Natural Resource Conservation (FRSC 1190)

Fall 2014

Credit Hours: 3

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Renaldo J. Arroyo

Room 124, Yow F/W Bldg. (office hours are posted by door)

E-Mail:

CLASSROOM: YOW 136

DAYS & TIME: MWF 1-1:50

COURSE DESCRIPTION: An introductory course dealing with renewable natural resources and basic concepts of their management. Soil, water, range, forests, wildlife, and fisheries will be emphasized.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This course introduces students to concepts of natural resources and as well as concepts in conservation. The goal is to nurture the thought process on how conservation will play a role in the student’s chosen career. Concepts will be presented to hopefully lead new students into a career as a forester/ forestry technician or wildlife biologist/ wildlife technician. Students will engage in processes that will foster thought on past and current issues in conservation.

TEXTBOOK: Leopold, A. 1966. A Sand County Almanac: With Other Essays from Round River. Oxford University Press, Inc., 269 pp.

Possible Points

GRADES: Lecture exam 1 200

Lecture exam 2 200

Writing Assignment 200

Final examination 400

Total 1000

Grade Points

A 900 - 1000

B 800 - 899

C 700 - 799

D 600 - 699

F < 600

ATTENDANCE: Attendance will be taken on a daily basis. If absent, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain the information that was missed. Make-up exams will only be given when an absence is excused (in advance by the instructor) or when the absence is due to a documented medical emergency (not ordinary doctor’s appointments or other personal obligations). Students are allowed 6 absences throughout the semester.

The School of Agriculture and Natural Resources attendance policy is that any student who is late to class is absent for that class period. Anything beyond that will result in an “F” for the course.

Natural Resource Conservation Topics*

*Subject to Change

TOPICS
Natural Resource History
Principles of Conservation
Energy Flow & Chemical Cycling
Ecological Principles
The Soil Ecosystem
The Aquatic Ecosystem
Fisheries Management
Forest Management
Range Management
Wildlife Management
Energy Resources
Pollution

* Exam dates will be announced well ahead of time throughout the semester.

Conduct and Academic Honesty:

·  No cell phone usage is allowed during class. They must be out of sight during the entire class period.

·  Use of tobacco is not allowed in the classrooms or labs.

·  Drinks may be brought into class as long as the have a lid.

·  Students are responsible reading ABAC’s academic honesty policies.

The academic honesty policy for this course is ZERO TOLERANCE. Students that cheat on exams or any assignment will be subject to disciplinary action.

COLLEGE POLICY ON CLASS ATTENDANCE

Courses at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College are provided for the intellectual growth and development of students. The interaction with instructors and other students is an important element of the learning process, and a high correlation exists between class attendance and course grades. Therefore, to attain maximum success, students should attend all their classes, be on time, and attend all scheduled course activities. Absence from class, for whatever reason, does not excuse a student from full responsibility for class work or assignments missed. Students must accept this responsibility.

COLLEGE POLICY ON LEARNING DISABILITIES

The Student Development Center is the official office to provide disability services at ABAC. If you have a documented disability that may require assistance, contact the Student Development Center for coordination of any necessary academic accommodations. The Center is located on the 2nd floor of the J. Lamar Branch Student Center. The phone number is 229-391-5135. The Center’s web address is www.abac.edu/sdc.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT CENTER

The Academic Support Center, located on the ground floor of the Carlton Center includes various departments, all of which center around academics at ABAC. The Academic Support

Center consists of the following: Student Development, Tutoring (Math, Writing and Reading),

Academic Testing and Learning Support. In addition, the Center has Academic Support

Counselors available for all current ABAC students’ academic needs, which include but are not limited to: dropping/adding a class, completing ABAC withdrawals, transient permission, and supplemental academic advising.

Student Development encompasses Counseling, Career Development Counseling and

Placement, Disability Services, National and Distance Learning Testing, ADA Compliance, and

Undeclared Advising.

Learning Support is a program of courses and advisement to help build the foundational skills needed for success in college-level courses. COMPASS placement and exit testing is provided, as well as test preparation programs. The director serves as the central advising resource for all Learning Support students.

Tutoring services are available at no cost to all ABAC students. Tutoring in Mathematics and English are provided on a drop-in basis. Students should check each term for tutoring schedules for all other courses. Writing tutors serve the needs of student writers across the curriculum. Students receive assistance with all aspects of writing, from developing a thesis to reviewing a draft. Math tutoring is provided for all levels of math courses from developmental through calculus.

FOREST RESOURCES POLICY ON PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism, in its broadest sense, is defined as presenting someone else’s words and ideas as your own, or taking credit for someone else’s work. The most flagrant plagiarism offenses are when a student simply copies and pastes sentences or paragraphs from another author’s publication without properly citing or giving credit to that author. Even when a student paraphrases, writes in their own words, content from an existing publication, failure to properly cite that publication also constitutes plagiarism. In scientific writing, the definition of plagiarism also includes the failure of a student to paraphrase the information found in another publication even when that source is cited.

Technically, direct quotes from a publication can be presented in quotation marks. However, the use of quotes in an original paper is highly discouraged in scientific writing, since the frequent use of direct quotes does not constitute a student actually writing their own paper. Writing assignments are important in the wildlife and forestry programs because they allow the students to demonstrate their ability to read, comprehend, and compile information in an original and intelligible manner. Being able to effectively assimilate and communicate knowledge in written form are essential skills for any job in natural resources. Therefore, it is crucial that any assignment turned in by a student be completely original and in their own words.

Many of our courses have class and lab projects in which students are working in groups. Even though data is often collected as a group and shared among group members, unless specifically stated by the instructor in writing, any written reports resulting from such projects are to be independently written by each student. This means that any written content, graphs, and tables should be original and unique for each student. If any of a report’s content is identical or sufficiently similar, then that would also constitute plagiarism among all of the involved students, which is why you should never let someone copy an assignment or report.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and cheating of any type, including plagiarism and making up data, will not be tolerated. Any form of plagiarism observed by the instructor, or reported by a classmate and substantiated by physical evidence, will result in automatic withdrawal from the course and a grade of F will be assigned. Also, further disciplinary action may follow.