Bio272b: Comparative Animal Physiology

Winter 2003

Course Instructor

Dr. Monika Havelka

mhavelka@uwo.ca

Rm 343, B&G

Course Technician

Ms. Jackie Sparks

jsparks@uwo.ca

CHEM 388 (Chemistry Building)

661-2111 ext. 86795

The purpose of the course is to understand how animals meet the functional challenges of life in diverse environments. Lecture topics include the nature of adaptation, the problem of size and scale, gas exchange and energetics, circulation, temperature relations and the evolution of endothermy, and adaptations to extreme environments.

Course Structure

The structure of the course is two lectures per week (T & Th, 12-1 pm; SSC 2050) and one 3-hr lab. Labs run Monday to Friday 8-11 and Monday to Thursday 2-5 in CHEM 390.

Office hours

My office hours will be T & Th from 1-2 pm. If these times are not convenient for you, please e-mail me to set up a meeting. Because I do not live in London, my time on campus is limited; thus, dropping by my office outside these hours will likely prove frustrating. The best way to contact me is by e-mail – I will do my best to reply to you the same day.

Course materials:

The recommended textbook for this course is Environmental Physiology of Animals by Pat Willmer, Graham Stone and Ian Johnston (Blackwell Science, 2000). For the labs, you will need a copy of the lab manual, safety goggles and a lab coat (all available at the bookstore).

Important notices regarding the course will always be posted on this web site (http://instruct.uwo.ca/zoology/441a-notes and follow the link to Bio272b). As well, I will post the Powerpoint slides used in lecture.

Course Marking Scheme

Component	%	Comment:
Lecture (65%)
Midterm	25	Thursday February 20, 2003. 12:00 to 12:50 pm. Soc. Sci. 2050.
Final Exam	40	Scheduled by the Registrar’s Office
Laboratory (35%)
Computer Tutorial	2.5	Will take place week of January 13
Lab 1	3	Due week of January 27
Lab 2	7	Due week of February 10
Lab 3	10	Due week of March 24
Group Seminar	12.5

Exams will be multiple choice/short answer format. The final exam will be based on material from the whole course, with an emphasis on material presented after the midterm. More information regarding the exams will be presented in lectures.

Laboratory Work

Students must attend all regularly scheduled laboratory and seminar sessions. Attendance will be taken in all the labs, and students who do not attend the lab will receive a grade of zero. If you are unable to attend a lab at the scheduled time, please contact Dr. Havelka or Ms. Sparks to make arrangements to attend another section during the same week.

For reasons of safety, students must wear goggles, a lab coat and closed-toed shoes in the lab sessions. Regular prescription eyewear, unless approved by the Office of Occupational Health and Safety, are not considered acceptable eye protection.

Lab reports are to be handed in by the due dates listed below. Labs are due at the beginning of your lab (they will be considered late if they are submitted during or after the end of lab). The penalty for submitting a lab report late is 50% per day.

Please be careful to write your lab reports in your own words. Whenever you take an idea or passage from another author, you must acknowledge your debt by a proper reference. Instructions for writing lab reports, including formatting and methods of citation and referencing, can be found in the Biology 272b Laboratory Manual. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and will be dealt with accordingly.

Laboratory Schedule – 2003

Week of:	Description
January 6^th	No labs
January 13^th	Computer tutorial: use of MS Excel for statistical analysis and graphing
January 20^th	Lab 1: Effects of temperature on oxygen consumption in crayfish
January 27^th	Lab 2: Effects of temperature on oxygen consumption in mice. Report for Lab 1 due
February 3^rd	Lab Tutorial: hands-on instruction on searching the library data bases. Attendance is not compulsory, but is strongly encouraged. The schedule and instructions will be posted. Report for Lab 1 returned
February 10^th	Report for lab 2 due
February 17^th	Midterm Exam: Thursday Feb 20^th (during class) No labs
February 24^th	No classes or labs
March 3^rd	Lab 3 (part I): Regulation of trout circulation
March 10^th	Lab 3 (part II): Regulation of trout circulation
March 17^th	Seminar series 1
March 24^th	Seminar series 2 Report for Lab 3 due
March 31^st	Seminar series 3
April 7^th	No labs

Computer Tutorial: week of Jan 13^th

By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to use MS Excel to perform simple arithmetic functions, calculate descriptive statistics, graph data and carry out statistical analysis of data. These are skills you will use to analyse and present the data you collect in the lab. Please bring a floppy disk, formatted for PC to this tutorial.

All sections meet in the computer lab in Natural Sciences room 110.

Schedule for Computer Tutorial:

Mon Jan 13^th : 9-11am & 2-4 pm

Tues Jan 14^th : 8-10 am & 2-4 pm

Wed Jan 15^th : 9-11 am & 2-4 pm

Thurs Jan 16^th : 9-11 am & 2-4 pm

Fri Jan 17^th : 9-11 am