TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
BIOLOGICAL INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS
SPRING 2019

DATE

SOURCE


TOPIC

REQUIRED READING
(completed BEFORE class)

ASSIGNMENTS DUE
(at BEGINNING of class unless marked with an '*'; I = individual, G = group)

Jan. 14

 Web Assignment 2C Science as a Way of Knowing: Science and Non-Science

Fake News or Real?

Finding Good Information in a Post-Truth World - see Canvas (I)

Jan. 16

Course Manual Chapt. 1

Scientific Methodologies; Library Resources

Course Syllabus
McMillan Chapt. 1

Plagiarism Tutorial (I)
Plagiarism Quiz (I)

Jan. 21

 Martin Luther King Day      

Jan. 23

Course Manual Chapt. 2

Science as a Way of Knowing: How do you Design an Experiment?

McMillan Chapter 2 pp. 31-36; Chapter 4 pp. 75-81; Chapter 6

Animal Behavior articles and citations (I) ; Activity 2.4 (Course Manual)

Jan. 28

Web Assignment  18

Visualizing Life on Earth: Data Interpretation in Evolution

   View Video - Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial; Essay:  What distinguishes science from non-science? (I)

Jan. 30

Course Manual Chapt. 3

Experimental Design    

 

Evolution and the Nature of Science;
The concerns of science (Appendix)

Data Table and Graph (I)

Experiment Flow Chart (I/G)

Quiz: Life on Earth and Judgement Day Video* (I)

Feb. 4

Course Manual Chapt. 3 (cont.)

Science as a Way of Knowing: How do you analyze data?

McMillan Chapt. 3, Chapt. 4 pp. 81-87


Graphing Exercise* (I)

Feb. 6

Course Manual Chapt. 4

Science as a way of Knowing: How do you Write a Complete Scientific Paper?

McMillan Chapter 4 pp. 65-75, 87-110

Behavior Research Paper Draft (I)

 

 

Feb. 11

Course Manual Chapt. 4 (cont.) Writing your research paper The Evidence for Biological Evolution Peer Review* (I)

Feb. 13

Course Manual Chapt. 5

Ecological Interactions: Methods of Collection in Ecology

McMillan Chapters 7 and 8

Group & Individual Assessments I (I); 
Final Behavior Research Paper (I)

Feb. 18

Web Assignment 15C

Understanding Experimental Design (SimBio)

Section 1 - feedback & graded questions (I)

Section 2 - feedback & graded questions (G)*

Feb. 20

Course Manual Chapt. 6

Ecological Interactions: Conducting Ecology Experiments I

McMillan Chapter 10 pp. 190-209

Ecology articles and citations (I)
Ecology Oral Presentation (G)

Feb. 25

Web Assignment 19 Evolutionary Evidence: Do traits of organisms provide evidence of evolution? (SimBio)

Evolution 101: An Introduction to Evolution and The History of Life: Looking at Pattern


Feb. 27

Course Manual Chapt. 7

Ecological Interactions: Conducting Ecology Experiments II

Creationist Perspectives

Begin researching community issues (I)

March 4

Web Assignment 19 (cont.)

Test I;
Misconceptions about Evolutionary Evidence

Evolutionary Evidence Graded Questions* (I)

March 6

Course Manual Chapt. 8

Ecological Interactions: Graphing and Introduction to Data Analysis

McMillan Chapter 2 pp. 36-42

Ecology Data Tables and Graphs (I)
Summary and Citation for 3 community issues (I)

Mar. 11

Synthesis Day, Web Assignment 16

 

Statistics and Understanding Data

Definitions of Statistical Terms

 Statistical Terms and Calculations Quiz (I)

Mar. 13

Course Manual Chapt. 9

Ecological Interactions: Complete Writing of a Scientific Paper



Ecology Research Paper Draft (I) ;
Research Presentation (G)

Mar. 18-22

SPRING BREAK

 

 
Mar. 25

Course Manual Chapt. 9 (cont.)

