They could, for example, be assigned individually or in pairs to specific places around campus and directed to compile bird lists over the course of a semester, including observations on mating and nesting behavior. You could make a few lab periods available for their work, and have a seminar-style set of presentations at the end of the semester. For those whose classes include large numbers of commuting students whose schedules might not allow them to be on campus at various times of the day, the assignment could be to do a similar type of project in their own neighborhoods. Students could also be asked to focus on one particular species and do a bit of library research on its natural history. Cheers, Kerry Kilburn ODU Biological Sciences Sherry Brooks asked what others were doing in vertebrate zoology labs.
Hospitals dispose of thousands of plain films, CTs and MRIs each year.
We have a large collection and students enjoy the challenge of interpreting the images. Subjects can include ecomorphology if you have access to comparative specimens from which they can take measurements. Skeletons are excellent - beaver, armadillo, otter, etc. Functional morphology of animals can be studied from wildlife videos using the pause feature on the video machine. They can use each other as specimens.