Header
Sunrise, Wizard Islet, British Columbia |
BI102
General Biology
Spring 2009
|
Dr. Brian K. Penney
Goulet 2320
603 641-7149
bpenney@anselm.edu
Brian K. Penney 's web page
|
Seminars Lab Guide
Week of Monday, April 6, 2009. Reading:
Updated: 2/20/09
NOTE: SEMINARS I SPLIT DUE TO EASTER BREAK!
M, Tu, W labs on week of 6 Apr; Thu, F labs on week of 13 Apr
Continue to week of 20 Apr 08.
Students must give a group presentation on a topic concerning: a) evolution, b) organismal diversity, c) ecology/environmental science, or d) animal behavior.
Each presentation must be 5 minutes per student in the group, with groups of 2-3 students. Powerpoint presentations are allowed. Video clips are allowed, but cannot comprise more than 1 minute total of the group's presentation.
Students must research their topic using:
a) 2-3 articles, with internet articles allowed
b) 2-3 of the references identified in the BI102 course guide on the library web site
c) having a minimum number of 5 references.
Topics and group member names and reference list are due to your lab instructor in lab the week of 23 Mar (practical exam)
The week of 30 Mar you must have a complete reference list and copy of one article
Potential presentation topics are listed below. You are welcome to do other topics, but you must check these with Dr. Penney BEFORE 30 Mar.
This year's presentation topics, schedule, and whether I have gotten your bibliography and article: (will be updated 1 Apr 09)
If you wish to use Powerpoint, you must come to the lab with your presentation on a flash drive or CD. If you already know how to email the presentation to yourself or to save it onto a common drive you may do so, but you must arrive to class a few minutes early to ensure you can download your presentation to the class computer before class starts.
-
Both weeks
(From: , )
Required Equipment: Both weeks
| Type | # | Per | Item | Section | Notes |
| E |
1 |
Class |
projectors with computers |
Both weeks |
|
| E |
2 |
Student |
copies of presentation grading sheets |
Both weeks |
|
So=Solution, S=Slide, Sp=Specimen, L=Living, E=Equipment
-
Ecology
(From: , )
- River dolphin ecology
- Extreme chemical defense strategies: bombadier beetles, tetrodotoxin, etc.
- Life expectancy: how it is calculated and what it actually means
- Elephant ecology
- Irukandji jellyfish: large pain in a tiny package
- Kemp's Ridley sea turtle ecology
- Forensic entomology
- Forensic botany
- Diamondback terrapin ecology
- coral reef ecology/destruction
- Bat ecology: more than vampires
- What is "warm blooded"? How tuna, dinosaurs, plants, bumblebees may break the rules
- Sex determination: more than X and Y (wasps, birds, crocodiles, butterflies)
- Does sex exist because of parasites?
- "Alien" in the real world: Parasitoids
Required Equipment: Ecology
So=Solution, S=Slide, Sp=Specimen, L=Living, E=Equipment
-
Environment
(From: , )
- Environmental issues in "A Civil Action"
- The Ogallala aquifer and water rights in the high plains
- Water issues in California and Mono Lake
- Deforestation in the rain forest
- Ethanol as an alternative fuel: promises and problems
- Biodiesel as an alternative fuel: promises and problems
- Types of pollution caused by car exhaust
- How did the problems of a potato monoculture contribute to the Irish "Great Hunger"?
- Emerald ash borer: an unamerican threat to baseball?
- Global temperature patterns: how are they measured, how does that affect our conclusions?
- Arctic/Antarctic ice cover: patterns and predictions
- Environmental issues in the world of Charles Dickens
- "Dead zones" in the Gulf of Mississippi, Chesapeake Bay, Oregon coast
- Overfishing of the oceans-dirty fishing/what is bycatch?
- Genetically engineered food
- Ecotourism: good or bad?
- Geothermal energy/hot springs
- El Nino and La Nina
- Environmental impact of oil spills and the chemicals used to treat them
- environmental impact of, and potential energy production from landfills
- Economics of, and new technologies used in recycling
- How much energy down the drain in an average shower?
- Changes in the landscape after Dutch Elm Disease or Chestnut Blight (artwork, movies?)
- Environmental impact of aquaculture (salmon, shrimp farming)
- The Dustbowl era: natural climate changes or environmental degradation?
- Organic food and impact on the environment
- How clean is "clean coal"?
- The "Little Ice Age" and the colonization of America
- Pigs, cats and rats: invasive species from European colonization
Required Equipment: Environment
So=Solution, S=Slide, Sp=Specimen, L=Living, E=Equipment
-
Evolution
(From: , )
- Theories about dinosaur extinction
- "Hobbit" fossils and their place in human evolution
- Evolution of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- Evolution of resistant tuberculosis
- The bottleneck event in Homo sapiens' past
- How and why did human menopause evolve?
- Evolution of human capacity for language
- Darwin's finches
- The impact of meteors on the evolution of life
- Are diseases selected to become less lethal?
- Archaeopterix fossils: really the missing link between dinosaurs and birds?
Required Equipment: Evolution
So=Solution, S=Slide, Sp=Specimen, L=Living, E=Equipment
-
Behavior
(From: , )
- Alex the African Grey parrot and Cognition studies in birds
- The "mirror test" for cognition: successes and problems
- Communication via infrasound
- Mammalian/human pheromones
- Bioluminescence
- Research on the genetic determinants of sexual behavior
- Echolocation in dolphins and bats
- Can animals sense natural disasters/earthquakes?
Required Equipment: Behavior
So=Solution, S=Slide, Sp=Specimen, L=Living, E=Equipment
A printable syllabus, with course dates, required materials, grading and other policies can be found here.
A one page printable version of the schedule can be found here.
