Biology 360 – Marine Biology – Spring 2012

 

Lectures MWF 10-10:50 Gilbreth 101

Laboratory Meets in CBLS 310

Instructor:

 

Brad Wetherbee          Office Woodward 024                        wetherbee@uri.edu    

Office hours: MWF 11-12                  874-2335

 

Teaching Assistants   Elizabeth Mclean - elmclean@my.uri.edu

                                    JA Macfarlan - j.a.macfarlan@gmail.com

                                   

Required Text:  Morrissey, J.F. and J.L. Sumich. 2012. Biology of Marine Life. 10th Edition. Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, MA

http://www.uri.edu/cels/bio/wetherbee/bio360/syllabus_files/image003.gifThis 4-credit course with laboratory is designed for students interested in the biology of marine life.  The course is organized to tour the marine environment based primarily on a community approach and will examine the biology of organisms found in a variety of marine habitats.  This course provides a basis for several higher-level courses offered within the Department of Biological Sciences such as invertebrates of New England, Marine Botany, Marine Ecology and Marine Environmental Physiology. 

 

Instruction:

 

The primary means of communicating information for this course is the lectures.    The textbook is supplementary to the lectures and provides much more detailed information about many topics.  Students are expected to read chapters associated with lectures and are responsible for material in the textbook on these subjects.  Scores will be posted on Sakai following exams.  Partial lecture notes will be available on the course website.  Study guides and practice exams will also be provided on the course website to reinforce major points covered in the course and to help prepare for exams. 

 

Course website:  http://www.uri.edu/cels/bio/wetherbee/bio360.html

 

Laboratory:

 

The laboratory segment of this course is heavily field oriented and will survey some of the major marine environments and organisms found in New England and along the U.S. East Coast.  On both field trips and laboratory exercises you will be introduced to some of the methods used to study marine biology in the field and in the lab.  Your lab grade will consist of worksheets, lab reports and completion of laboratory exercises.  The lab accounts for 25% of the points that make up your grade for the course.  Therefore, the labs offer an opportunity to experience the local marine habitat and are also important for your success in this course.  Laboratories will meet the second week of classes and a detailed list of activities and expectations will be provided.  Your TAs for the labs are JA Macfarlan (j.a.macfarlan@gmail.com) and Elizabeth Mclean (elmclean@my.uri.edu).

 

Exams:

 

Questions on the exams will emphasize material discussed in the lectures and contained in assigned reading.  There are three mid-semester exams, each worth 50 points and a final exam worth 100 points.   The final exam will be roughly 75% cumulative over material from the entire semester and 25% over material covered during the final section of the semester.  Exams will consist primarily of multiple choice questions with several short answer/essay questions. 

 

Please take note of the date of the each exam and make travel plans accordingly.  Exams will only be given on the scheduled date or rescheduled for University excused absences such as participation in sporting events.  The final exam is scheduled for Friday May 4th 8-11am.

In Sections 8.51 and 8.27 of the University Manual you will find:

8.51.11 Students who plan to be absent from classes or examinations for religious holy days that traditionally preclude secular activity (see 6.20.11 for how such information is made available) shall discuss this with the appropriate instructor(s) in advance of the holy day. The instructor(s) shall then make one of the following options available:  a. the same quiz, test, or examination to be administered either before or after the normally scheduled time; b. a comparable alternative quiz, test, or examination to be administered either before or after the scheduled time; c. an alternative weighting of the remaining evaluative components of the course which is mutually acceptable to the student and instructor(s).

 

8.51.12 Students who expect to be absent from classes or examinations for University sanctioned events shall discuss this with the appropriate instructor(s) at least one week in advance of the sanctioned event(s). The instructor(s) concerned shall then offer the student an alternative listed in section 8.51.11. For these purposes University sanctioned events shall be those events approved for class excuses by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, a Vice President, a Dean, or the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. No event shall be regarded as University sanctioned until the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs has been notified. Disagreements over the validity of an event being categorized as University sanctioned shall be mediated by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. If agreement cannot be reached, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs shall decide the matter and that decision shall be final.

