Course title

N/A

Pre-requisite

Biology required; Chemistry recommended

Course description

Ecology I

Introduction

Welcome to Ecology. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their surroundings. In this course; we will look into some of the most important topics in ecology; and we will attempt to answer a number of different questions. How much and what type of life is present in the natural world around us? Why is the natural world so diverse? How do organisms get the energy they need to survive? And how do these organisms use this energy to survive and reproduce? To find answers to these questions; we will utilize your text and read excerpts from several other books and articles. We will also explore ecosystems in and around the Kent campus. By the end of this course; you will be able to identify many local species and you will be familiar with various research and observational techniques employed by ecologists.

Materials
The textbooks for Ecology I will be:
Animal Behavior by Mark Ridley --this text will be issued to you later on in the term when we are ready to use it.
Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America by Arthur Evans & Craig
Tufts?you will need to purchase this book from the bookstore; or online

Assessment
It is my belief that different people learn differently and by the same token; different people are able to show what they know in different ways. Because of that you will be graded in a number of different ways. You will have tests; quizzes; Lab reports; journal assignments; oral reports; as well as your insect collection. You will have homework on a daily basis and you will be expected to come to class with your homework completed (otherwise you will not get credit). I will check homework in a variety of ways; from pop homework quizzes; collection of homework; and oral questioning. You will be expected to participate in class discussion by asking and answering questions throughout the term.

Grading
Each individual evaluation will be assigned a point value. I will let you know the approximate point value of a particular evaluation before you take it. Whenever you would like to check on your grade; this running point total can then be converted into the Kent scale. Each individual assignment will have a number of total points; a number of points earned; and a Kent grade at the top of the page.

Extra Help
I am available for outside assistance almost everyday from about 8:00 A.M. until 3:00 PM. I am willing to work with you during my free blocks; during conference blocks; or after the class day. Arrangements can also be made for earlier morning; or evening appointments; if necessary. My home phone number is listed above; so please feel free to contact me any time before 10:30 P.M. I am anxious to help make this course a success for you and; hopefully; one you will remember during your future studies. I expect you each to put in your time and work hard; and I will be there to help you in the best way that I can through each step of the course.

General Topics of Study for the Term

I. Biodiversity

II. Insects

III. Behavioral Observation Techniques

IV. Evolution

V. Energy and Ecosystems

Ecology II

Introduction
Welcome to the second term of Ecology. In this term we will be focusing on how animals interact with each other; mainly Animal Behavior. The study of animals and how they behave dates back to prehistoric times. Throughout human history people have endeavored to better understand how animals interact. This understanding has been important in hunting; fishing; the domestication of animals; and in defense. In this term we will observe and study a variety of different animals. We will also explore a number of different types of behavior throughout the animal kingdom. Through this exploration; you will come to a better understanding of why the animals around you behave in the ways that they do. You will also come to a greater understanding of the experimental method and what it means to be a scientist. Animal Behavior is an interesting and fun topic to study in itself; yet some of the most interesting ideas come when we relate how other animals behave to how humans behave. Throughout the term we will make these type of comparisons whenever appropriate. In class we will employ a variety of lab activities; videos; presentations from other teachers; presentations from students; field trips and discussion of the behaviors that we are studying in order to enrich the learning experience. I look forward to the semester and your thoughts; comments and ideas.

Possible Topics of Study?In general these are the areas that we will study; depending on how quickly we move; we may skip or combine some of these units.
I. Introduction; History and Approaches to Animal Behavior Study
II. Evolution; Mechanisms & Development of Behavior
III. Learning
IV. Sexual Selection & Mating Systems
V. Migration & Orientation
VI. Biological Rhythms and Hibernation
VII. Foraging & Obtaining Food
VIII. Communication
IX. Parental Care
X. Habitat Selection & Home Building
XI. Aggression

Requirements
Quizzes and Tests when appropriate
Laboratory reports when appropriate
Classroom participation
You will do your own (with a partner) original research which you will present

Ecology III

Introduction
Welcome to the third term of Ecology. In this term we will be focusing on how water impacts the environment around us. We will spend a good deal of time outside of the classroom collecting data and observing animals and plants in and around the Kent campus. As the weather warms up we will be wading into the river as well as a number of ponds and brooks in the area. We will learn about how we as humans can affect our water supply and we will discuss ways that we can measure that impact. We will then employ a number of different methods to collect data and actually measure the variables that we have discussed. In class we will employ a variety of lab activities; videos; presentations from students; field trips and discussion in order to enrich the learning experience. There will be a major ecology project that we will do throughout the term; and it should be able to stand in place of a final exam for this term. I look forward to the semester and your thoughts; comments and ideas.

