Textbook: Hickman et al. 2008. Integrated Principles of Zoology (14th ed) McGraw Hill, New York.

Course Description:  Survey of animal phyla and major classes with emphasis upon morphological adaptations and biological systems that have evolved to maintain organismal and population homeostasis.

Grading: There will be 4 regular exams during the semester and a comprehensive final (see schedule below for dates).  Make-up exams will not be given under any circumstance. Each exam during the semester will be worth 100 points and the final will be worth 200 points.  At the end of the semester I will drop the lowest of your 4 regular exam grades (i.e., any exam except the final).  The format of exams may include multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank, short answer and short essay. Students must bring a scantron form 882-E to each exam.  Scantron forms are available for purchase at the student bookstore in DUC.  I reserve the right to arrange seating before, and during, exams.

Field trips (25 points) - You will be required to participate in two activities outside of normal class hours.  

 Pick one event out of each set - your picks will be turned in on Sept 2.

Fun and educational events

  1.  Canoe trip on a local river -  Saturday, Sept 20  (8AM - 2 PM)
  2.  Trip to Chattanooga Aquarium - Saturday, Oct 18 (7AM - 7PM)

Fun and productive events

  1.  Sample Water Quality in local stream - Friday, Sept 12 (7-11AM)
  2.  Barren River Clean-Up - Saturday, Oct 11 (11AM- 4PM)

Research (100 points): To gain experience with scientific research and scientific literature, we will discuss scientific writing in class and you will write a scientific paper using data from an experiment we will conduct.  Grading of the paper will come from 80 points assigned on your initial draft and 20 points on a corrected version.  A further breakdown of grading will be discussed when the paper is assigned in class. 

Seminars (15 points) – You will be required to attend at least 3 Department of Biology seminars.  Seminars are held every Friday at 2:00 in room TCNW 224.  The schedule of seminar presenters and topics will be available by early September.  To receive credit for the seminar, you must sign in on the attendance sheet and turn in a short description of the presenter's work.

Newspaper (10 points) - We will be reading selected articles from the Tuesday NY Times and discussing them on Thursdays.  Each week, students will be selected to explain the assigned article and one of their own choosing.

Final grades are based on a percentage of the total points (650).
A = 90-100%    B = 80-89.9%    C = 70-79.9%    D = 60-69.9%    F = <60%

Important Dates:
Sept 2  – Last day to drop a course without a grade.
Oct. 14   – Last day to drop a course with a “W”.

Attendance:  Attendance is mandatory.  Students who attend lectures usually have a better understanding of the subject matter and routinely score higher on exams.  Examinations will cover the material presented in lecture, some of which may not be from your textbook.  Some lecture material will be posted on blackboard prior to class.  Posted materials are designed to aid students while listening to lectures and not as a ‘stand alone’ resource.  If you do not have Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer, click on the link below to get a free powerpoint viewer from Microsoft.  The link will take your computer to the Microsoft website.

Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer
 

Student Disability Service

 "Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty may receive from the instructor a failing grade in that portion of the course work in which the act is detected or a failing grade in a course without possibility of withdrawal.  The faculty member may also present the case to the Office of the Dean of Student Life for disciplinary sanctions.  A student who believes a faculty member has dealt unfairly with him/her in a course involving academic dishonesty may seek relief through the Student Complaint Procedure.” – WKU Student Handbook

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