Biodiversity Lab (Bios 327) Syllabus

Fall 2007

Here you will find answers to the following questions:

What is Bios 327? What kind of background am I expected to have coming into this course? When and where does it start? Who is the instructor? What do I need to purchase for this course?   How will this course be graded?   What is the course schedule?  How is the Honor Code administered in this course?

What is Bios 327?

In this lab we will undertake a series of field trips whose purpose will be to make you aware of the kind of biological diversity that can be found in select groups of organisms.

What kind of background am I expected to have coming into this course?

Rather limited background is required for much of the course. It will be assumed, however, that for the purposes of your Lab Write-up that you have some basic background in ecology.

When and where does it start?

Our first meeting is 29 August 2007, at 2:30 pm -- Anderson Biology Lab 130 D (conference room adjacent to the EEB office).

What do I need to purchase for this course?

• No books are required for the course although you may wish to purchase a waterproof field notebook. There may, however, be certain fees associated with our field trips.

How will this course be graded?

• Grading in this lab will be based on participation, PowerPoint presentations, Exercises, and a Lab Write-up.
• Break-down of grading is as follows:
  • Participation 20%
  • PowerPoint Presentations 30%
  • Exercises 20%
  • Lab Write-up 30%
• Participation. To be based on my subjective evaluation of your participation, attitude, effort, and contribution to the learning of our group
• PowerPoint Presentations: you will need to make a short PowerPoint presentation each week where you'll discuss your use of a plant that you have never used before (the odder the better!). The use that you put the plant to should be one that the plant is conventionally used for. In your presentation you'll need to minimally cover:
  • scientific and common names; the family to which the plant belongs and the
  • a phylogenetic tree showing that families current placement in the Angiosperm family trees: see Tree of Life (www.tolweb.org/)
  • any relatively closely related plants who's use most people in class would be familiar with
  • a picture or pictures of the plant including foliage, flowers, and fruits
  • what the plant is used for including any special properties
  • cautions associated with the use of the plant
  • where the plant is used
  • something about the origins of the plant and/or it's cultivars
  • your experiences with the plant
  • Note: only legal (federal and Texas law) uses of plants can be reported on for purposes of this course. Be aware that there are plants out there that can be purchased and grown but cannot be used for certain purposes. Sellers can also sell you plant parts that you cannot legally use. Do not use any of these in this course! Also, in general, you should be cautious any time you use something for the first couple of times in case you are in some way allergic to the plant you're exploring.
  • Finally, select students will be asked each week to give their PowerPoint presentation for that week
• Exercises. Using a pre-existing dataset, you will perform basic biodiversity calculations. These will prepare you for the analyses you will use in your Lab Write-up. Two exercises are currently scheduled although a third one may be added if necessary.
• Lab write-up. Each of you will be asked to analyze the data collected from one of our field trips and report the results in the form of a manuscript to be submitted to the journal Oikos (http://www.oikos.ekol.lu.se/Oikosguide.html).
• Grading will be done on a straight, ten-point scale.

What is the course schedule?

Week	Date	Lecture/Event	Material Due
1	29 August	Organization Meeting/Butterflies
	2 and 3 September	Day Field Trips to Brazos Bend (Butterflies)
2	5 September	Presentations
	9 or 10* September	Open
3	12 September	Presentations	Exercise 1
	15 or 16 September	Open
4	19 September	Presentations/(Mushrooms/galls)	Exercise 2
	22 or 23 September	Day Field Trip to Big Thicket (Mushrooms/galls)
5	26 September	Freshwater Mussel Biology and Conservation (Marcia Rimer of Texas Mussel Watch)
	29 or 30 September	Day Field Trip to the Navasota River (Freshwater Mussels)
6	3 October	Presentations/Eocene Marine Fossils
	6 or 7 October	Day Field Trip to Whiskey Bridge (Eocene Marine Fossils)
7	10 October	Presentations
	13, 14 October	Day Field Trip to Brazos Bend (Butterflies)
	2 November		1st Draft of Lab Write-up
	8 December		Final Lab Write-up

*Whenever possible we will attempt the field trip on the Saturday date. Failing this (for whatever reason), we will try to do it on Sunday.

How is the Honor Code administered for this course? Select the following link: Honor Code.

Special Needs :

• If you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs. Additionally, you will need to register with the Disability Support Services Office in the Ley Student Center.

Last modified 8-15-07