Book?
Pond and Brook: A Guide to Nature in Freshwater Environments by Michael Caduto

Possible Topics of Study?In general these are the areas that we will study; depending on how quickly we move; we may skip or combine some of these units.

I. Introduction; water and its properties
II. Watersheds
III. Succession
IV. Aquatic invertebrates and plants
V. Ponds
VI. Streams & Brooks
VII. Rivers

Requirements
Quizzes and Tests when appropriate
Laboratory reports when appropriate
Classroom participation
No Final Exam?Instead you will write a 10 page paper explaining data we have collected throughout the term

Ecology Labs By term
Ecology I

Major Project: Insect Collection?collecting pinning; identifying; labeling insects (30 families and 12 orders to be represented

Labs Involved with this project:
How to collect Insects?Field work out learning and practicing insect collection techniques
How to pin and label insects?In lab learning how to spread and pin and correctly label insects
How to identify insects?using permanent collection & ID guides to identify insects; learning
what characteristics to look for and use as identifying factors

Other labs
Grasshopper dissection?dissecting Lubber grasshoppers as ?ideal? insect
Observational skills lab?including field trip to zoo and learning and doing animal
observation techniques
Measuring Tree Biomass Lab?measuring biomass in a 10 x 10 m plot. Understanding howbiomass works with biodiversity and biomass pyramids
Calorimetry lab?measuring calories in common foods
M&M Evolution lab?using M&M?s and colored fabric to observe how predation & natural selection all work together in model situation

Ecology II

Major Project: Research Project?designing and carrying out own behavior research experiment

Labs involved with this project:
Experimental design?using materials to plan out experiment that students perform
Experimental data collection?Students spend multiple hours in and out of class carrying
out experiment

Other Labs
Mealworm Lab?exp. Design and basic statistical practice
Star Lab?simple learning lab with students as subjects

Labs done depending on students interest?the second part of this term covers subject areas
depending upon what students in the class choose for that year. Usually cover 2-4 units (depending on time and pace) and usually one of these labs goes with each unit
Foraging Lab?students become foragers and look for beans; collect data and observe
behavior. Modeling of actual foraging
Frog Hibernation lab?is hibernation due to biological clock or temperature?
Guppy predator avoidance lab?measuring guppy avoidance of alarm serum.
Reproduction of a PHD project done by acquaintance of mine
Snail foraging lab?observing & measuring snail foraging behavior on tiles
Fish schooling lab?will fish school with heterospecifics or only conspecifics? Data
collection and statistics
Mice wall seeking lab?data collect observation and statistics
Mating Exercise?modeling mating scenarios
Ecology III

Major Project: Paper using data collected throughout term assessing the health of the streams; river; and ponds in the area.

Labs involved with this project:
Data collection on a minimum of 6 different sites in area
Collect abiotic (DO; Alkalinity; Temp; pH Nitrates) and biotic data (collection of benthic
macroinvertebrates). These data are later used to judge health of bodies of water and as the foundation for the paper listed above. This entails weekly trips into the field for 5-7 weeks during the term

Other Labs
Water activity?students design experiments to discover properties of water
Succession Lab?Study forest succession using data from Hubbard Brook Environmental Station
Light and Dark Bottle Study?How does DO change in light & dark environments? learning to measure DO and what DO is as it will be measured in the field.
pH & Alkalinity Lab?understand these two basic ideas that will be measured in the
field.
Animal Behavior Project

One of the main purposes of Animal Behavior is to help you as students to learn more about experimental method and what it means to be a scientist. A scientist is forced to continually ask questions and attempt to find answers to those questions. It is my hope to give you some experience in this regard.

You will pick one of the possible species; design and perform an experiment using those animals and then write it up so that it could be published in a scientific journal. You will do this experiment with a partner; and you will hand in one write up that is a minimum of 10 pages. In addition you will design a poster that explains your experiment and the results.

