BIO 112:
Organisms, Evolution, & Ecosystems
Professor: Dr. Mark Stanback
Office:
Watson 282
Phone: 704-894-2325
email:
mastanback@davidson.edu
Office Hours
Mon
1:00 - 2:00
Wed
10:00 – 12:00
or by appointment
Lecture: TR 8:30 - 9:45 in Chambers 1003
Lab Section C
(CRN 14138): W 1:30 - 4:30 in Watson 119
Lab Section D
(CRN 14139): Th
1:00 – 4:00 in Watson 119
Course Description:
Biology 112 is intended as an in-depth introduction to the principles of
biology at and above the level of the organism.
Our focus will be on evolution, ecology, physiology, and anatomy. Biology 111 is a prerequisite for this
course.
Important:
I use e-mail as a regular form of communication in this class and I
expect that you will as well. You should
check your e-mail at least once a day.
Textbooks:
Purves WK, Sadava D, Orians GH, Heller. 2004.
Life: the Science of Biology (7th. ed.) Sinauer, Sunderland, Mass.
Nesse RM, Williams GC. 1994. Why We Get Sick:
the New Science of Darwinian Medicine. Random House, New York.
Other Resources:
An excellent
resource to access is the LifeWire internet page (http://www.thelifewire.com).
This resource has information, practice quizzes, animated tutorials,
activities, and suggested readings for each chapter. You will most likely benefit from this
resource, so take advantage of it!
Every Tuesday
we’ll start class by discussing any pertinent articles from the NY Times
Science section. You can read it for
free by signing on at nytimes.com. No
spam! And a great way
to keep up with cool findings in science!
Lab Fee: There is a $10 lab
fee due by the end of the first week.
Grades:
Lecture Grade:
Review 1 (4 Oct) = 100
Review 2 (8 Nov) = 100
Cumulative Final Exam (Chambers) = 200
Why We Get Sick quizzes = 100
Laboratory
Grade:
Pig Practical (15 Nov) = 100
Population Genetics Lab Reports =
60
Plant
Defenses Lab Report =
60
Total Course
Points Possible
= 720
Letter grades
will be assigned using the following guidelines.
A = 93.3 - 100% of total possible points
A- = 89.9 -
93.29 C
=
73.3 - 76.59
B+ = 86.6 - 89.89 C- =
69.9 - 73.29
B = 83.3 - 86.59 D+ =
66.6 - 69.89
B-
= 79.9 - 83.29 D =
59.9 - 66.59
C+ = 76.6 - 79.89 F =
<59.9
Reviews: Reviews will
consist of multiple choice, short answer, and discussion questions. Reviews will be taken in class and are closed
book.
Blackboard:
We will be making extensive use of Blackboard in this course. I have posted spots (old reviews) on
Blackboard, all lectures will be posted on there soon after I present them,
some lab handouts will be posted there, and your photos will be there (it helps
when you know each others’ names).
Although we can’t go entirely paperless in this course, you should try
to minimize unnecessary printing. As an
incentive, I will give 5 points of extra credit to all students who resist the
temptation to print out (or photocopy) the spots. Same deal for the powerpoint lectures.
Every day is earth day!
Honor Code: All
of your work in this course is covered under the college honor code and must be
pledged (the word “pledged” and your signature). Points will be deducted from any work that is
not pledged. Please visit the following
page on the departmental web site for a detailed discussion of what constitutes
plagiarism in scientific writing
http://bio.davidson.edu/dept/plagiarism.html
Attendance:
You are expected to attend all lecture and laboratory sessions and arrive
on time. Attendance will be taken each day in class and will be considered
in determining your final grade. Any
student missing more than 6 class meetings will receive a grade of F for the
course. You are on your honor to record
attendance accurately on posted attendance sheets. Unexcused absences from lab will not be
tolerated: any student missing more than 3 lab meetings will receive a grade of
F for the whole course. A busy schedule
(e.g. reviews in other courses, major papers due, commitments to service and
social organizations, personal travel) will not be considered a valid excuse
for switching lab sections or rescheduling reviews or lab practicals.
Lecture topics
will be covered in the order shown below.
I will announce in class which chapters/pages you should be reading for
upcoming lectures and will inform you of all information to be covered on
scheduled reviews.
Lecture
Topics Chapters
in Purves et al.
