BIOL112-12S2 (C) Semester Two 2012

Ecology, Evolution and Conservation

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 9 July 2012
End Date: Sunday, 11 November 2012
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 22 July 2012
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 7 October 2012

Description

An integrated course embracing the principles of ecology, behaviour, genetics, evolution and conservation biology.

BIOL112 is an integrated course embracing the principles of genetics, evolution, behaviour, ecology, and conservation biology.  During the course, you will gain a sound background in each of these topics and learn basic practical skills in each of these fields.

The course provides essential background material that all biologists need and is one of the three ‘core’ biology courses (BIOL111, BIOL112, BIOL113) required to obtain a BSc in Biology. Whenever possible, we will highlight connections among topics taught in these and other biology courses.

There are several lecturers in BIOL112 and each is likely to have a unique teaching and lecturing style.  The lecture content, however, will follow a natural progression and will also integrate well with the material taught in the laboratories.

Goal of the Course
To introduce essential background material required to obtain a degree in biology including principles of genetics, evolution, behaviour, ecology and conservation biology, and to develop basic practical skills in each of these disciplines.

Learning Outcomes

  • An appreciation of evolution as the core theme of biology
  • Knowledge of basic principles of evolution, including the mechanisms of evolution
  • Knowledge of basic principles of genetics, including the origin, maintenance, and loss of
    genetic variation
  • Knowledge of basic principles of ecology, including determinants of the distribution and
    abundance of organisms, species interactions and food web ecology, and the determinants of
    community structure
  • Knowledge of basic principles of behaviour, including proximate and ultimate causation
  • An understanding of conservation biology as a multidisciplinary pursuit
  • Attainment of basic skills in the collection and interpretation of biological data, both in the
    field and in the laboratory

Timetable Note

Labs are an integral part of the course. They are organised in streams that run Monday – Friday  and are held in Room 230 in the Rutherford Building (Chemistry). You should have received information regarding which lab stream you have been assigned to in your on-line enrolment. If you do not have a laboratory stream or need to change a laboratory stream because of a clash, contact Jenny Ladley (jenny.ladley@canterbury.ac.nz) as soon as possible.

Information regarding the labs including the lab schedule are provided in the lab manual, which will be available for collection from the SBS office (4th floor von Haast Building) in the first week of term, before labs begin. Labs will begin with a mandatory course preparation tutorial during the second week of semester.

Three hours are scheduled for each laboratory but please note that they are variable in length and sometimes require transport to/from a field location. It is essential to read each week’s lab before coming to class. Although some lab work will be completed in groups, all assessment material must be completed individually.

If you are unable to attend a lab or you have missed a lab, contact Jenny Ladley (jenny.ladley@canterbury.ac.nz).

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Tammy Steeves

Lecturers

David Norton , Hazel Chapman , Ximena Nelson , Matthew Turnbull and Dave Kelly

Lab Coordinator

Jenny Ladley

Lab Technician

Maggie Tisch

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Final Exam 40%
Lab Manual 14%
Lab Report 16%
Test 08 Sep 2012 30%


The midcourse test is based on lectures 1 – 16 (Genetics and Evolution). The final exam is based on lectures 17 – 35 (Ecology, Behaviour and Ecosystems/Conservation). Both the midcourse test and the final exam will consist of multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions (previous midcourse tests and final exams are available on LEARN) and the number of questions per topic will be in proportion to the number of lectures devoted to each topic.

To achieve a passing grade in this course, you must achieve at least 40% for in-term assessments (i.e., average of lab report + lab manual) AND at least 40% for tests + exams (i.e., average of midcourse test + final exam) AND at least 50% overall. If you fail to achieve the 40% minimum requirement for either in-term assessments or tests + exams, a grade of D (or E) will be awarded, even if your total score is greater than 50%.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Reece, Jane B et al; Biology ; 9th Edition; 2010.

Reece, Jane B. et al; Student study guide for Biology [by] Reece, et al ; 9th;

This is the same text used for the three core biology courses (BIOL111, BIOL112, and BIOL113) and is well worth purchasing. However, should you choose not to buy it, multiple copies are on reserve in the Central Library.

Notes

If a laboratory is missed, arrangements should be made to make up the work at a later date.  This could involve:
(a) Attending another lab. stream later in the week after informing you laboratory supervisor (this is by far the best course of action).
(b) Consulting with the lab. supervisor to obtain data for the missed lab.
(c) Coming to another lab. stream the following week to work on the missed work while there are demonstrators around to give advice.
At the end of the year we expect data, graphs and questions to be completed for all labs.

If a laboratory assessment due date is missed due to illness, injury, personal bereavement or other critical personal circumstances, and the work can be made up by obtaining an extension, a written explanation from an appropriate person (e.g., medical doctor, counselor, minister, priest) should be given to the lab. supervisor to obtain an extension.  If those critical circumstances mean you cannot make up the work, missed the test or final exam, or you consider you have been impaired, you should apply for aegrotat consideration for the piece of assessment.

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

It is essential that you are aware that plagiarism is considered a very serious offence by the Academic community, the University and the School of Biological Sciences. Plagiarism is defined as taking content from another work or author and presenting it, without attribution, as if it is your own work. Content here includes text (sentences or major parts of sentences), display items (graphs and tables), and overall structure (the detailed sequence of ideas). Plagiarism includes:
• re-use of previous assignments (even if each individual sentence has been rephrased to say the same thing in different words, if the overall structure is re-used)  
• copying of another student’s work (with or without their consent)
• the unreferenced use of published material or material from the internet e.g. cutting and pasting of paragraphs or pages into an essay.
For most pieces of in-term assessment you will be given information concerning the use of direct and indirect quotes from previously published work. If you are in any doubt about appropriate use of published material, please speak with a member of academic staff. If you are still unsure what plagiarism is, then seek advice.

