Honors Program
First Advisor
Dr. William Victor Glider
Date of this Version
Winter 12-8-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
Kircher, B.G., & Glider, W.V. (2024). Odonate Predator and Prey Interaction Laboratory Curriculum. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Abstract
Through my collaboration with Dr. William Glider, I have designed and tested a curriculum for teaching collegiate introductory and upper-level biology labs based around the interactions of Odonate (dragonfly) larvae and prey species such as Daphnia and amphipod microcrustaceans. This project builds on initial efforts conducted by Dr. Glider and former students, though my individual work with Dr. Glider features the bulk of, and completion of this project. In completing this project, I have conducted hundreds of data collection trials using model organisms and different environmental parameters, tabulated and analyzed this data, and incorporated this data for use in designing a laboratory protocol around the same procedures that I conducted. Dr. Glider and I have developed and defined organism culturing and handling techniques, different testable conditions, data collection protocols and procedures, and carried out all these personally. This work has been submitted to the Association of Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE), to be presented at next year’s annual conference, and to be published in next year’s ABLE journal. In addition to attending the ABLE conference and submitting this work for publication, I will work alongside Dr. Glider as a teaching assistant next semester to teach an upper-level biology course incorporating our work with this project. Overall, this project served to develop and implement a college-level biology curriculum, and to share the curriculum through various other avenues, and helped me develop an appreciation for education in the life sciences.
Comments
This article has been submitted for review by the Association of Biology Laboratory Education, with future publication in the ABLE journal next year, and presented at the annual ABLE conference next year. Additionally, parts of this curriculum will be used to teach a special topics course in biology laboratory education at UNL.