BIOL 370 - ANIMAL BEHAVIOR LABORATORY

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Michael Carey
OFFICE: LSC 251
PHONE: 570-941-7544 (office),   570-575-5293 (cell)
EMAIL: michael.carey@scranton.edu
OFFICE HOURS: 10:00-11:00 TT,� 10:00-12:00 MW or by appt.
CLASS HRS: 8:00-10:00 W � LSC 260
TEXT: None, instructions and handouts will be distributed for each exercise

TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE

DATE                  TOPIC

-------------------------------------------------------




Feb 3      Introduction, behavioral observation,




                analysis




 
Feb 10     Behavioral observation - free ranging crickets




 
Feb 17     Observation and analysis � blowfly larvae




 
Feb 24     Vigilance and group size effect � human
�������������� behavior 




 
Mar 2    � Prey location in squirrels
 
Mar 9 �����Diet choice in squirrels
 
Mar 16 ��� Sex ratio in jewel wasps
 
Mar 23 ��� Spring Break
 
Mar 30 ����Sex ratio in jewel wasps

Apr 6      Robin foraging behavior
 
Apr 13     Red-winged blackbird observation guidelines




 
Apr 20     Red-winged blackbird territoriality




               and courtship




 
Apr 27     Red-winged blackbirds continued




 
May 4      Red-winged blackbirds continued




 
May 11     Red-winged blackbirds, if necessary
 
 

COURSE POLICIES

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: After completing the exercises in this laboratory course, you will be able to observe, describe, and minimally experiment with the real behaviors of animals in both a proximate and ultimate sense. You will also be able to write an appropriately formatted scientific research paper and in such a paper be able to statistically analyze scientific data with appropriately interpreted tests.� Toward these objectives, the first 3 weeks are an introduction to observation and analytic techniques. Next is a series of exercises done mainly in the lab. Red-winged blackbird observations at the end of the semester are done in the field.� For better results, these field labs will start at 7:00 AM. 

CLASS POLICIES:� The labs are time consuming; thus it is important that you arrive on time. Tardiness could affect your grade negatively.� While I do not take attendance, I do notice people who are excessively absent from class. Such excessive absences may also reflect negatively on your final class grade (See grading policy).

EXAM POLICY: There are no exams.

GRADING POLICY: The final letter grade will be determined as follows:

5 pts each - based on 3 short reports answering specific questions or summarizing results from the 3 introductory weeks' labs

13 pts - a research paper based on the human behavior observations

18 pts - a research paper on squirrel feeding behavior

18 pts - a research paper on the jewel wasp experiments

18 pts - a research paper on robin foraging behavior

18 pts - a research paper on the red-winged blackbird observations

Major letter grade cutoffs are as follows:  90 pts-A, 80-B, 70-C, 60-D.

Since this is a writing intensive course, I expect that your science writing will get better as the semester goes on.  Thus my grading of the quality of your papers will become more severe as the semester goes on too.  Mistakes on the early papers will not cost you as much as the same mistakes on the later ones.  Papers will be graded on their adherence to the rules of science research writing and style, data analysis methods and interpretation of the analysis results, organization, spelling, grammatical quality, etc.

If a lab is missed, it must be individually made-up, if possible.� It is up to you to see me ASAP after missing a lab to acquire information for doing the lab yourself and for acquiring class data for analysis.� Being absent, even with a prior exemption, is no excuse for not handing in an assignment or research paper on time.� Papers handed in late will automatically have their score lowered by the equivalent of one letter grade.� If papers are more than one day late, the penalty will be 2 letter grades.

Criteria such as class attendance, participation, and interest will be used to determine the grade of students that end up on or near a borderline.

WRITING CENTER (RESEARCH PAPER HELP):� The Writing Center focuses on helping students become better writers. Consultants will work one-on-one with students to discuss students� work and provide feedback at any stage of the writing process. Scheduling appointments early in the writing process is encouraged.� To meet with a writing consultant, stop by during the Writing Center�s regular hours of operation, call (570) 941-6147 to schedule an appointment, or complete the Writing Assistance Request Form online.

I do advise, though, that you meet with me first to try to clear up any writing problems that you might have.