EVOLUTION
Mechanisms of Evolution 1,
23
Species and Speciation 24
ECOLOGY
Behavioral
Ecology 53
Population/Community Ecology 54, 55
Systems Ecology 58
ANATOMY &
PHYSIOLOGY
Intro to Physiology and Anatomy 41 (in part)
Hormones 42 (in part)
Osmoregulation 51
(in part)
Circulation 49
Gas Exchange 48
Reproduction 43
Many people
mistakenly think that evolutionary biology has no relevance in our lives. This short, readable book will not only
address the importance of evolution to medicine, it will also help you to think
like an evolutionary biologist. We will read this book during the first half of
the semester and spend the beginning of each designated class period (see
below) discussing it. On these days,
there will be a Blackboard quiz on the day’s material due before class. There will be a total of 11 quizzes, each
worth 9 points, for a total of 99 points (plus a freebie = 100). WWGS material
will not be covered on the reviews or exam unless we also cover the material
during lecture.
Date Chapter Topic
30
Aug 1, 2 The
Mystery of Disease, Evolution by Natural Selection
1 Sept 3 Signs
and Symptoms of Infectious Disease
6 Sept 4 An Arms Race Without End
8 Sept 5, 6 Injury, Toxins
13 Sept 7 Genes
and Disease
15 Sept 8 Aging
as the Fountain of Youth
20 Sept 9 Legacies
of Evolutionary History
27 Sept 10 Diseases
of Civilization
6 Oct 11, 12 Allergy, Cancer
13 Oct 13 Reproduction
18 Oct 14, 15 Are Mental Disorders Diseases? The Evolution of
Medicine
If you’re
intrigued by this topic, take a look at these books in the library:
Ewald PW. 1994. The Evolution of Infectious
Disease. Oxford, New York.
Stearns SC.
1999. Evolution in Health and Disease. Oxford, New
York.
Trevathan WR, Smith EO, McKenna JJ. 1999.
Evolutionary Medicine. Oxford,
New York.
The laboratory portion of this
course is designed to be a hands-on complement to the material we will be
covering in lecture. Logistic
constraints prevent perfect synchrony between lecture and laboratory portions
of the course.
Lab Reports:
For the Population Genetics lab, you will work in your lab group, but
each member will independently write up a lab report (specific instructions to
be provided later). At the following
week's lab meeting, all lab reports will be submitted (anonymously) for
peer review in a process I call the "read-around". In the read-around, each lab group sits
together at a table. Each student reads
through and writes comments on the lab reports produced by each of the students
in another lab group within their lab section. Each student is to note the strengths and
weaknesses of each lab report they review.
The purpose of this exercise is to give each student the knowledge and
tools to write a good scientific paper.
Everyone will benefit from the expertise of the best writers and learn
from the mistakes of the less experienced.
Socialism?
Not quite. Once you get your own
lab report back, I want each lab group to get together and produce a single
final version to turn in. Each group
member will also turn in their marked-up original. Let me emphasize that your initial submission
is not to be a "rough draft".
Your personal version will be worth 30 points and the group version will
be worth 30 points (for all participants).
For the Plant Defenses lab report, everyone will submit their own lab
report (worth 60 points).
Pig Dissection:
Every student will get their own pig to dissect. You may use departmental dissection
equipment, borrow some from a Bio 112 alum, or
purchase your own kit at the student store (probably not necessary). It would be wise to consult text chapters 50,
49, and 43 while we are working on our pigs.
|
Week of |
Activities |
|
Aug 22 |
Fish Art, Mating Game |
|
Aug 29 |
Populus: Selection and Drift |
|
Sept 5 |
Population Genetics -- data collection |
|
Sept 12 |
PG data analysis, oral
presentations |
|
Sept 19 |
PG read-around; Intro to Plant
Defenses lab |
|
Sept 26 |
PD bioassay (final PG report due 28, 29 Sept) |
|
Oct 3 |
PD data analysis |
|
Oct 10 |
PD oral presentations, Phish Physiology –
plan experiment |
|
Oct 17 |
PP data collection, analysis |
|
Oct 24 |
PP oral presentations, Fetal Pig – external, digestive (PD report due
26, 27 Oct) |
|
Oct 31 |
Fetal Pig – respiratory, circulatory |
|
Nov 7 |
Fetal Pig - circulatory, urogenital |
|
Nov 14 |
Fetal Pig – review session Monday night, practical Tuesday night (15
Nov) |
|
Nov 21 |
No lab - Thanksgiving |
|
Nov 28 |
TBA |
Bio Lunch!
Every Friday the Biology Faculty and interested Biology students have lunch at the commons (from 12:30 – 2:00). You don’t have to be a major to join us!