Synopsis of This Course.

The lab for Biology 162 uses live organisms or prepared specimens to engage you in comparative and inquiry investigations of the evolutionary structure and function of life. This course is divided into two halves. During the first half you will study plants, and during the second half you will study animals.

Objectives for This Course.

There are four major objectives of this course:

• (1) To improve your biological literacy. This means that you will have an understanding and appreciation of the structure, function, diversity, and evolution of life forms in the diverse Kingdoms of life on earth,
• (2) To improve your understanding of the process of biological inquiry which is the scientific method through which natural phenomena are observed, interpreted, and reported. Science is a "way of knowing" about the world around us with which gains an understanding of our natural world and the effects of human activities upon it,
• (3) You will improve your cognitive skills at critical thinking, and evidence-based reflective judgment. As you design, conduct, and present your research inquiry projects in lab, and as you read, critically analyze, and synthesize reference materials, such as your text, to understand the basic evolutionary principles of plant and animal design, you will be using and improving your higher level thinking and information processing skills,
• (4) To improve your skills at the written communication of biological knowledge. Since good writing is essential to clear thinking, your ability to write well enables you to meet objectives (1), (2), and (3) above. In addition, scientific writing is more concise than most other writing modes (except perhaps poetry), and skills to "omit needless words" are learned. For these reasons, during this course you will write and revise at least 20 pages through numerous writing assignments, and this course is a designated "writing enriched" course.

       In the laboratory for this course, you will learn how biological knowledge is constructed using the scientific method. Laboratory activities will span the range from experiences designed to reinforce principles in the lecture portion of the course to more open-ended single and multiweek inquiries during which you will design and conduct experiments and present your results to your peers during in class symposia.

       Your syllabus of lab activities is available in a required lab manual (available from us for $15). Each of the lab exercises has a set of clearly defined expectations and assignments for you to fulfill. Your performance in lab will be assessed by the oral and written reports, assignments, and other evidence over the course of the semester. This will be explained further in lab by your lab instructor. The lab grade accounts for 40% of the total course grade (the exact components of lab assessment will be explained below and further in lab).

       We hope that your experiences in lab this semester will show you first-hand how biological knowledge is constructed from observation and interpretation. It is hoped that you will understand and appreciate the profound and wonderous complexity of the living processes within a single organism. We also hope that you will realize the profound limitations of our present day methods of inquiry. We do not understand from first principles in the vast majority of cases why a living system (cell, tissue, individual, etc.) responds the way it does to any specific environmental factor (e.g. a toxin, disease pathogen, or even a bad idea). Instead, our knowledge base about biological function, e.g. disease pathology, is almost entirely based upon empirical record-keeping of what worked and what didn't - this fact is what makes biology an "empirical science".

       Attendance is required and will benefit your grade. Details explained below.

       There is a required lecture and lab text: Campbell and Reece. 2006. Biology. 7th Edition Pearson, Benjanin Cummings. This text is well written and well illustrated. You must bring your textbook to lab each week. Many of the activities in lab depend upon your access to your textbook.

       There is a required lab manual available in print will be for sale from us for $15. All activities in this manual were written by us and designed specifically for the program in Biology at Widener. We strongly encourage you to obtain a jump drive, ZIP disks (which are available from us for $1 each), CD-RW disks, or whatever for keeping backup copies of your files. Due to the ease of these options, "a corrupted file" is simply no excuse for late assignments.

       Please purchase and bring a lab coat, or other functionally equivalent attire, to lab each week that we do any dissections (see syllabus). This will protect your street clothes from noxious (and some toxic) specimen preservatives.

       If you are or think you might become pregnant during this semester, you must notify us so that we may take proper and legally responsible safeguards that will protect you and your larval family member(s) from potentially harmful chemicals and/or pathogens in lab.

       Some students have in the past opted to purchase a dissecting kit (scalpel, small scissors, probes, 6" ruler), however, this will not be necessary - all dissecting implements you will need will be provided.

       Your lab grade will be based upon the total number of accumulated points from each of the categories discussed below. Recall that the lab grade constitutes 40% of your course grade. There are six categories upon which your performance in lab will be assessed:

(1) Attendance and In-class Activities,
(2) Answers to Questions from the Lab Handouts,
(3) Reports (dates and details below),
(4) Reflective Writing Assignments.
(5) In class Quizzes and Lab Exam (at the end of term),
(6) Student Project Day Writing Assignments.