TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
BIOLOGICAL INQUIRY AND ANALYSIS
SPRING 2020

DATE

SOURCE


TOPIC

REQUIRED READING
(completed BEFORE class)

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

Jan. 13

 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. 15

Course Manual Chapt. 1

Scientific Methodologies; Library Resources

Course Syllabus
McMillan Chapt. 1, Communication in Insect Communities

Plagiarism Tutorial (I)
Plagiarism Quiz (I)

Jan. 20

 Martin Luther King Day      

Jan. 22

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. 27

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. 29

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. 3

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. 5

Web Assignment 15C &

Course Manual Chapt. 4

Understanding Experimental Design (SimBio);

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

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

Experimental Design Section 1 and Section 2* and graded questions (I)*

Behavior Research Paper Draft (I)

 

 

Feb. 10

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

Feb. 12

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. 17

 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. 19

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. 24

Web Assignment 19 (cont.)

Test I;

Misconceptions about Evolutionary Evidence

 Creationist Perspectives Evolutionary Evidence Graded Questions (I)

Feb. 26

Course Manual Chapt. 7

Ecological Interactions: Conducting Ecology Experiments II

Begin researching community issues (I)

March 2

Synthesis Day, Web Assignment 16

Statistics and Understanding Data

Definitions of Statistical Terms

 Statistical Terms and Calculations Quiz (I)

March 4

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. 9

Web Assignment 6 Understanding Change in Organisms Zoological Philosophy; On the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type; On the origin of species (Appendix)  

Mar. 11

Course Manual Chapt. 9

Ecological Interactions: Complete Writing of a Scientific Paper



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

Mar. 16-20

SPRING BREAK

 

 
Mar. 23

Course Manual Chapt. 9 (cont.)

Misconceptions About Natural Selection & Adaptation

 Evolution in Ecology Sections 1 and 2 & Graded Questions (I) - SimUText
Peer Review* (I)

Mar. 25

Course Manual Chapt. 10

Community Research: Developing your Initial Investigation



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

March 30

Web Assignment 10

 Natural Selection: Darwinian Snails (SimBio)  

Nature of Science Essay (I)

Evolution in Ecology Section 3 Graded Questions (I)

April 1

Course Manual Chapt. 11

Community Research: Designing and Conducting Your  Investigation



Community Research Oral Presentation (G)

Community Research articles and citations (I)

April 6

Web Assignment 10 (cont.)     Evolution in Ecology Section 4 Graded Questions (I)

April 8

Course Manual Chapt. 12

Community Research: Further Investigation

Darwinian Snails Graded Questions (I)

April 13

Web Assignment 11; Synthesis Day Test II; Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium: Sickle-cell Alleles (SimBio)

Study the video Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

Read Making sense of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Read pp. Sickle-Cell Alleles Introductory Material

 

April 15

Course Manual Chapt. 13

Community Research: Statistical Analysis and Developing Scientific Poster Displays

   

April 20

Web Assignment 11 (cont.)

 


Sickle-cell Alleles Graded questions (I)

April 22

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 27

Wrap-up     Hardy-Weinberg Problem Set (G)

April 29

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 4 -  8:00 a.m. (Derting's MW section)

·  May 5 - 10:30 a.m. (Moon's MW 11:30 section)
·  May 4 - 1:30 p.m. (Kirschman's MW 2:30 section)

 

 

 

 

ASSIGNMENT

TYPE

POINTS

Finding Good Info Homework (Jan. 13) Individual 5
Plagiarism Quiz (Jan. 15) Individual 5

Behavior Articles & Citations (Jan. 22)

Individual

5

Science/Non-science Essay (Jan. 27)

Individual

5

Quiz: Judgement Day video and Life on Earth (Jan. 29) Individual
10

Behavior Data Table/Graph (Jan. 29)

Individual

5

Graphing Exercise (Feb. 3) Individual 3

Behavior Research Paper Draft (Feb. 5)

Individual

10

Experimental Design Feedback and Graded Questions Sections 1 & 2 (Feb. 5) Individual
5
Peer Review (Feb. 10) Individual 5

Behavior Research Individual & Group Assessments (Feb. 12)

Individual

5

Behavior Final Research Paper (Feb. 12)

Individual

20

Ecology Articles & Citations (Feb. 19)

Individual

5

Ecology Oral Presentation (Feb. 19)

Group

5

EvoEvidence Feedback and Graded Questions (Feb. 24) Individual 5
Statistical Terms and Calculations Quiz (March 2) Individual 5

Ecology Data Tables/Graphs (March 4)

Group

5

Summary/Citations for Community Issues (March 4) Individual 5

Ecology Research Paper Draft (March 11)

Individual

10

Ecology Oral Presentation (March 11) Individual 5
Peer Review (March 23) Individual 5
Evolution in Ecology Graded Questions Sections 1 & 2 (March 23) Individual 6

Ecology Research Individual & Group Assessments (March 25)

Individual

5

Final Ecology Research Paper (March 25)

Individual

30

Nature of Science Essay (March 30)

Individual

10

Evolution in Ecology Graded Questions Section 3 (March 30) Individual 3

Community Research Articles/Citations (April 1)

Individual

5

Community Research Oral Presentation (April 1)

Group

5

Evolution in Ecology Graded Questions Section 4 (April 6)

Individual

3

Snails Feedback and Graded Questions (April 8) Individual 5
Sickle-cell Feedback and Graded questions (April 20) Individual 5

Poster Draft (April 22)

Individual

5

Hardy Weinberg Problem Set (April 27) Group 5

Community Research Individual & Group Assessments (April 29)

Individual

5

Final Community Research Poster (April 29)

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.