Using copepods to develop a didactic strategy for teaching species concepts in the classroom

Abstract

While there is little doubt that the species is the lowest independent evolutionary unit, understanding the many different species concepts is a difficult task, even for university students. In the present study, we propose a didactic sequence that involves fieldwork, laboratory analyses, experimental cultures, and computational work in an integrated strategy for the comprehension of the phenetic, ecological, biological, and phylogenetic species concepts. This activity is based on the observation of the morphological, ecological, biological, and phylogenetic characteristics of samples of two copepod crustaceans, Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 and Acartia lilljeborgi Giesbrecht, 1889 (Copepoda, Calanoida). These species were the focus of a simple practical that contributes to the effective comprehension of the four species concepts mentioned above, using straightforward methods that can be standardized easily in the laboratory and classroom. The practical activities developed for the didactic sequence presented here not only made the classes more interesting and motivational, but also contributed to the more effective assimilation of the content, as well as the more effective consolidation of the knowledge presented in the class. It is important to note that these activities can be developed at different educational levels (i.e., undergraduate and graduate students), and can be applied to other types of organism (e.g., amphibians, insects or other copepods), as long as their characteristics are adequate for the systematic exploration of the four species concepts included here.