Biological Science (61). This CCLI Adaptation and Implementation type II project supports the implementation of an integrated core curriculum, linking cell biology, genetics and ecology via a focal organism, the tree lizard, Urosaurus ornatus. This abundant lizard, which is native to Arizona, provides a scaffold for multidisciplinary investigative studies that thread their way through a five-course biology core (Introductory Biology I & II, Genetics, Cell Biology, and Ecology), thereby demonstrating the interrelatedness of the various subdisciplines, as well as their dependence on mathematics, chemistry and physics. Based on a curriculum taught at Davidson College, students are introduced to scientific method, the tree lizard and its habitat in the introductory course. Subsequently, students explore a variety of topics, such as the microbial flora of the lizard's nasal passage, the detailed chemical and biological analyses of its habitat, analyses of population flow within the urban Phoenix, Arizona ecosystem, observation of courtship and aggression, and analysis of heat shock protein expression. All modules are being conducted in an active-learning manner and students are expected to contribute to experimental design. The culmination of the project is a detailed analysis (done by students in the Ecology course) of the tree lizard and its habitat, using data gathered in each of the classes during a given semester. In addition to the thematic animal focus, research-based lab modules (both in the laboratory and the field) and learning communities are employed as strategies to improve learning. The project also evaluates the effectiveness of this new approach compared to the traditional format used previously.
