BIOLOGY 327 INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY LAB Syllabus FALL 2004

Time and Place: 1-4 Thursday� Fisher 202.

Instructor: Dr. Matt Persons

��������� Contact Information

��������� (570) 372-4526

��������� Email: persons@susqu.edu

��������� Internet: http://www.susqu.edu/FacStaff/p/persons/Inverthomepage.htm

Office Hours 7-8 am daily, T, TH 4-5. These are just the times I will definitely be in my office, but if the doors open, come on in! Of course, you can always set up an appointment.

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Reference Text: Laboratory Manual for Invertebrate Zoology. Matt Persons

������������������ ���� Biology of the Invertebrates. Jan Pechenik.

Course Goals:

�         To introduce students to the diversity of animals without backbones and understand the evolutionary relationships and taxonomic classification of animals as currently understood.

�         Learn to identify animals (to phyla, class and sometimes lower taxonomic levels) by sight.

�         Become familiar with the collecting, taxonomic identification, and curatorial methods for preserving invertebrates.

�         Learn the methods necessary to conduct a comparative biodiversity study or test the collecting biases of various invertebrate collecting methods.

�         Improve dissection techniques and learn functional anatomy of select invertebrates.

COURSE STRUCTURE

LABORATORY: will introduce the student to the diversity of invertebrate phyla and subgroups, with emphasis on form and function of morphology, organ systems, etc. There is one 4 hour lab each week (14 in all). Most of these labs involve dissections, of preserved material, microscopic examination of prepared slides, demonstrations, and observation of living marine animals. In addition, students will organize an invertebrate collection based on local fauna.

GRADING: The laboratory grade is based on 4 laboratory practicals each worth 50 points each (200 points) and one invertebrate study (150 points).� The laboratory practicals will ask you to� identify invertebrates taxonomically,� as well as structures related to particular invertebrate groups. The invertebrate study grade is broken down into three components, 1) a preserved specimen collection (25 pts), a written proposal (25 pts), and a written lab report on your study (100 pts). See the handout on the invertebrate study for more details regarding grading criteria and expectations.

Attendance: You are required to attend class. Not doing so will have a large negative impact on your grade (obviously). Laboratory practica take hours to set up and hours to take down. Therefore, I cannot give MAKEUP laboratory practica. If you miss a practical for legitimate reasons (i.e. have a letter from the Dean of Students as to why you missed class), I will give you an ORAL makeup exam at a later date that is mutually agreed upon.

The following is a calendar for the laboratory portion of the course. It is not written in stone and may be subject to change by the instructor (and perhaps by you too, depending on interests regarding particular phyla). Unless otherwise stated however, the practical dates will be as indicated in the calendar.