Abstract
This technical note aims to show how any instructor teaching entomology can use the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) and the “one click” mode of Phylogeny.fr to teach undergraduate students about insect DNA similarity in a simple way. Teaching an entomology course requires the use of numerous tools to help students grasp different concepts. Knowing that there are more than one million described species of insects means that teaching students about insect identification and taxonomy can be challenging. However, here we present two easy exercises that could be used as classroom or take-home assignments to demonstrate various levels of DNA similarity among different insect taxa. Such exercises unlock students’ creativity and break the barrier of fear of bioinformatics. Moreover, they open up new ways for them to understand insect taxonomy through molecular biology and allow them to develop new skills that contribute to strengthening their scientific performance in the future, especially when they do research as graduate students. Finally, this note is an example of how to integrate simple bioinformatics tools into the teaching of entomology.
Highlights
Teaching entomology to students can be achieved by several methods
Here we present two easy exercises that could be used as classroom or take-home assignments to demonstrate various levels of DNA similarity among different insect taxa. Such exercises unlock students’ creativity and break the barrier of fear of bioinformatics. They open up new ways for them to understand insect taxonomy through molecular biology and allow them to develop new skills that contribute to strengthening their scientific performance in the future, especially when they do research as graduate students
A study tested the use of project-based learning (PBL) activity that was developed to teach phylogenetics for junior and senior-level biology students
Summary
Teaching entomology to students can be achieved by several methods. Undoubtedly, the conventional teaching method, which has limited innovation strategies had been the main method used so far by most teachers. Teaching insect identification and taxonomy with the help of in silico methods is always informative and an interesting experience for students Such experience could be enhanced by the use of computers and online tools. A study tested the use of project-based learning (PBL) activity that was developed to teach phylogenetics for junior and senior-level biology students. Another study emphasized the use of portable sequencing as a teaching tool in conservation and biodiversity research It provided step-by-step protocols for a field training program that uses low-cost, portable devices to conduct direct genomics-based training [9]. The role of a teacher is to make this topic more attractive to students In this technical note, we demonstrate two exercises that help students learn how to use the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). Al-Deeb (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and the “one click” mode of Phylogeny.fr (http://www.phylogeny.fr/simple_phylogeny.cgi) to learn insect DNA similarity levels
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