 

8.27.10 Cheating and Plagiarism. Students are expected to be honest in all academic work. Cheating is the claiming of credit for work not done independently without giving credit for aid received, or any unauthorized communication during examinations. 

 

8.27.11 A student's name on any written exercise (theme, report, notebook, paper, examination) shall be regarded as assurance that the work is the result of the student's own thought and study, stated in the student's own words and produced without assistance, except as quotation marks, references and footnotes acknowledge the use of other sources of assistance. Occasionally, students may be authorized to work jointly, but such effort must be indicated as joint on the work submitted. Submitting the same paper for more than one course is considered a breach of academic integrity unless prior approval is given by the instructors.

 

8.27.13 Notebooks, homework and reports of investigations or experiments shall meet the same standards as all other written work. If any work is done jointly or if any part of an experiment or analysis is made by someone other than the writer, acknowledgment of this fact shall be made in the report submitted. Obviously, it is dishonest to falsify or invent

data.

 

8.27.15 In writing examinations, the student shall respond entirely on the basis of the student's own capacity without any assistance except that authorized by the instructor.

 

Grading:

 

Grades will be based on:

 

                        Three mid-semester exams 50 points each     150

                        Final exam                                                      100

                        Laboratory                                                      100

                                                                                    Total   350

 

Letter grades will be assigned on a percentage basis as shown below:

 

Grade

Percent Score

Point Total

A

93.0-100

325-350

A-

90.0-92.9

315-324

B+

87.0-89.9

304-314

B

83.0-86.9

290-303

B-

80.0-82.9

280-289

C+

77.0-79.9

269-279

C

73.0-76.9

255-268

C-

70.0-72.9

245-254

D+

67.0-69.9

234-244

D

63.0-66.9

220-233

F

<63.0

<220

 

Lecture Schedule

  

Date

Day

Lecture Topic

Morrissey Reading

 

Jan 23

M

Introduction

1

 

Jan 25

W

The Ocean Habitat

1

 

Jan 27

F

The Ocean Habitat

1

 

Jan 30

M

Patterns of Marine Life

2

 

Feb 1

W

Patterns of Marine Life

2

 

Feb 3

F

Phytoplankton

3

 

Feb 6

M

Primary Production

3

 

Feb 8

W

Multicellular Primary Producers

4

 

Feb 10

F

Marine Invertebrates I

5

 

Feb 13

M

EXAM 1

Chapters 1-4

 

Feb 15

W

Marine Invertebrates II

5

 

Feb 17

F

Marine Invertebrates III

5

 

Feb 20

M

No Class – President’s Day

 

Feb 22

W

Marine Invertebrates IV

5

 

Feb 24

F

Marine Invertebrates V

5

 

Feb 27

M

Marine Invertebrates VI

5

 

Feb 29

W

Marine Fishes I

6

Mar 2

F

Marine Fishes II

6

Mar 5

M

Marine Fishes III

6

Mar 7

W

Marine Fishes IV

6

Mar 9

F

Marine Vertebrates I

7

Mar 12-18

Spring Break

Mar 19

M

Marine Vertebrates II

7

Mar 21

W

Marine Vertebrates III

7

Mar 23

F

Marine Vertebrates IV

7

Mar 26

M

EXAM 2

Chapters 5-7

Mar 28

W

Estuaries

8

Mar 30

F

Intertidal Ecosystems I

9

Apr 2

M

Intertidal Ecosystems II

9

Apr 4

W

Coral Reefs

10

Apr 6

F

Coral Reefs

10

Apr 9

M

Open Ocean

11

Apr 11

W

Open Ocean

11

Apr 13

F

Migration and Dispersal I

11

 

Apr 16

M

Migration and Dispersal II

11

 

Apr 18

W

EXAM 3

Chapters 8-11

 

Apr 20

F

Deep-sea

12

 

Apr 23

M

Deep-sea

12

 

Apr 25

W

Polar Ecosystems

 

Apr 27

F

Marine Resources

13

 

Apr 30

M

Marine Resources

13

 

May 4

F

Final Exam 8-11am