor: Scott Solomon
Course Number: EBIO 327
Intended Student Audience: Undergraduate students majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology; students interested in environmental sciences and conservation biology
Courses Description: This course is intended to provide students with hands-on experience surveying the biological diversity of a natural ecosystem. The course is focused on recognizing, quantifying, and analyzing biological diversity. Students work in groups to design, execute, and communicate the results of a systematic survey of particular taxonomic groups in the Big Thicket National Preserve in east Texas. The course includes a weekend-long field trip to carry out a bioblitz  in the Big Thicket National Preserve.
By the end of the course, students should:
- become familiar with some of the species common to east Texas;
- understand and demonstrate how to quantify biological diversity at different scales (e.g. at a site, between sites, within a region);
- understand and demonstrate how to measure the biological diversity of different types of organisms (e.g. plants and animals) and be able to distinguish the field techniques and statistical analyses that are appropriate for different organisms and questions;
- design and conduct a biological species inventory focused on a particular taxonomic group;
- effectively communicate the results of a biological survey both in writing and orally;
- experience working in a natural environment; and,
- explain why biodiversity is important and understand the main threats to biodiversity globally and locally.
TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES
This course uses a project-based approach in which students work in groups to design, execute, and analyze results of a survey of the species diversity of particular types of organisms (e.g. trees, fish, butterflies) in a natural setting (a national preserve). Student groups are matched with expert consultants who advise them on their study design and help during the collection of data. The results are communicated through written and oral reports and contribute to an ongoing effort to understand the biological diversity of the preserve. The activities and assignments in the course are designed to allow students to discover knowledge and learn skills through group projects, including the following:
CHINATOWN FIELD TRIP
At the beginning of the course, the class visits Hong Kong Market in Houston’s Chinatown neighborhood, a large supermarket with a wide range of food products from around the world. Rather than providing students with a definition for biodiversity and telling them the various ways that researchers quantify it, they are challenged with the task of “sampling” the most diverse set of purchases they can within a one hour period and with a virtual budget of $20. The only rules are that any ingredient that is derived from a living thing counts as a species and that their total expenditure cannot exceed $20. The students then work in groups, exploring the supermarket and writing down (or taking photos of) the products they choose to sample. After one hour, the class meets up and they are asked to explain (1) how they conceptualized the meaning of “diversity” in the context of the assignment (e.g. a diverse sample could include the greatest number of different species, an even distribution of different species, or species that come from different taxonomic groups or geographical regions); (2) what strategy they used to maximize diversity (e.g. include inexpensive processed products that contain many ingredients, like spice packets; split up to cover as many sections of the supermarket as possible); (3) how might one determine how complete the survey was (e.g. by determining how many new species are added with the addition of each new sample); and (4) how the exercise is similar to sampling a natural ecosystem (e.g. inability to include all individuals in a sample, constraints of time and resources), and how it is different (e.g. how easy it is to “capture” and identify individuals, spatial arrangement of individuals). With this activity students learn that there are numerous ways that biological diversity can be quantified, that there are always constraints, both temporal and financial, necessitating decisions about the how to best allocate the available resources given the goals of the project, and that a biological survey is always incomplete, but that there are ways to estimate what was missed.
The main focus of the course is the survey of the species diversity within the Big Thicket National Preserve, located in east Texas. Students are assigned to groups, each of which is given a particular group of organisms (e.g. trees, fish, butterflies and moths, reptiles and amphibians, birds and mammals). The groups are then tasked with designing a method for surveying that group of organisms in the Big Thicket National Preserve within a 24-hour period. Each group is matched with an expert consultant who they are encouraged to contact for advice; rather than telling them what methods work best, the consultants (as well as the course instructor and TA) provide feedback on suggestions made by the students based on research conducted by the students about sampling methods used by researchers working with that particular group of organisms. Each group submits a detailed written proposal and gives an oral presentation to the class explaining their proposed methodology as well as providing some basic information about the group of organisms they will survey (e.g. its taxonomic classification, identifying characteristics, and what species are common in the region). To help prepare for this assignment, the class visits the field site where the surveys will take place so that each group can provide specific information about exactly where their sampling will occur and may try out some of the techniques they hope to utilize.
Following feedback from the instructor, TA, expert consultants, and their classmates, the students execute their surveys during a weekend-long field trip to the Big Thicket National Preserve. Survey methods include seining for fish in a stream, collecting butterflies with aerial nets, setting up motion-activated cameras to photograph reclusive mammals, and setting up pitfall traps for reptiles and amphibians. Some groups collect specimens that they curate using appropriate methods and later deposit into a museum collection. Expert consultants participate in the weekend bioblitz survey.
Expert consultants include:
Dr. Nancy Grieg - Director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences
Dr. Cassidy Johnson - Lecturer in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University
Dr. Kevin W. Conway - Assistant Professor and Curator of Fishes at Texas A&M University
Dr. Cin-Ty Lee - Professor of Earth Science at Rice University and an expert on birds
Dr. Evan Siemann - Professor and Chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University
David P. Lewis - President of the Gulf Coast Mycological Society
Chris Valdez - Herpetology Keeper at the Houston Zoo
Tim Perkins - bird expert (Rice University Class of 2004)
ENGAGING WITH THE LARGER SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY
Students share the results of their biological surveys by posting images and information about species they observe in the field using the website iNaturalist.org. This site is publicly available and contributes to a growing database of observations used by researchers and amateurs alike.
