Winter 2003 (January 31 - February 22)
Drs. Haney and Lewis
Objectives:
This is a field oriented course that will be taught in several laboratories and field stations in Florida and Belize.The emphasis in laboratory, lecture, and in the field will be on biodiversity, ecology, and physiology of marine organisms, especially as they relate to organism adaptation to the environment. Another focus will be to emphasize human influence on the marine environment through comparisons of relatively pristine habitats in Belize with perturbed equivalents in Florida. The laboratory and field portions will include studies of subtropical and tropical marine communities, seagrass beds, coral reefs, tide pools, intertidal communities, hypersaline lakes, caves, salt marshes, cypress swamps, mangroves, freshwater springs, estuaries, and open beaches.Snorkeling will be an integral part of the course, so all students must be comfortable in the water and become proficient snorkelers before December 30, 2002. SCUBA diving will be an optional part of the course that will be available to students that are already certified, or become SCUBA certified before December 30, 2002. The ultimate goal of the class will be to understand the nature of marine life.
General Schedule:
January 31 - February 6J. Seward Johnson Marine Education and Conference Center
at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc. Ft. Pierce, FL.
February 7 - February 9Keys Marine Laboratory, Long Key, FL.
February 10 - February 21Belize Marine TREC, San Pedro, Belize.
Course Requirements:
A. Term Paper (25% of course grade)
You will select the topics from the list that is attached.The sign up will start at 7:00 a.m. on the 19th of March.The order of the sign up is determined by the order in which you applied for the program.Each of you have a three hour period during which you may select a topic.Do not sign up before your time period begins; if you are late, however, you may still sign up.Of course, someone else may have already chosen your topic.The paper will be due on or before September 19, 2002.The paper must be typed and is not to exceed 15 pages.Approach the paper with care as it represents 25% of your course grade. To help you move forward on this you will turn in an outline for your paper by the 30th of April, 2002 for review.It will be evaluated and counted toward your term paper grade.
A
resource that all of you will find exceedingly useful is a guideline on
writing research papers in biology that Dr. Worthen put together several
years ago. This is easily obtained on the web at the following URL (top
of next page):
http://www.furman.edu/~worthen/writedoc.htm
I
RECCOMEND THAT ALL OF YOU READ THIS.While
Dr. Worthen wrote this primarily for students writing up BGY 80, 83, or
85 papers, much of it applies just as well to the kind of paper you are
working on. In this resource he discusses ways to find out information
on a topic, how to write both research and review papers (you'll want to
read the whole document, but pay particular attention to the section on
review papers, since that is basically what you are all writing), how to
cite sources in your paper, how to construct a references section, why
quotations are rarely used in biological writing, commonly misused words,
and more! I'll assume that you will all read this and use it in writing
your papers.
Remember
that the ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing,
is an essential component of becoming an educated individual.The
single, most important skill you should have once you leave college is
the ability to speak and write clearly and concisely (regardless
of your major!).Papers are often
filled with awkward, cumbersome, and hard-to-understand sentences.Sometimes
the sentences are grammatically incorrect, but most often they suffer because
they lack clarity.If the reader
has to read your sentence more than once to understand what you are trying
to say, you have failed to write clearly.Writing
clearly and concisely takes practice.You
should write what you want to say in the most direct style and with the
minimum amount of words possible.The
trick is trying to do this without losing flow or content and making your
sentences sound “choppy”.Don’t worry
about trying to sound scientific, intellectual, or elegant.None
of these things matter if you have problems clearly stating your points.What
is the use of sounding fancy if your reader does not understand what your
are trying to say?The most important
point is that while writing is not really difficult, it IS time-consuming.
It will be very obvious if you have spent little time on it.You
will also not learn very much by rushing through it.Start
early!!
Please stop by to talk with me about your topics so that we can discuss it more fully.References are important and desired.Your grade will be reflected by the extent that you have researched your topic.You will also make a brief oral presentation to the rest of the group during the trip.
B. Exams
(30% of your course grade)
We’ll have two
exams during the course of the trip. The first will be given sometime after
we arrive at the Long Key Marine Laboratory (exact date to be announced
later). The second exam will take place while we are in Belize, shortly
before we return to Greenville (exact date to be announced later). These
exams will cover readings from your required textbook, from lecture material,
from observations we’ve made in the field, and from the results of your
research investigations.
C. Journal (20% of your course grade)
You will receive detailed instructions on this component in the Fall, but it will be a scientific diary in which you will record the events of the day, your observations, and your reflections on these.The journal should be detailed and meaningful, both biologically and personally.It will probably be the most important record of your trip, and you will refer back to it time and time again.We will also keep a ‘group journal’, with different students serving as group journalist for the day.Your contribution to the group journal is part of this grade.
D.Mini-Projects
(15% of your course grade)
There will be a great number of opportunities for you to observe animals and plants during our snorkeling and other trips in Florida and Belize. After making a series of such observations,you’ll form a working hypothesis and conduct a simple, independent experiment. You’ll then present your project to the group and write a scientific report (paper = 10%, oral presentation = 5%).
E.Ancillaries
(10% of your course grade)
This is a multifaceted category. Firstly, you are expected to participate fully in all aspects of the trip and to contribute to the success of the trip in your own special way.Group spirit is essential!Isolationism or the ostracism of others will not be tolerated. We’ll be living in tight quarters for six weeks, so respect for the rights and feelings of others will be of paramount importance. Punctuality is also an important part of participation! Secondly, it is expected that you will demonstrate a willingness to learn and intellectual curiosity. For example, each of you will be responsible for the identification of species in a specific group (e.g.,Porifera, Cnidaria, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Fish, Birds, Mammals, Algae and Terrestrial Plants, etc.). Take this responsibility seriously and show enthusiasm in the task - you’ll become our “resident expert” on the group in question. Other examples will become apparent during the trip itself.
Books and Readings (soon to be available in
the bookstore)
Required Text:
Marine Biology: An Ecological Approach,J.
Nybakken, 2000
Other Texts (you’ll purchase ONE of the following
as well):
Knopf
Nat. Audubon Soc. Field Guide to N. American Fishes, whales, dolphins 1998
Knopf
Nat. Audubon Soc. Field Guide to N. American seashore creatures1998
Knopf
Nat. Audubon Soc. Field Guide to Tropical Marine Fishes1997
Robins
Peterson Field Guide - Atlantic Coast Fishes1986
Humann,
Reef Coral Identification 1996
Humann,
Reef Creature Identification 1996
Humann,
Reef Fish Identification 1997
TERM PAPER TOPICS:(one
person per topic)
1.Marine algae
2.Marine
grasses
3.Mangroves
4.Coral reef formation and types of coral reefs
5.Coral reef and nearshore fishes of Florida and Belize
6.Coral reef ecology
7.Estuaries
8.Intertidal communities - beaches and rocky shores
9.Marine birds of Florida and Belize
10.Marine mammals of Florida and Belize
11.Marine
reptiles of Florida and Belize
12.The
pelagic realm - Plankton communities
13.Marine
invertebrates of Florida and Belize I - Sponges, Cnidarians, Comb Jellies,
and Worms
14. Marine invertebrates of Florida and Belize
II - Molluscs, Arthropods, Echinoderms, and Tunicates
15.Nearshore ocean pollution and the impact of humans on the marine environment