I. You will choose a species that is housed in the classroom and do research on that species. You will learn about how you support (food; shelter etc.) the species and how it can be maintained in the classroom.
II. You will be responsible for taking care of your organisms for the rest of the semester.
III. You will do preliminary research where you will learn a lot about your species. You will also do some preliminary observations of your organisms in the classroom. You will then choose a behavior of that species that is particularly interesting to you. You will then spend more time researching the specific behavior that you have chosen in your species and in other species. This behavior will be your focus for the design of your experiment.
IV. You will then design and perform an experiment using your species. It is important that the experiment does not harm the species; but allows you to learn something about the behavior of the species that you have studied.
V. You will then write up your research and prepare your poster presentation.

There are many resources available in order for you to do research on your project. I will be the first line of attack; you will discuss with me what your topic will be and you will keep me appraised as things go on. We also have a very supportive library staff who is more than willing to help you. In addition there may be scientists who have done research on your species with whom you can connect.

1. You will choose a partner and a species by Monday December 7th.
2. You will begin preliminary research before break and continue when you return.
3. You will turn in a final experimental idea on or before Monday January 19th
3. You will show me your preliminary data by February 4th (the day before winter weekend). In other words you will have tried your experiment out before you leave
5. The final paper will be due on Thursday February 25th (the Thursday before Exams)
6. There will be a final test in class on Friday February 26th based on your experimental work.
7. The poster session will be in the evening of the Science day during Exam period.

We will talk more about each deadline as we get closer. But here is a Web Site that may be helpful for you in figuring out how to write a scientific research paper?.

Ecology?The Insect Collection

In order to facilitate your appreciation of the biodiversity that is found in the Kent area you will be completing a term project; an insect collection. Insects comprise the largest group of organisms within the Animal Kingdom; and as a result provide a good group of study subjects to use to measure biodiversity. The next time that you enter the science building you should check out the insect boxes that are in a couple of different places in the lobby. Some were collected by Reverend ?Pop? Woods who was a Kent science teacher back in the 1930?s and 1940?s. They are well marked; have survived the test of time and present a wonderful picture of the diversity in the class insecta. The other boxes were collected by my Ecology students over the past few years. These boxes represent the ?best of? each year; and with any luck these boxes will also be around for years to come.

The insect collection will have three major components which we will work on throughout the term; and your final grade will be based on three criteria: Diversity; Presentation & Labeling.

1. Diversity Requirements?
You must have at least one representative insect in your collection from 12 different Orders and at least 30 different Families. This means you will need to have a minimum of thirty different insects in your collection. It is very difficult to identify insects to the Genus and Species level but you will find that to determine the Order and Family of an insect is not that difficult. Extra Credit Opportunity: You will receive three extra points for each additional order (over 12) that you have represented in your collection AND you will receive one extra point for each different family (over 30) that is represented within your collection. For example if you have 33 families represented in 13 orders; you could earn six bonus points.

2. Pinning; Organization; and Neatness?
A nicely organized insect collection is a thing of beauty; and a messy one simply looks like a pile of dead bugs. We will not follow every pinning convention that would be employed by a curator at a museum; but we will have some rules. First the insect should have most of its parts; especially the major ones. At the minimum the insect should have all parts represented on ONE SIDE of the insect. In other words you will not be able to smash an insect with your foot and then include it in your collection. Second; you will need to show through your presentation in your box that you have put some work into this project. It will be important that you do not leave this until the last week of the term; start now and it will be easy. Third; you will need to pin an insect within 1-3 days after placing it in your kill jar. Otherwise it will harden and it will be very difficult to pin later on. You will not need to make the label right away; but you will need to keep a record of when and where you caught each insect so that you can make labels later.

3. Label Requirements?
Once pinned; each insect will need two labels; one that will identify the Location where and when the insect was collected; the date when the insect was collected; and the collector of the insect. The second label will contain the Family and Order of the insect. Most of the insects that you will catch will be found here in Kent; but if you go home for a weekend or you are at an away game and you are able to trap an insect that would be great for your collection; you need to label where you caught it. In addition you will need to give more specific information as to where you caught that particular insect. For example you might say: caught at the light outside the dining hall/ in the woods/ from the Housatonic River/ or pitfall trap on Mount Algo; you may get contributions from a number of different sources. An example of this first type of label is below.

Kent; Litchfield Co.; CT
Club Fields Pond
Afternoon 9/17/05
G. W. Smith

Your second label will have the family and order of the insect on it; and you will need to figure out where your insect fits in the current classification system. You will each have a copy of Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America and I will have a number of different resources that you can use in the classroom. We will spend some time in class working on labeling; but you will need to spend some out of class time working on your labeling. I will be available during conference blocks to help you figure out what insects you have caught and pinned if you are still stuck. An example of this second type of label is shown below.

Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Examples:
Below I have included a picture of an insect collection that I did for a graduate school class. My collection is larger than yours (our assignment was 15 orders and 50 families) but the basic idea is the same.

On the next page I have included some insect collections from a few years ago; a couple of them; the two on the left; were well done and earned high marks; and a couple; the two on the right; were not so well done and did not earn passing grades. We will go over this in more detail; but these are just a couple of examples.

Two well done collections (above and below) Two not so well done collections (above and below)

Some Final Notes?
You will be the collector of most of the insects; but as an example; I have a kissing bug in my collection that my Grandmother in-law caught and gave to me when I was in Arizona. If your roommate wants to help you catch insects and he or she nabs an extremely cool specimen then by all means you can pin it and include it with your other insects. You may trade insects with others in your class; but you must give them credit for collecting the insect. That said; you should personally catch and pin the majority of the insects in your collection. You may have a maximum of five insects that you did not personally catch. YOU MAY NOT; I repeat you may not purchase insects online or from a pet store. I shouldn?t have to explain this; but purchasing insects is not OK; and I will treat this type of behavior as an honor code violation.
This is meant to be a fun and challenging project. Your final grade for the project will be equivalent to two test grades. The best insects from among the different collections will be selected and placed in a box that will be added to the collection in the lobby of the Science Building. You could contribute to Kent history by having your name and insect in the Science Building for the next hundred years.

Your insect collection will be due on Monday November 15th.
Nervous System Lab

Introduction?

How do you interact with the external environment? To answer this question; you first have to be able to analyze your interactions. This means you have to be conscious. Consciousness is the state of being aware of the things around you; your responses; and your own thoughts. Being conscious allows you to learn; to remember; and to show emotion. Second; you have to understand the flow of information through the nervous system; and the chart below begins to explain that.

We will be dealing with the left side and the middle of this chart in this activity. Sensory neurons carry messages from receptors to the spinal cord and the brain which comprise the central nervous system or CNS. Receptors are located both within the body and on its surface. Receptors within the body receive information from the internal environment; while those on the surface of the body receive information from the external environment. Each piece of information received by a receptor is called a stimulus (plural stimuli).
A receptor is the smallest part of a sensory organ such as the skin that can respond to a stimulus. The receptor is linked to the CNS by a single sensory neuron. The human body has receptors for light; sound waves; chemicals; heat; cold; tissue damage; and mechanical displacement. Senses for which we have sensations include sight; hearing; taste; smell; pain; touch; pressure; temperature; vibration; equilibrium; and proprioception (knowledge of the position and movement of the various body parts). Sensations are that portion of the sensory input to the CNS that is perceived by the conscious mind. There are also a number of complex sensations such as thirst; hunger; and nausea.
Most sensations inform the conscious mind about the state of the external environment. Sensations from the internal environment inform the conscious mind about problems such as dehydration. If you are thirsty; you will make a conscious decision to find and drink water. Receptors and the sensations they produce have three characteristics: modality; projection and adaptation. These characteristics can be easily demonstrated by investigating the skin?s receptors.

Reflexes are rapid; predictable; involuntary motor responses to stimuli; they are mediated over neural pathways called reflex arcs. All reflex arcs have five essential parts.
1. The receptor which reacts to a stimulus.
2. The sensory neuron; which conducts the afferent impulses to the CNS.
3. The integration center; consisting of one or more synapses in the CNS.
4. The motor neuron; which conducts the efferent impulses from the integration center to the effector.
5. The effector; the muscle fibers or glands that respond to the efferent impulses by contracting or secreting a product; respectively
The simple patellar or knee-jerk reflex is an example of a simple two-neuron monosynaptic (literally one synapse) reflex arc. Most reflexes; however; are more complicated and are polysynaptic. This means that one or more neurons are involved in the reflex arc pathway. This can present a problem; however; since the signal can be delayed or inhibited at a synapse. Therefore the more synapses that are encountered in a reflex arc the longer it can take for a response to be elicited. See the diagram below.