Misconceptions About Natural Selection & Adaptation
Peer Review* (I)

Mar. 27

Course Manual Chapt. 10

Community Research: Developing your Initial Investigation



Group and Individual Assessments II (I)
Final Ecology Research Paper (I)

April 1

 Web Assignment 6, Synthesis Day Understanding Change in Organisms Zoological Philosophy; On the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type; On the origin of species (Appendix) Evolution in Ecology Sections 1 and 2 & Graded Questions (I)

April 3

Course Manual Chapt. 11

Community Research: Designing and Conducting Your  Investigation



Community Research Oral Presentation (G)

Community Research articles and citations (I)

April 8

Web Assignment 10

 Natural Selection: How the Guppy Got Its Spots (SimBio)  

Nature of Science Essay (I)

Evolution in Ecology Section 3 Graded Questions (I)

April 10

Course Manual Chapt. 12

Community Research: Further Investigation

April 15

Web Assignment 10 (cont.) Test II

 

Evolution in Ecology Section 4 Graded Questions (I)

April 17

Course Manual Chapt. 13

Community Research: Statistical Analysis and Developing Scientific Poster Displays

  Guppy Simulation Graded Questions (I)

April 22

Web Assignment 11

Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium: Why Did the Snake Cross the Road?

Study the video Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

Read Making sense of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Read pp. 1-2 of "Why did the snake cross the road?"

  

April 24

Course Manual Chapt. 14

Community Research: Compiling and Peer Reviewing Scientific Poster Displays

McMillan Chapter 10 pp. 210-217

Poster Draft (I);
Peer Review* (I)

April 29

Synthesis Day, Web Assignment 11 (cont.)     Snake study email (G)*
Hardy-Weinberg Problem Set (G)

May 1

Course Manual Chapt. 15

Community Research: Critiquing Community Research Poster Displays

Final Community Research Posters (G) 

Group and Individual Assessment III (I)

 

FINAL EXAM (cumulative) 

·  May 6 -  8:00 a.m. (Derting's MW section)

·  May 7 - 10:30 a.m. (He''s MW 11:30 section)
·  May 6 - 1:30 p.m. (Bried's MW 2:30 section)

 

 

 

 

ASSIGNMENT

TYPE

POINTS

Finding Good Info Homework (Jan. 14) Individual 5
Plagiarism Quiz (Jan. 16) Individual 5

Behavior Articles & Citations (Jan. 23)

Individual

5

Science/Non-science Essay (Jan. 28)

Individual

5

Quiz: Judgement Day video and Life on Earth (Jan. 30) Individual
10

Behavior Data Table/Graph (Feb. 4)

Individual

5

Graphing Exercise (Feb. 4) Individual 3

Behavior Research Paper Draft (Feb. 6)

Individual

10

Peer Review (Feb. 11) Individual 5

Behavior Research Individual & Group Assessments (Feb. 13)

Individual

5

Behavior Final Research Paper (Feb. 13)

Individual

20

Experimental Design Feedback Questions Sections 1 & 2 (Feb. 18) Individual/Group
5
Experimental Design Graded Questions Sections 1 & 2 (Feb. 18) Individual
10

Ecology Articles & Citations (Feb. 20)

Individual

5

Ecology Oral Presentation (Feb. 20)

Group

5

EvoEvidence Graded Questions (March 4) Individual 5

Ecology Data Tables/Graphs (March 6)

Group

5

Summary/Citations for Community Issues (March 6) Individual 5

Ecology Research Paper Draft (March 13)

Individual

10

Statistical Terms and Calculations Quiz (March 25) Individual 5
Peer Review (March 25) Individual 5

Ecology Research Individual & Group Assessments (March 27)

Individual

5

Final Ecology Research Paper (March 27)

Individual

30
Evolution in Ecology Graded Questions Sections 1 & 2 (April 1) Individual 6

Community Research Articles/Citations (April 3)

Individual

5

Community Research Oral Presentation (April 3)

Group

5

Nature of Science Essay (April 8)

Individual

10

Evolution in Ecology Graded Questions Section 3 (April 8) Individual 3

Evolution in Ecology Graded Questions Section 4 (April 15)

Individual

3

Guppy Graded Questions (April 17) Individual 5

Poster Draft (April 24)

Individual

5

Snake study email (April 29) Group 5
Hardy Weinberg Problem Set (April 29) Group 5

Community Research Individual & Group Assessments (May 1)

Individual

5

Final Community Research Poster (May 1)

Group

30 (community service counts for 10/30 pts.)

Final Exam (see schedule above)

 Individual

50

Tests

50 (Test I - 20 pts, Test II - 30 pts.)

Seminars

Individual

20 (5 pts. each)

 TOTAL POINTS

375 pts.