Students submit a written report and deliver an oral presentation to the class that describe the results of their biological survey of a particular taxonomic group in the Big Thicket National Preserve. The reports are compiled into a single document that is shared with the National Park Service and contributes to the ongoing effort to catalogue and monitor the species that occur within the preserve.
Sharing their results with their classmates, the National Park Service, and with the general public is meant to help students reflect on their results, to place them in the larger context of the biological diversity present at the sampling site and in the region, and to understand how such data contribute to the efforts of others, who might use their samples or observations for a wide range of different research projects. As each class of EBIO 327 students adds their results, they are gradually building a database that may be used by future researchers to monitor the status of endangered species or to document the spread of invasive species.
LESSONS LEARNED AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Solomon says that the idea for the bioblitz assignment came gradually. He has taught this course for several semesters using a different approach, in which students carried out surveys of particular types of organisms in different habitats following a standard set of instructions provided by the instructor. Although this approach had its advantages (e.g. higher success rates, more consistency across groups and across years), Solomon felt it lacked both the authenticity of working on a real project in which the results would be utilized by community partners as well as the ownership that comes with developing a project on one’s own. When considering ways to reinvent the course, he found examples of “bioblitzes” conducted by other organizations, which are typically conducted as citizen science projects open to the general public. Modifying such an activity into a class project that still collects meaningful data seemed like a win-win proposition!
Solomon says than one of the biggest struggles he has faced as an instructor is determining how much guidance to give the students as they design their surveys. Specifically, he struggles with determining how much information to give them from previous semesters. On the one hand, students would benefit from knowing exactly what has been done previously and how successful it was. On the other hand, he believes that students get a better educational experience (in terms of both learning gains and project ownership) when they design the survey themselves rather than simply repeating what has been previously done. Likewise, we are somewhat constrained in terms of what methods can be used based on what approval we have from the National Park Service and the IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee). The compromise he has found is to allow students to suggest a sampling methodology based on their own independent research, and then have instructors and expert consultants point out additional considerations, potential problems, or suggest alternatives. They also have access to some of the results from previous semesters through iNaturalist.org, but not their detailed sampling methodology.
Another challenge with this approach is that the student experience differs quite a bit depending on which group they are in. For example, the tree group has no trouble finding their focal organisms (they are in a forest, after all), and typically are able to identify all individuals by sight during the survey. Other groups, such as the butterfly and moth group, typically have to collect samples that they bring back to the lab and have to identify using a microscope at a later date. This means that the workload and schedule differ for each group. Solomon has learned that it is important to be clear about this at the beginning of the course so that there are no surprises when students later learn that some groups have completed their work while others still have a lot of work to do.
Additionally, one idea suggested by a student was to require students to do more research about the organisms they are surveying. Currently, each group is asked to include some information about their focal organisms, but it might be helpful to include an additional assignment in which each group summarizes the natural history and behavior of their focal group before they begin working on a proposal for how to survey it. This would ensure that any important information (e.g. some members of the group are exclusively nocturnal or require a particular type of soil) are known when planning the survey.
- This document on experiential learning, put together for the faculty at Northern Illinois University, provides on overview of the theory and practice of experiential learning.
- University of Delaware's Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education provides extensive resources on problem-based and project-based learning.
- The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo provides faculty in the sciences with teaching resources, a case study collection, and other resources for applying action-based learning techniques.
- Professor John Peter's Problem-Based Learning & Scientific Inquiry in Introductory Biology project in the department of Biology at the College of Charleston is an excellent resource of problem-based learning in the biological sciences. He provides a PBL instructor resource library on his webpage.
- The Vanderbilt Center for Teaching provides a list of Best Practices in Community Engaged Teaching for instructors in any discipline.
- Campus Compact is a comprehensive resource for faculty wishing to implement service learning and community engaged pedagogies in their classrooms, departments, and on campus.
- Geiger, Elke. 2010. “Service Learning Toolbox: Work Pages and Checklists to Help You Get Started and to Keep You Going.” Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Portland.
Professor in the Practice, Department of BioSciences
Professor Solomon received a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin where he examined the evolutionary basis of biological diversity in the Amazon Basin. Before joining the faculty at Rice, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and the State University of São Paulo in Rio Claro, Brazil. He teaches courses in introductory biology, ecology and evolutionary biology, insect biology, tropical field biology, and scientific communication. Professor Solomon has been a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Teaching Excellence since 2014. In addition to his research on the biology of ants, he speaks and writes about science for the general public. His writing has appeared in publications such as Slate and Wired.com and his first book, Future Humans: Inside the Science of Our Continuing Evolution will be published by Yale University Press in 2016. Dr. Solomon is also a Resident Associate and Faculty Fellow at Baker College, where he lives with his wife, Catharina, and their three children.
 A Bioblitz is a 24 hour event in which teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible.