Biology 302,section 201 - Course Outline - January-April 2004
Biology 302, section 201
Community & Ecosystem Biology
January – April 2004
- click on Winter Session Biology 302
Course Outline
Instructors:
Wayne Goodey; Biol. Sci. 5450; phone, 822.9257
Roy Turkington; Botany Annex 209; phone, 822.2141
- use only for questions requiring short replies!
Office hours:
Goodey – Mon 10.00 – 12 noon; Tue 12.30 – 1.30; Thu 12.30 – 3.00 (or by appointment)
Turkington – Tue & Thu, 11.00 – 12 noon (or by appointment)
[Extra hours will be offered before the midterm exam, and during the final-exam period.]
Lectures:
Woodward IRC, Theatre 2;Tue & Thu 9.30 – 10.50
Text:
Krebs, C.J. 2001. Ecology. The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance. 5th edition. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco.
See Guidelines, and Readings and Questions pages.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Dates / Instructor / Topic(s)6 – 15 Jan / Turkington / Nature and structure of communities/patterns in communities, and the role of predation and competition in generating those patterns.
20 – 29 Jan / Goodey / Niche theory/stability of ecosystems/diversity/ biogeography.
3 –10 Feb / Turkington / Succession: community change through time (first part)
12 Feb
/ Mid-term exam (coverage through 10th February)16 – 20 Feb /
Mid-term break
24 Feb / Turkington / Succession: community change through time (conclusion)26 Feb – 9 Mar / Goodey / Productivity and energy-flow.
11 – 23 Mar / Goodey / Conservation biology/biological control/human impacts on nature.
25 Mar – 6 Apr / Turkington / Nutrient cycling/climate-change.
8 Apr / (both) / Evaluations and wrap-up.
Tutorials:
There will be only three tutorial weeks this term, so be sure to write them on your calendar :
Tutorial # / We assign by: / Your answer due by 1.00pm on: / You attend tutorial during:1 / Thu 22 Jan. / Fri 30 Jan. / 2 – 5 Feb.
2 / Thu 12 Feb. / Fri 27 Feb. / 1 – 4 Mar.
3 / Thu 11 Mar. / Fri 26 Mar. / 29 Mar. – 1 Apr.
Note that you will have either 1 or 2 weeks to prepare your answer, depending on the nature of the question(s) we assign: Tutorial 1 will be a conceptual-problem requiring an explanatory answer; Tutorial 2 will be a question based upon your reading of an assigned journal-article; Tutorial 3 will be an answer to one of a set of questions selected from the course textbook (more information on the range of tutorial topics is on the Tutorial Procedure webpage).
“The answer” in each case will be a 300-or-fewer-word essay, handed in to your TA at the time/dates specified above. Half your tutorial grade is based on your written answer, and the other half on your contribution to group discussion. Each TAs will balance her/his grades to an average of 70%, to correct for discrepancies in grading practices. Direct any questions about tutorials to your TA, preferably at her/his office hours rather than by email.
Complete instructions for tutorials can be found on the Tutorial Procedure page of the website.
EXAMINATIONS:
The mid-term exam will be 1 hour long and held during the regular lecture period. You may expect to have 4 – 6 definitions and 3 – 5 short (approx. ½ page) and 1 – 2 longer (1 page) answers. Sample midterm questions will be web-posted in late January.
Midterm re-marking policy:nothing written in pencil will be re-marked. Entire exam papers are re-marked, not individual questions. No re-marking (or other exam) queries will be received unless the student has first thoroughly inspected the web-posted answer-scheme document.
The final exam will be 2 hours long and will be of format similar to the mid-term’s (but with more questions!). The final exam will concentrate on course material taught after the mid-term exam, but it is cumulative (and much post-midterm material is based on pre-midterm topics). Sample final exam questions will be web-posted in late March.
DISTRIBUTION OF MARKS:
Tutorials:25%
Tutorial marks are always worth 25%, and are determined entirely by your TA.
Midterm exam:25%
If you cannot write the midterm exam: there will be no “re-sit” or makeup opportunity. If you can provide a valid document of excuse (medical, etc.) for the date in question, the 25%-value will be “attached” to your final exam (making it worth 75% instead), and you will be provided with a copy of the midterm to try for practice.
If you have no excuse for missing the midterm: you will lose the 25%-value, and score 0.