Welcome to General Zoology
CSM Biol 210, Bucher
(my CSM colleagues are welcome to direct students to this page or
to create links to specific resources on it. —Michael Bucher)
A course in animal biology for science majors.
The students most likely to succeed will be those who have met the prerequisite of MATH 120 or 123 or the equivalent and completed a college-level biology course with lab and a college-level chemistry course with lab. In this class we begin by considering what an animal is, has, and does. We will look at:
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the problems posed by the physical and biotic conditions found on earth;
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how (within a unity of shared chemistry and physiological mechanisms) a diversity of animals meet those problems;
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the unifying principles of genetics and evolution by natural selection as satisfying explanations of how the animals have arrived at such unity and diversity.
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how tools and concepts developed in related sciences and mathematics can deepen and strengthen our understanding of animals, their past and present.
Required tools and materials:
Textbook (see current Syllabus and Calendar for details), a bound laboratory notebook (see Lab Notebook link below for description), and after 6th week gloves and dissecting tools (scissors, scalpel, mall probe, forceps).
Downloads
Initial Downloads The ones you'll need to start the semester are the Syllabus, Calendar and information on Lab Notebook format and content.
Lab Exercises (Preview only. Some of these are undergoing revision. As long as this statement persists here these should not be considered final versions.)
Field Trip Downloads One or more of these may be required, optional, with or without extra credit. Ask.
Study Guides (Some of these may be out-dated; replacement in progress.)
Initial downloads for this course for Spring 2008!
210 Lecture & Lab Schedule Calendar of assignments, to pics, exams, key dates, etc.
210 Syllabus Course expectations, contact info, texts, key dates, etc.
Lab Notebooks Some words about your own "Q" Document, the bound volume that contains your original observations; sketches; thoughts; measurements; hypotheses; predictions; experimental designs, protocols, results and tentative conclusions.
Notebook Minimal Content Outline of what-to-include in lab notebook entries.
Basic Logistical Files
How to Create a Great Poster The title says it all.
How to Take Perfect Notes Reformatted from an entry at WikiHow to print on a single page.
Concept Map Introduction to Concept Mapping, a very useful tool for organizing
information, note-taking, pre-writing.
evolutionmap.pdf organizes some of the basic ideas related to organic evolution into a Concept map. The map was created using a computer application called Inspiration. You may print out the map, then expand it or simply add your own handwritten notes as a crib sheet. OR you can download a trial copy of Inspiration from www.inspiration.com and install it (versions for Mac and Winblows are available) and make your own.
If you don't have a copy of the Acrobat Reader, it is free. 
Your first assignment:
Send me an e-mail message (to 
)
that includes the 3-digit course number (210) and your real name in the Subject
line and tell me what you intend to accomplish this semester and what you
see as the barriers, if any, to reaching your goals.
Don't have an e-mail account?
If you don't have your own e-mail account but do have access to an Internet browser (Safari, Netscape Navigator, AOL, Firefox, etc.), you can get a free account from a variety of different sources. Most of the "free" e-mail accounts come at the cost of viewing ads on the same page where you read and write e-mail messages. They may also add a tag line to your outgoing messages inviting others to sign up for a free account with them.
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they are not dependent on your being at your own computer, so you could pick up your mail anywhere you could get on-line (e.g. a library in a city you are visiting); |
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they aren't dependent on your keeping the same job, school affiliation, or Internet Service Provider; |
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they are easily abandoned if you happen to get on a "spam" list and start receiving a lot of unwanted e-mail at that address. |
Some possibilities, assuming you already have Internet access:
gmail.com This one had been by invitation only. If an invitation is still needed, ask me. Google's Gmail provides lots of storage area; you could attach a written assignment or pictures to an e-mail message to yourself as a way of having a backup copy you could download from anywhere.
Yahoo Mail Yahoo has also expanded its storage capacity
Hotmail (Caveat emptor: now owned by Microsoft)
Laboratory, Field Trip and Extra-Credit Files
Industrial
Melanism The Case of Industrial Melanism deconstructs a classic experiment
and evidence for natural selection in accounts of Pepper Moths. This is an
abbreviated, 1-page version of one of several case studies to be found elsewhere on this web site.
What's "Intelligent Design?" Is it just creationism masquerading as science? Watch the Nova episode on-line http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/program.html and earn extra credit with a Video Report.
Spreadsheet Tutorial is our first use of an electronic spreadsheet as a tool for learning and making sense out of numerical data. It may employ spreadsheets named GPA, Geometry and Biometrics.
Introducing VGL
constitutes an orientation, guide and strategic hints for using the Virtual Genetic Lab (VGL 1.4.2) to simulate the breeding of fruit flies and to test hypotheses about how
specific traits are inherited. You can download VGL 1.4.2 for Windows or Mac and a form to record results of selected problems in VGL Report. Here are the CSM VGL practice problems: (This is a compressed Zip file of a folder containing: 01autoCodom.prb; 01autoSimple.prb; 01XYcodom.prb; 01XYsimple.prb; 01ZWcodom.prb; 01ZWsimple.prb; 03autosomal.prb; 02SexLinkCodom.prb; 02SexLinkSimple.prb; 03Codom.prb; 03sexLinked.prb; 03simpleDom.prb; 04ChallengeSet.prb. That folder (once decompressed) is named "Problems" and should replace the one downloaded with VGL 1.4.2; alternatively the files named above could be added to those with names like "level01" in the Problems folder that came with VGL.
Globin1 Beginning to use parts of a Biology Skills Tool Kit for an exploration of phylogeny, family trees, DNA databases, cladistics and so much more.
Globin2 Logging into a supercomputer to access DNA sequence data, select similar regions of many species' genomes, align them and analyze similarities and differences for a new look at who's related to whom.
Mammal Supertree. A recently developed "family tree" of all the mammals based on analysis of published DNA differences. Download and then zoom in the radiating colored lines in the outer ring. Each line is actually the Latin name of a species of mammal. If you don't recognize these scientific names, go to http://www.alltheweb.com, enter the Latin name in the search field and click on the word "Pictures" to see what it looks like.
Evolve "To Change Gene Frequencies is to Evolve" introduces
population genetics and the simulation software called Evolve which will be demonstrated by the intructor. Newly ported to Mac OS X is Evolve3.0.7.6 a simulation software for manipulating the parameters of Hardy-Weinberg Genetics and doing "what if" experiments in evolving populations. Instructions will be given in lab, but the manual developed for version 2 might be helpful as well.
"Taxonomy
and Cladistics" This is a link to a site developed by the publisher
of the Lab Manual. It provides interactive exercises as well as tutorial review
material to support your understanding of issues in animal classification.
"On
Being the Right Size" The classic essay by J.B.S. Haldane on issues
of size and scaling.
VertCompAnat
is a set of indications to follow in the examination of vertebrate skeletal
specimens arrayed in the lab.
Littoral Meaning Field trip directions and map to Princeton Harbor and
tidepool area.
Tidepool Field Trip Field trip directions and map to Bean Hollow State
Beach and its tidepool area.
Intertidal Scavenger Hunt: find animals that
bring these features to the intertidal zone.
Island Biogeography introduces a problem case: several dipterists want to enlarge their collection of exotic flies and are considering a number of different island destinations. Make a supportable, reasoned recommendation regarding the best insular hunting ground for their purpose. Derive suitable hypotheses by examining several data sets from other islands contained within the Excel file Island Biogeography.xls. Additional help might be found in David Quammen's Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction, Scribner. ISBN 0-684-82712-3 or in Alfred Russell Wallace's The Malay Archipelago, the land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise; a narrative of travel with studies of man and nature a founding work on the topic available to download free from gutenberg.org.
Academy of Science Files (the California Academy of Sciences recently closed for renovation. It will open in another temporary location in March or April. The following files may or may not remain relevant to the probably limited exhibits in the new location.
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California Academy of Science field trip Field trip assignments for
(I.) Life Through Time exhibit and (II.) "Adaptations for Locomotion"
at C.A.S. or another aquarium or at a zoological garden.
These were appropriate for Spring 2008 and may retain some relevance even
as perennial exams undergo evolution and continuous improvement.
Genetic Concepts Conceptual terms and vocabulary necessary for first exam.
Darwinian Concepts Conceptual terms, short answer question previews and vocabulary necessary for second exam covering evolutionary topics.
Ascon to Ascaris Conceptual terms, short answer question previews and vocabulary necessary for third exam covering Porifera, Platyhelminthes, Rotifera and Nematoda.
Coelomate Invertebrates Taxonomic and conceptual terms for your active vocabulary and S.A. question previews
Vertebrates Taxonomic and conceptual terms for your active vocabulary and S.A. question previews.
Frog Parts.pdf Anatomical features of the frog (Rana) that every young zoologist should know.
Pig Parts.pdf Anatomical features of the fetal pig that every young zoologist should know.
Final210S.G. Anatomical and conceptual terms for your active vocabulary and S.A. question previews.
Name the taxon Here is a pictorial review of most of the phyla, subphyla, classes, and orders most likely to appear on the Animal Identification part of the final. If you have Powerpoint, download taxa.ppt which is 13.3 MB in size; otherwise download taxa.pdf which is much larger 37.8 MB. Check back for a link to a Podcast version.
These are for the latter part of the course. Others expected here soon. Some are concepts maps, some are presentations developed using Apple Inc.'s Keynote software and exported as PDF files.
Concept Mapping: how and why you might make notes or pre-write in visually holistic fashion. Software available at www.Inspiration.com can facilitate the process of organizing information.
Industrial Melanism: a concept map relating to the "case study" of the same name. The map also includes T.H. Huxley's outline of natural selection. From the "Case of Industrial Melanism" page one can download a single page summary of that case to compare to the concept map.
Photoperiodicity: a concept map relating to the impact of changing daylength on the lives of animals.
Pseudocoelomates An overview of Rotifers and Nematodes.
Mollusca An overview of "softies."
Annelida An overview of segmented round worms.
Arthropoda An overview of "jointed leggedy" beasties.
Arthropoda Map A concept map of the most diverse phylum. You may be asked to construct such maps yourself.
Hexapoda An overview of insects and their near relatives.
Bees An overview of a social insect.
Echinodermata An overview of the pentaramous deuterostomes.
Chordata An overview of affinities among the Urochordates, Cephalochordates and Vertebrates.
Muscle Physiology, an assemblage of textbook and Internet images with minimal commentary on the organization and functioning within the "sliding filament model" of muscle contraction.
Neurophysiology introduction looks at neuron structure and function, including resting potentials, conduction and transmission of action potentials. This leads to consideration of simple innate circuits to mediate response to specific stimuli: Reflexes. More involved are reflexes with inhibitory components, which leads to sensory use of Inhibition to make perceptions better resolved.
Endocrine Introduction to mammalian endocrine concepts. Endocrine Map connects the concepts.
Circulation gets the goods and wastes delivered when simple diffusion just isn't good enough
Respiration is required by all animals, respiratory systems by the larger ones.
Desert Denizens Two distinct strategies tied to body size for coping with
the combined challenges of keeping hydrated and maybe even cool in an arid place.
Reproduction in mammals has shifted in efficiency and subtlety and produced some startling results in anatomy as well as behavior.