Laboratory is a required component of the course.  Participating in the two field trips is also required, so please plan accordingly.  The lab and field experience will build on materials covered in the lecture portion.  Our focus is to develop your skills in critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, communication (graphical, verbal, written) experimental design & analysis and group interactions. 

We will use manipulative experiments and descriptive ecological measurements to answer questions in the lab and field.  We will use organisms that are tolerant of captivity to avoid unnecessary mortality.    Do not expect to conduct experiments on vertebrates or on invertebrates that are sensitive to captivity.  Algae are wonderful organisms to use in lab and field studies because of tolerance to manipulations, rapid response time and the fact there are no "algal rights" activists (except, of course, "PETA"=People for the Ethical Treatment of Algae).

Bio. Sci. 265         Tentative Laboratory Schedule

Date                                                Activity

Sep     13/14                    Prepare for field trip to Maine, discussion.

           17                        Depart for Maine 4:00 pm on Friday; return evening 19 Sept
 
           20/21                  Analyze Maine data; set up snail (Littorina spp.) grazing exp., computer                                            workshop I

           27/28                 Prepare for field trip to Cape Cod; analyze snail data, discuss lab reports

Oct       2                       Field trip to Cape Cod: depart at 6:00 am; return by 9 pm

            4/5                    Debrief and analysis from Cape trip

            11/12                 AUTUMN RECESS

            18/19                 Crab studies: physiology & predation.                      

            25/26                Analyze crab data; intro to group projects.

Nov      1/2                     No lab; research your project with lab partner

            8/9                    Project proposals & brief presentations.

            15/16                 Group projects.

            22/23                Group projects.

            29/30                 No lab; work on your project reports.

Dec       6/7                   Peer review of project reports.

            13/14                 Project presentations.
 
 

Evaluation:

Class Project reports (1)                       25%
Group project proposal                         5%
Group project report                            30%
Oral presentation (on project)               5%
Participation in field & lab                    10%
Field worksheet (2)                               10%
Lab hand-ins (Maine, Cape, crab lab (3)  15%

Due dates for assignments -

Oct  4/5                     Report 1: Littorina study
Nov 8/9                      Project proposal (one per group)
Dec 6/7                      Group project draft report (one per group)
Dec 13/14                   Project presentations & final project report
**Worksheets and brief lab write-ups are due a week after the lab.**

           Bertness:  Ch. 1 & 5

           Sierra Club Guide, Chapter II, Marine Rocky Intertidal. ( for feature-creature info)
 

For Cape field trip:
            Bertness, Ch. 7

            Sierra Club Guide: Ch. 3.

            Strahler: A geologist's view of Cape Cod (totally optional but worth the read).

            Wilber, R.J. 1987.  Plastic in the North Atlantic.  Oceanus 30:61-67.