COURSE LINKS MS130 - Biology

Pete Markiewicz

Current Update: Winter 2007

COURSE SUMMARY

LABS - Links to electronic versions of the documents you will need to complete the course assignments and labs. You may download these and enter information on your computer, instead of using the printed versions.

COURSE SYLLABUS

DOWNLOADS:

• LINK TO SYLLABUS (Microsoft Word)

MINI-GROUP PROJECT INFORMATION

Students MUST purchase 1 book from the following list:

1. Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Botany of Desire (2006), Penguin Press, SIBN: 1-59420-082-3

2. Steven Mithen, After The Ice: A Global Human History 20,000 – 5,000 BC (2004),  Harvard University Press, ISBN: 0-674-01570-3

3. Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution (2004), Mariner Books, ISBN: 0-618-61916-X.

4. Frans De Waal, Our Inner Ape (2005), Penguin Press, ISBN: 1-59448-196-2

5. Louann Brizendine, The Female Brain, (2006) Morgan Road Books, ISBN: 0-7679-2009-0

You do NOT have to buy all these books, however you do have to buy AT LEAST ONE of these books. You will be assigned a mini-group which will report on the books during class.

. In week 2, students will be assigned a mini-group consisting of other students who have purchased the same book. These mini-groups will collectively create a Powerpoint presentation which will be presented during Week 06 – 11 to the class. Students reporting on a particular book will also be considered “class experts” on the book topics during open discussion.

1. Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Botany of Desire
   • READ Part I - "Industrial/Corn"
   • Interview with the author - http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/65379/
      
2. Steven Mithen, After The Ice: A Global Human History 20,000 – 5,000 BC
   READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS
   • THE BEGINNING (entire section)
   • WESTERN ASIA (entire section)
   • EPILOGUE: "THE BLESSINGS OF CIVILIZATION"
      
3. Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
   READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS
   • Chapter 26, "Protostomes",
   • Chapter 37, "Uncertain",
   • Chapter 38, "Eubacteria"
      

4. Frans De Waal, Our Inner Ape
   • READ ENTIRE TEXT
      

5. Louann Brizendine, The Female Brain
   READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
   • Chapters 1 - 5, up to "Emotion: The Feeling Brain"

DOWNLOADS:

• LINK TO DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE QUESTIONS YOU WILL NEED TO ANSWER FOR EACH BOOK

TEAM PROJECT INFORMATION

You will be one of two groups (class split in half) which will analyze the local ecosystem around the 2950 building over the course of weeks.

DOWNLOADS:

• Project description
• Template for reporting individual plant/animal sightings
• Signup Form for your group (used by team leader)
• Halftime report (need to have done by week 05)

EXTRA CREDIT LABS

INDIVIDUAL LAB INFORMATION (you will complete one of these during the course)

DOWNLOADS:

LAB 1 - Acid Rain

• Lab Description (Microsoft Word)
• Observational Log (Microsoft Word)
• Example experimental setup (requires new version of Adobe Acrobat)

LAB 2 - "Tinfoil Leaf"

• Lab Description
• Observational Log
• Example experimental setup (requires Acrobat)

LAB 3 - Fungal and Bacterial decomposition

• Lab Description (Microsoft Word)
• Observational Log (Microsoft Word)
• Example experimental setup (requires new version of Adobe Acrobat)
• Sample digital camera photo after several weeks
   

EXTRA CREDIT WORK

Book Reports

• Read one of the following books:

  • The Nature of Paleolithic Art, R. Dale Gutherie (2005), University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0-226-31126-0.

• Create a short Powerpoint and present information about this essay to the class.

Video Report

• View the CGI feature
  • Dragon’s World: A Fantasy Made Real (2005) Sony Pictures (DVD), ASIN: B0007MAO0W
• Create a short Powerpoint and present information about this video to the class.
• What biological principles are applied in designing a "natural" dragon?

WEB LINKS TO COURSE CONTENT

• Week 01
• Week 02
• Week 03
• Week 04
• Week 05
• Week 06
• Week 07
• Week 08
• Week 09
• Week 10

Places to do research for discussion and in-class questions:

• Bioweb - http://bioweb.cs.earlham.edu/

• Science Magazine - http://www.sciencemag.org

• Science Daily - http://www.sciendaily.com

• Live Science - http://www.livescience.com

• The Astrobiology Web - http://www.astrobio.net

• BioMovies - http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/project/biovideos/

• Arkive - Images and movies of life on Earth - http://www.arkive.org/

•  Eureka Alert - http://www.eurekaalert.com

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