Mark, Have you taken a look at the EcoBeaker simulations. We use them quite a bit in majors and non-majors courses and the students seem to like them. Liane
At 11:26 AM 11/17/2005, Mark Dixon wrote: >Dear ECOLOGGERS: > >I'm trying to put together a lab activity illustrating principles of food >webs >and/or energy flow in ecosystems. The class is an introductory biology >course >for non-majors (many of whom have very little science training) at an urban >community college. I'd like to illustrate at least several of the following >concepts: trophic cascade, why top predators are rare (energy >limitations), how >energy transfers limit the length of food chains, effects of redundancy >within >trophic levels, etc. > >Does anyone have a lab activity that illustrates some of these points well? >I'm thinking about some kind of game (maybe having students role-play as >different species in a food web) that illustrates the importance of >connections >between species, the effects of removal of a species, and the effects of >energy >limitations on food chain length. > >Any ideas, web page links, etc. would be greatly appreciated. > >Regards, > >Mark Dixon > >Phoenix College and >Arizona State University *************************** Liane Cochran-Stafira, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Biology Saint Xavier University 3700 West 103rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60655 phone: 773-298-3514 fax: 773-298-3536 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://faculty.sxu.edu/~cochran/
