Biology 101 Lab Web Page Spring 2003

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This course is designed to introduce you to the study of living things

Your Bio101 instructors and teaching assistants welcome you to your weekly laboratory. The Biology 101 lab is designed to give you the best possible opportunity to experience the scientific process and the living world in a direct, hands-on environment. We hope you find the lab interesting, and thought-provoking; possibly affecting how you view the world around you and your place in it. As biologists, the work we've planned for this lab is fun as well as informative, and we hope that our excitement for biology will be contagious!

Because the labs are made up of a mix of students from all of the lectures, it is unlikely that your lab topics will be synchronous with your lectures. In other words, do not rely on your lecture to be adequate preparation for the lab assignment in any given week. Because the lab meeting is short (only two hours), it is vitally important that you prepare for the lab to the best of your ability. To prepare for the lab, be sure you have read the required exercise in this laboratory manual. In addition to the manual, be sure you have looked at the relevant sections of your textbook and your lecture notes. In addition, the TA's will work to maintain a web page with information and resources compiled especially for Bio 101 lab students. The URL will be provided in class.

What to Bring to Class

You must bring to class: 1) your Laboratory Manual, 2) drawing and notebook paper for recording notes and your observations, 3) standard graph paper for plotting results (as directed by your TA), and 4) a pencil or pen (ballpoint pen, rather than felt-tip, is preferred, as it will not run if it gets wet). Please use a 3-ring binder to house your lab manual, handouts and other papers. You will not need dissecting kits. Any other materials required will be supplied.

Food or drink is NOT allowed in the lab. Please place or consume such items outside the door.

Lab Exercises

Each lab exercise begins with a pre-lab assignment (see below) designed to help you get the most out of your lab experience through adequate preparation. This section is followed by a list of objectives and an introduction that highlight the opportunities for skill and knowledge building provided by the lab exercise. Where applicable, a list of materials and detailed methods are included, followed by a results section or data sheet on which to record your findings. Each exercise includes an Analysis and Post-lab Assignment section, which students complete for grading, and to use in preparation for weekly quizzes. A glossary may also be included in the exercise.

Evaluation

Your lab grade will be reported to your lecture professor as a percentage of the total number of points possible for the quarter. Your lab grade is worth 25% of your course grade. There are a total of 100 points possible for the lab, split among quizzes, participation, lab notebooks, and two lab reports. The weekly point distributions are located at the end of this syllabus in the schedule of labs.

Quizzes: Quizzes are one method of evaluating how well you understand the concepts behind what we are doing in lab. These 8-point quizzes will be 40% of your lab grade. Your individual lab TA will write your quiz and will administer it at the beginning of class. Any material covered in lab is fair game, but most questions will be on current or recent lab topics.

Important: if you are late to class, you will miss the quiz and will not be permitted to make it up. If you arrive during the quiz, your TA may allow you to work on it until they are collected.
 

Lab synthesis questions will make up the majority of the quiz. These questions will relate to the previous week’s laboratory and will test your understanding of lab results and concepts. A well-kept lab notebook will make review for the quizzes much easier.

Lab preparedness questions will make up the remainder of the weekly quiz. These questions will relate to the readings and preparation you should have done for that day’s lab. In other words, you will be rewarded for having completed the pre-lab assignment & being ready to learn.

Post-Lab Assignments and Class Participation: In order to succeed in the Bio 101 lab, you will need to keep a detailed record of your laboratory experiences ? a kind of scientific journal. This will include drawings, graphs, diagrams, post-lab assignments and reports, notes, and any other form of information that will help you learn about the science of biology. Also include your understanding of patterns and processes in biology and scientific thinking as this develops. Your lab TA may have some helpful suggestions or requirements for compiling and organizing laboratory information.  A three-ring binder containing both your lab manual and your lab notes is one way to keep things all in order.

Post-lab assignments and lab reports are usually due at the beginning of the next lab period.  You will be assigned points based on the evidence of preparation and understanding presented in the completed assignment.  The quality and quantity of your recorded observations and answers to the post-lab questions will be evaluated.  Answer these post-lab questions in complete sentences and check your spelling!  You must turn in only your work, even if you work on a post-lab assignment with your lab partner(s).  (Please see the policy on Cheating, below)  Late assignments are penalized 10% for each day late, and will not be accepted after one week.

Cheating: If there is any indication of cheating during a quiz, or if you misrepresent another's work as your own, you will receive, at least, a LOUD verbal warning and clarification of the expectations for student work. Upon any indication of further cheating, your quiz may be taken away and/or you will receive a 0 for the assignment. Please see the University policy on Academic Dishonesty in the bulletin.

Absences: Attendance in every lab is mandatory. Changes in schedule or absences are not easily accommodated. Each lab is set-up for only one week. As soon as the last lab of the week ends, it is taken down and the next week’s lab is set-up. If you know you must miss a lab for a good reason, do not wait until the last minute to inform the TA! You must get written permission from both TA's to attend another lab section. To do this, you must submit a written request stating your registered section and TA, when you must be absent, why you’ll be absent, and what alternate section you would like to attend. Your registered TA must first sign, giving you permission to seek-out the alternate section. Then you must ask the TA of your proposed surrogate section to sign, meaning that he or she agrees to let you participate. Return the request to your registered TA. Quizzes vary by TA. In attending another section, you agree to take the surrogate TA’s quiz.

So that you know at all times where your work is, the TA's have agreed that we will at no time exchange students’ work. Therefore, the quiz will be graded and signed by your surrogate TA; but it is your responsibility to physically take that quiz and its points from the surrogate TA to your registered TA within one week of the lab! After that one week, the points are permanently lost to you..
 

Emergency absence: Stuff happens! If you miss a class altogether, and do not arrange to attend another section, those points will be lost to you. But do not despair, we will drop your lowest quiz grade. This means that if you are absent for whatever reason, we will drop the zero that you got on the quiz you missed. However, you are still responsible for the material from the lab you missed. Get the information from your lab partners or friends from the lab. Your notebook will still be evaluated, and held to the standards of someone who attended lab, but it is your responsibility to see that this gets done. If you attend all of the labs, this is even better news for you, as you will still have your weakest quiz grade erased. All of the TA's have agreed not to make exceptions to this policy concerning absences and missed work, but if you have an extreme case, you may approach your TA. They will raise your case to all the other 101 TA's and lab coordinator, who will make a decision on granting an exception. Only students with valid reasons need apply.

We’re Here to Help You!

Your Bio101 TA is a graduate student at WWU. We are often simultaneously enrolled in classes ourselves, conducting research for our thesis, and developing teaching skills by working closely with Biology faculty. In order to make ourselves more available to you, all of us have set aside two hours per week as office hours ? times when you can expect to find us. Your lab TA will announce his or her office hours in the first 2 weeks of lab. Please, if you cannot make it to our office hours, be sure to make arrangements to meet your TA at another time! We want you to succeed in our classes! The Bio101 TA's for Fall 2002 are on the schedule link above.
 

Western Washington University
Biology Dept, MS-9160
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA  98225-9081
 

Please send comments to James Selleck: sellecj@cc.wwu.edu