Student Presentation Assignment based on the Natural History Museum - Biology 425

As you know, we are going to the Smithsonian on Feb 20th. We will meet at the Curie Hall parking lot at 5:51 AM. Your goal is to tour the Natural History Museum and to be amazed at all of the cool stuff in the natural world. You will then pick a topic that particularly intrigues you, and conduct further research on it. You may work by yourself, or with one or two other people. The trip is free, but you will need $3.00 for the bus driver tip, and money for food (or you can bring your own food, and eat on the bus). You will not be allowed to bring food into the museum; they have two fairly expensive cafes, and there are many restaurants within walking distance.

Here are some of the exhibits that address many evolutionary questions:

-Since Darwin: The Evolution of Evolution

-Deeper than light

-Sant Ocean Hall

-Kenneth Behring Family Hall of Mammals

-Evolution Theater

-Dinosaur Hall

-Early Life Hall

-Fossil plants Hall

-Ice Age Hall

-Dig It! The secrets of soil

Please think ahead of time about what interests you, so that you can make sure to visit the appropriate exhibit. We will have about six hours at the museum, so we won’t be able to see everything. If you have a camera, make sure to bring it – if you don’t have one, you might see if you can borrow one. Make sure you take a lot of pictures, as this will be your only opportunity to get to the museum for free, and most of these exhibits are available nowhere else in the world.

Beginning at 3 PM, I will seat myself at the Fossil Café (seems like an appropriate place for me) with a cup of coffee. I will then receive students, who can discuss with me the topic they want to pursue. All students must meet with me between 3 and 4:30. I will try to assure that each group is working on a somewhat different topic. So if two groups want to discuss adaptation in butterflies, I might steer one group towards anti-predator adaptations, and a second group towards mutualisms with plants (as an example).

The Assignment

As a special bonus for taking this class, you will have the opportunity to present the class with the results of research you have conducted on the topic of your choice based on the trip to the Smithsonian. You can work on this project by yourself, or in groups of two or three.

Here are the rules.

Due on March 2 – a two or three paragraph proposal that outlines the question or topic that you will be exploring. The proposal should include the following:

1. a description of your topic,

2. why it is important,

3. specifically what questions you will try to answer.

You will write your proposal in paragraph form, using good grammar.

Oral presentations begin on April 13. Once I have the list of topics, I will arrange them in an order that makes the most sense to me. If you are presenting by yourself, you will have 10 minutes for the presentation and five minutes to answer questions. Pairs will have 15 minutes for the presentation and five minutes for questions, while trios will have 20 minutes for the presentation and five minutes for questions.

What should go into a presentation?

The presentation will have two components.

1. A written abstract that summarizes the major points of your presentation. The abstract, in fewer than 250 words, introduces your topic (usually in one or two sentences), and then presents a summary of your major findings. A good abstract is concise and specific. It makes logical sense to readers who are unfamiliar with the details or language of your topic of study, so you shouldn’t use a lot of jargon in your abstract. You should email the abstract to me at least 48 hours before your presentation so I can make copies for all of your colleagues. If you need some model abstracts, you can look at papers in the journal “Evolution” - each paper has an abstract.

At the end of the abstract, please attach a list of references that you used for your presentation.

2. A Powerpoint presentation. Presentations begin April 14. This presentation will inform the students about what evolutionary biologists have learned about your topic of interest. The presentation should be excellent. Here are some specific guidelines:

A. Make sure that you articulate at the beginning of your presentation what question(s) you will be addressing.

B. Present data (in the form of pictures of exhibits, tables and/or graphs) that help the students understand what is known about your topic). Your presentation should include at least two pictures from the Smithsonian, and at least two tables or graphs from the primary literature.

C. Summarize the research findings as they relate to your question.

D. Briefly discuss ideas you have to pursue new avenues of research about your topic (what don’t we know that would be cool to find out about).

E. Copy your presentation onto my jazz drive, so that I can give it to the class. Your presentation will be on the final exam.

Dos and Don’ts for a presentation

1. Know your material well, and practice it (preferably before an audience) before you present it.

2. Don’t try to teach something you don’t understand - it never works out very well.

3. Vary your presentation to keep your audience entertained.

4. If you’re working with other people, you should integrate your material well, so that there is a smooth flow from one speaker to the other (and all in a group should make approximately equal contributions to the presentation).

5. Don’t work with someone with a history of slackness.

6. You don’t need to worry about dressing up (dress for the Evolution meetings is shorts and T-shirts), but don’t chew gum, and remove your hat.

7. Most important - work on a topic that sincerely interests you.

Good Luck!