Reflexes of many types may be considered programmed into the neural anatomy. For example; many spinal reflexes occur without the involvement of higher brain centers. In other words the signal will not always go to the brain it may simply go to the spinal cord which will then illicit a response. In addition; although many spinal cord reflexes do not require the involvement of higher centers; the brain is advised of spinal cord reflex activity and may alter it by facilitating or inhibiting the reflexes.
Reflex testing is an important diagnostic tool for assessing the condition of the nervous system. Distorted; exaggerated; or absent responses may indicate degeneration or pathology of portions of the nervous system; often before other signs are apparent.
Modality is the particular sensation that results from the stimulation of a particular receptor. For example; the modalities of taste?bitter; salty; sour; and sweet?are associated with four different types of taste buds. Although each and every receptor has evolved to be most sensitive to one type of stimulus; modality actually depends on where in the brain the sensory neurons from the receptor terminate. Modality cannot be encoded in the messages carried by sensory neurons; because every impulse in that message is identical. The only information the neurons can transmit is the absence or presence of a stimulus and its intensity?low stimulus-intensities producing a low frequency of impulses and high stimulus-intensities producing a high frequency of impulses. To test this we will perform the following procedure.

Purpose:
In this lab you will be visiting a number of different stations and observing how the nervous system works in each of these cases. You will collect data and information at each station. Each group will be assigned a station that is theirs to understand most completely. You will then present your data and explain what you observed to the class in a 5-10 min oral presentation. I will talk more about this later.

Station 1?Modality 1
1. With a felt-tip; nonpermanent ink pen; have your lab partner draw a 25-cell; 0.5-cm grid (shown below) on the inside of your forearm.

2. You are now the subject; and your lab partner is the investigator. At this point the investigator asks the subject to close his or her eyes. Using a bristle the investigator touches the center of each box in the grid. If the bristle bends; you are pressing too hard. Ask the subject to announce when they feel the touch. Do not count those responses that are given when you remove the bristle. Just count those that coincide with the initial touch. In other words you are touching each of the 25 boxes and the subject will tell you as the investigator in which box they feel the touch. Mark each positive response with a T for ?touch? in the upper left hand corner of the corresponding box in the above figure.

3. Repeat the above with a clean dissecting needle. This time if you feel a prick mark a P for ?pain? in the upper right hand corner of the corresponding box in the above figure.

4. Switch positions and have the other partner act as the investigator and repeat the process.
5. What is the total number of positive responses for each stimulus?

Touch ___________________________ / 25 trials
Pain ___________________________ / 25 trials
6. Can you see a pattern in the distribution of positive responses that were marked above?
7. What can you conclude about the modality of touch and pain skin receptors?

Station 2?Modality II
1. Place glass stirring rod in cold ice bath for 2 minutes.

2. With a felt-tip; nonpermanent ink pen; have your lab partner draw a 25-cell; 0.5-cm grid (shown below) on the inside of your forearm.

3. You are now the subject; and your lab partner is the investigator. At this point the investigator asks the subject to close his or her eyes. Using the chilled glass stirring rod; the investigator touches the center of each box in the grid on the subject?s arm. Before using the stirring rod; be sure to dry it with a piece of paper towel or a tissue. If the skin flexes in; you are pressing too hard. Ask the subject to announce if they feel the cold touch. They are focusing on the cold sensation; not the touch itself. In other words you are touching each of the 25 boxes and the subject will tell you as the investigator in which box they feel cold. The glass rod will warm up over time so switch with the second glass rod every five touches. Mark each positive response with a C for ?cold? in the lower left-hand corner of the corresponding box above figure.

4. Repeat the above with a heated blunt probe. Before using the probe; dry it with a piece of paper towel or a tissue. Again use two blunt probes alternating every five trials. This time; mark each positive response with an H for ?hot? in the lower right-hand corner of the corresponding box above figure.

5. Switch positions and have the other partner act as the investigator and repeat the process.

6. What is the total number of positive responses for each stimulus?

Cold ___________________________ / 25 trials
Hot ___________________________ / 25 trials

7. Can you see a pattern in the distribution of positive responses that were marked above?
8. What can you conclude about the modality of hot and cold skin receptors?

Station 3?Homunculus
Our skin has sensory neurons that detect whenever something touches us. These sensory ?touch receptors? feed into the central nervous system in such a way that it creates a body map. Our

School Country

United States

School state

Connecticut

School city

Falls Village

School Address

1 Macedonia Road

School zip code

6757

Requested competency code

Lab Science

Date submitted

03/31/2011

Approved

Yes

Approved competency code

• LADV
• Advanced science

• LBIO
• Biology

Approved date

04/19/2011

Online / Virtual

No