It is a School policy that courses may request you submit work electronically for subsequent analysis of originality using Turnitin. Students agree that by taking courses in BIOL, required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism.  All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.  Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site.

Assessment and grading system

SBS Grading - (note new UC grading system for 2012)

A+ 90% or above
A 85 – 90
A- 80 – 84
B+ 75 – 79
B 70 – 74
B- 65 – 69
C+ 60 – 64
C 55 – 59
C- 50 – 54

A restricted pass (R) may be awarded to those who are close to a pass (i.e. an overall score of 48-49.9%) AND who have achieved at least a 40% overall score in both in-course assessment and tests/exams. If an R grade is awarded you gain credit for the course but cannot continue into papers that require this course as a pre-requisite. NB. The R grade is only available at 100 and 200 level - it cannot be awarded for third year papers.

Failing grades:
D 40-48
E 0–39

Late submission of work

Reports and assignments should be handed in on time. Extensions may be granted if you have a valid reason. If you require an extension, you should request one from the course co-ordinator (or the lecturer responsible for marking the work), with as much notice as possible.  Please do this BEFORE the deadline for the assignment. If you have been given an extension you should hand the work DIRECTLY to the course coordinator (do not put it in the drop box as it may not be cleared after the due date).
If an extension has not been granted:
• work must be handed in by the due date to gain full credit
• work handed in up to 7 days after the deadline will be marked, but the marks will be discounted 25% before they are recorded to the student's credit
• any work handed in more than 7 days after the deadline date will not be marked or earn credit.

Notes

What if I have written more than the word or page limit?

If there is a word limit on an assignment, it is usually there to stop you doing too much work and to encourage you to write succinctly.  It also makes things easier to assess.  You can be up to 10% over without too much worry, but if the length increases beyond that your mark may suffer due to failure to follow the requirements.  If you find yourself way over the word limit have a chat to the lecturer concerned about how to trim your assignment to an acceptable length.

Requests for extensions

Reports and assignments should be handed in on time. Extensions may be granted if you have a valid reason. If you require an extension, you should request one from the course co-ordinator (or the lecturer responsible for marking the work), with as much notice as possible.  Please do this BEFORE the deadline for the assignment. If you have been given an extension you should hand the work DIRECTLY to the course coordinator (do not put it in the drop box as it may not be cleared after the due date).
If an extension has not been granted:
• work must be handed in by the due date to gain full credit
• work handed in up to 7 days after the deadline will be marked, but the marks will be discounted 25% before they are recorded to the student's credit
• any work handed in more than 7 days after the deadline date will not be marked or earn credit.

What to do if you are sick

If you feel that illness, injury, bereavement or other critical circumstances have prevented you from completing an item of assessment worth 10% or more of total course assessment or have affected your performance in a test or exam, you should visit a doctor within 24 hours and submit the application form to Erskine 235 within 7 days. The application form is available on-line or from the Student Health and Counselling Service. You should also notify the course co-ordinator.  For further details on aegrotat applications, please refer to the University’s website - http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/exams/aegrotats.shtml). The aegrotat provisions are intended to assist students who have covered the work of a course but have been prevented by illness or other critical circumstances from demonstrating their mastery of the material or skills at the time of assessment – they do not excuse you from doing the assessment. If the examiner cannot assess your aegrotat application because of lack of other evidence, you may be asked to sit a special assessment if you miss a final exam. You should also expect to be required to submit additional work if you miss a major assignment (e.g. a field trip for which a major write-up is required). Please note: acceptance of the grounds for an aegrotat application does not simply excuse you from completing items of assessment if you are requested to do so. You will be given reasonable time to complete any such work.

What to do if you miss something

In rare cases you may not be able to sit a test or exam, or attend a field trip, because of involvement in international or national representative sport or cultural groups. In such cases see the course co-ordinator, and a course of action (usually the sitting of an equivalent test or exam at a different time, or submitting an equivalent piece of written assessment) will be arranged. This should be done well in advance of the set date for a missed exam/test/assignment.

Please note – holiday trips, weddings, birthday parties etc. are not given special status in the University policy, so please do not ask for special consideration in these circumstances.

What if I fail part of the course?

In BIOL, we require a satisfactory level of achievement in both the theoretical aspects of the discipline and in practical activities. This means you must attend all class activities and submit all items of assessment unless you have a very good reason not to (e.g. medical reasons). A student must attain a score of at least 40% for in-course assessment and at least 40% in the course exam/test, AND score at least 50% overall for the course, to be awarded a passing grade.

Best way to give feedback

We welcome constructive feedback at all times – help us to make this a valuable course for you.  We endeavour to remain approachable at all times.  If you would rather give feedback anonymously, please use the ERAU survey or talk to lab demonstrators, or your class rep. who will all report back to the staff-student liaison committee that includes a representative from each of the undergraduate classes. Class representatives will be selected from each class at the start of course.

Best way to complain

If you feel you have not been fairly treated during this course, please raise the issue with the lecturer or course co-ordinator in the first instance.  Other avenues include your class rep., who can raise issues anonymously, or the UCSA education coordinator.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $763.00

International fee $3,892.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Biological Sciences .

All BIOL112 Occurrences

  • BIOL112-12S2 (C) Semester Two 2012