I. Instructors: Drs. Dennis Haney and Laura Thompson

II. Office: 236 Plyler (Haney); 224 Plyler (Thompson)

V. Schedule: Lecture, 10 AM, 238 Plyler; Laboratory, Tuesday, 2-5 PM , 234 Plyler

VI. Tentative Lecture, Laboratory, and Readings Schedule

Anyone with a score of 60% or more is guaranteed at least a grade of ‘D^-’, 70% or greater a grade of ‘C^-’, 80% or greater at least a grade of ‘B^-’, and 90% or greater an ‘A^-’. However, since final grades are based on the total number of points scored on all exams and laboratory exercises, they cannot be computed precisely until the end of the course (i.e., the grading scale may be lowered, but this will NOT be determined until the end of the course). You will of course be able to monitor your progress based on scores throughout the semester. Do not wait until the third or fourth exam to discover you are not doing as well as you expected. Graduating seniors should be especially aware of this. There is NO extra credit in this course.

Attendance at all lectures, while not required, is highly recommended. Experience has shown that attendance in lecture correlates with grades earned in the course. Regardless of your attendance, however, you are responsible for all material, assignments, and announcements made in lecture. Ignorance of an announcement made in class is not an acceptable excuse for failure to meet a course requirement. Attendance is required at all labs. Do not schedule events, meetings, or any other activities from 2:00 - 5:00 PM on Tuesday. No excuse will be accepted for missing lab or leaving lab early.

You are also expected to start and maintain an e-mail address on the Furman University Lotus Notes system. You will be expected to check your e-mail at least once each week during the course. You are responsible for all material, assignments, and announcements sent to you by e-mail. Ignorance of an announcement sent to you by e-mail is not an acceptable excuse for failure to meet a course requirement.

Both lectures and reading assignments are fundamental parts of this course. While the lectures and reading assignments will overlap to some extent, they will not be identical. Much of the information covered in lecture will not be in the readings. Likewise, very important information may be presented only in the assigned readings. Read the material before it is covered in lecture so you can clarify any problems with the reading assignment at that time. Note that the amount of assigned reading varies from week to week throughout the course. You are responsible on the examinations for all material covered in lecture, in lab, and in the assigned readings.

Students with disabilities who need academic accommodations should contact Dr. Sarah Fletcher, Coordinator of Disability Services, (2998), in Plyler Hall 1 (basement). After meeting with her, contact Dr. Thompson and Dr Haney during our office hours. Don't procrastinate: do this EARLY in the term.

Lecture exams will be given during the lecture period on the dates noted above. Exams will consist of multiple choice, matching, short essays, and quantitative problems.

You are expected to take the exams when scheduled. The ONLY acceptable excuse for missing an exam is illness or family emergency that must be documented in detail by a doctor. The availability and scheduling of make-up exams (during the term) is solely at the discretion of the instructors. Any changes in the scheduling of a final examination must have the prior approval of the Associate Academic Dean.

Success in this course is not based on memorizing the lecture material. Many questions will require you to make novel use of the material that you have learned. Thus, exam questions may ask you to relate one concept to another, to explain why something happens in a given situation, and to predict what would happen in a given situation. Lecture and laboratory time will be spent to help you learn to do this. Many questions will also be quantitative. Handout problems will be assigned and class time devoted to giving you practice in this area as well.

The laboratory sessions in this course are designed to complement and supplement the lecture material. The experiments will illustrate the type of biological questions that can be addressed experimentally and will provide you with experience in using the techniques of animal and plant physiology. The details of the labs will be provided in class and/or in a laboratory manual available on the WWW at the following URL’s:

http://www.furman.edu/~dhaney/biology34.htm

http://www.furman.edu/~lthompso

Each student will also be expected to maintain a laboratory notebook (this does not have to be any specific type) detailing their work in the laboratory.

The notebook will be used to complete the four laboratory assignments and the laboratory report that will be assigned this semester. Lab assignments will be announced in class; the lab report is due by 4:00 PM on the date indicated below. There is a 10% penalty for each day a lab report or assignment is late. See the Lab Manual for additional material on the writing and preparation of laboratory reports. The Lab assignments will be team efforts (each lab group will write and turn in a single paper). However, each student will turn in their own Lab Report and written paper review (these are not team efforts). See below for more information.

You will need to keep a laboratory notebook to complete the laboratory assignments and the laboratory report that are assigned this semester. Lab assignments will be announced in class; the lab report is due by 4:00 PM on the dates indicated below. There is a 10% penalty for each day a lab report or assignment is late. See the laboratory handouts for additional material on the writing and preparation of laboratory reports. The Lab assignments will be team efforts (each lab group will write and turn in a single paper). Each student must sign the submitted laboratory assignment. Lab Report and the written paper review are not team efforts, each student will turn in their own. See below for more information.

The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with scientific literature in the area of comparative animal physiology biology. Using the knowledge you have gained in the classroom and laboratory, you will obtain two scientific papers that must have been published after 1994. One paper must deal with any aspect of animal physiology (not Human Physiology, and preferably covering an area we have or will discuss) and one paper must deal with any aspect of plant physiology. Read the papers, and write two separate review papers about what you have read. The articles you select should be actual research papers - they should NOT be "review articles". You must select your papers from a reputable, peer-reviewed scientific journal. This does not include popular science magazines like Scientific American or Discover magazine. Since animal physiology and plant physiology are such broad disciplines, you can select articles from a number of different journals. Some places you might look include Science, Nature, Physiological Zoology, American Zoologist, Plant Physiology, American Journal of Botany, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Journal of Experimental Biology, and many others (all available right here in Furman's Science library).

In your paper you will describe what the article is about. Although it is not necessary to describe the experiments performed in any detail (like you might in the materials and methods section of a paper), you should summarize relevant procedures. In addition, you must describe the relevance of these article. Does it conflict with information in the textbook? Do you think this paper has any important significance in animal physiology in general? Did the experimental approach to the problem make sense? Why or why not? How does this paper relate to topics we have discussed in class?

The format of the paper should be double-spaced and typed. Each paper review should be about 2 pages long. Along with your paper you must include a photocopy of the scientific paper you selected for review. You will be graded on your ability to concisely communicate scientific information and your ability to interpret sometimes cryptic scientific literature. Grammar and neatness will also be considered in determining your grade. Use appropriate scientific writing style, which in very general terms means no use of "I", or "we" and no use of contractions or slang. See the section on Scientific Writing in the laboratory manual for more information. Additionally, do not use direct quotes from the paper. It should be written entirely in your own words.

If you have not done so yet, please read the section on Academic Dishonesty in the Helmsman (page 42 for 1998-99). When taking this course, I will assume that when you put your name on an exam, quiz, lab paper, term paper, etc. that this is your bond to say that you have done your own work.