Time Schedule:
Kathryn A. Mc Donald
BIOL 434
Seattle Campus
Comparative biology and morphology of invertebrates. Laboratory work emphasizes structures and functions. Emphasizes annelids and related worms, mollusks, and arthropods. Not open to students who have taken 430 or 432. Prerequisite: either BIOL 102, BIOL 202, or BIOL 220.
Class description
This course provides an introduction to the biology of invertebrate animals, with a strong emphasis on marine taxa. We will focus on a limited number of phyla, including sponges; cnidarians; among the ecdysozoan animals, the arthropods; among the lophotrochozoans, the molluscs and annelids; and among the deuterostomes, the echinoderms and urochordates. If time permits, we will discuss other phyla. Lectures will center on adult morphology but delve into embryology. We will study animal body-plans and development in the context of current animal phylogenies, so that your understanding of form is supported by a knowledge of evolutionary relationships. Because molecular tools have revolutionized phylogenetics, we will note some of the areas where molecular evidence has resolved long-standing debates about animal relationships, and given rise to new hypotheses. Labs will give you time to explore structure and function in representative organisms through observation of living and preserved specimens, as well as through dissection. We will also rear early developmental stages of selected organisms in order to observe the same animal at different points in its life-history. On fieldtrips, we will sample some of the amazing diversity of invertebrates found in the Puget Sound.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
There will be two lectures and one lab meeting each week. In addition, we’ll take a weekend field-trip to the Friday Harbor Laboratories; this trip is scheduled for May 17-18. We may schedule local fieldtrips within lab periods. (If students are interested, optional local field-trips may be planned for weekends.)
Recommended preparation
Prerequisite: BIOL 180 (with BIOL 354 helpful), or special permission of the instructor
Buy or borrow a good pair of rubber boots, and locate some raingear that you don’t care about getting muddy. Army-Navy stores are a good source for such. Before the first lab, please acquire either (1) a sturdy composition-style notebook with blank pages, or (2) a 1-inch 3-ring binder supplied with blank paper.
Class assignments and grading
Required reading assignments will be posted at least a week in advance of relevant class meetings.
There will be two lab exams and two written exams (no cumulative final). Each lab exam is 10% of your final grade; each written exam is 20%.
Every Thursday I will assign one or two short-essay questions. Responses will be due on the following Tuesday morning, before lecture. Since there will not be any formal lab prep or write-ups, these are the only written homework assignments you will have to worry about. I encourage you to get together to talk through the questions and discuss your responses. That's exactly what the questions are intended for. However, everyone must write up a response in her/his own words. Homework accounts for 18% of your grade -- that's 2% per weekly assignment. There will not be any written homework on the FHL weekend trip. Participation in the trip will earn you another 2%.
In lab, you’ll keep a notebook of drawings and written observations. We will give you more instructions about the notebook at the beginning of the course, but primarily it’s intended to be a tool for your use, a product you take away from the class and refer to again. At the end of each of the first two weeks, you will turn in notebooks to your TAs, so that the instructors can comment on your work so far. This feedback should get you started on the right track. At the end of the last Friday before finals week, you will hand in your lab notebooks for grading. Notebooks account for 20% of your grade (2% per week of lab activities).
This class will not be graded on a curve. We will define a 4.0 and a 0.7 (the lowest passing grade) as the 95th percentile score and 50% of total possible points, respectively. Everyone could walk away with an excellent grade. Nothing would gratify your instructors more.
