BIO 442L

Developmental Biology Lab 442L – Syllabus Fall 2009

Time and Location: Thursday at 12:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. in SC 310.

Instructor: Dr. Shirley J. WrightTeaching Assistant:Matthew Lunn

Office: SC 35 (Basement);Phone: x92857SC215; Phone: x93034

Email:

Office hours: By appointment or after lab.

Required Texts: Bring them to all labs.

  • Wright, S.J. (2005). A Photographic Atlas of DevelopmentalBiology
  • Wright, S.J. (2005). Laboratory Exploration of Developmental Biology, 2nd ed.
  • Notebook: 8½" x 11" notebook to serve as a laboratory notebook. A 3-ring binder works great.

Course Web Site:

Policies:

  • Please feel free to ask questions during class, or make an appointment.
  • No food or drinks, cell phone ringing or usage are allowed in the laboratory.
  • If the assigned exercises are completed and understood, a student may leave before the class period ends, however, students are strongly advised to take advantage of the entire class period since microscope slides are not available outside of class time.
  • Students are expected to do their own work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. For more information on plagiarism, see
  • Disabilities or impediments that could impact learning should be brought to the instructor’s attention as soon as possible. To request academic accommodations due to disability, please contact Student Learning Services, 023 Roesch Library, Learning Teaching Center x92066. If you have a self-identification form indicating your disability requires accommodation, please present it to me so we can discuss accommodations.

Grading: Your grade will be based on the following:

Quizzes and In-Class Activities...... 15%

Laboratory Reports...... 20%

Homework Assignments...... 15%

Midterm Exam (12.5% practical, 12.5% written)...... 25%

Final Exam (12.5% practical, 12.5% written)...... 25%

100%

The +/- grading scale will be used to determine your final grade:

AA-B+BB-C+CC-D F

93.090.086.083.080.076.073.070.060.0<60.0

Laboratory Notebooks: Your lab notebook should contain everything pertaining to the lab, including notes, drawings, data, speculations, and methods. It is to be a working notebook upon which you will base your lab reports. Your lab notebook is for your personal use and will not be collected or graded.

Preparing for exams: For the practical exam, be able to identify in the microscope all structures in the Atlas for the specimens covered in class. For both the practical and written exams, read and understand the material provided in Laboratory Exploration of Developmental Biology. Questions may be derived from your graded homework assignments and lab reports. Study independently as well as in groups well in advance of the exam. Use multiple study methods.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be held at the beginning of each lab session (except on midterm and final exam days). Consult Quiz schedule for chapters covered and dates.

In-Class Activities: These include attendance, lab cleanliness, lab observations, and activities assigned during class time.

  • Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to be punctual. Laboratory material is living and not available at other times.
  • Lab Cleanliness: You must clean up after each experiment and be careful not to leave a mess around your lab area or shared areas of the lab.
  • Lab Observations and Activities: All labs have activities and experiments you will be expected to perform and carefully observe. Some labs may require observation and care of organisms outside of the lab period.

Laboratory Reports and Homework: You will prepare laboratory reports at the conclusion of some of the experiments. Laboratory reports and homework will be due at the beginning of the next lab period unless specified otherwise. General guidelines for preparing the lab reports are in Chapter 2 of Laboratory Exploration. Consult homework schedule for dates and assignments.

Homework and laboratory reports must be handed in on the due date to be considered for full credit. If the lab report or homework assignment is handed in late, it will be considered for a reduced grade, i.e., if the report is handed in the next day(Friday) before noon, it will be considered for the highest grade of B, if handed in Friday before3p.m., it will be considered for the highest grade of C. To ensure that late reports are received, hand late materials only to Dr. S. Wright personally (i.e., do not place them in the mailbox or under the office door). Reports handed in after Friday 3 p.m. will not be graded and a zero will be entered as the grade for that assignment/lab report.

Midterm and Final Exams: Each exam has two parts. The first part is a practical exam with up to 50 light microscope stations of structures to identify or questions to answer about the specimens observed. One minute is allotted to answer the question(s) at each station. The practical exam is immediately followed by a written exam (second part). Calculators are not needed for the written exams since relatively simple calculations are used; however, calculators are permitted.

Date

/ Lab No. / Tentative Laboratory Activity
(order may change due to unavailability of specimens) / Atlas Chapter* / Manual Exercise**
Aug. / 27 / 1 / Introduction to the Lab / 1, 2 / Ex. 1:1-3; p.7-9
Sept. / 3 / 2 / Gametogenesis / 3, 4 / --
10 / 3 / Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis of Gametogenesis / 3, 4 / --
17 / 4 / Fertilization, Cleavage / 5, 6 / Ex. 6 p. 30
24 / 5 / Molecular Analysis of Development (SDS-PAGE, Blotting) / -- / Ex. 16, Ex 17-1
Oct. / 1 / 6 / Stainimmunoblot, Gastrulation / 7 / Ex. 17-2p. 95+
8 / -- / No Class - Midterm Break / -- / --
15 / 7 / Midterm Exam Practical followed by written exam / 1 – 7 / Ch. 1 – 7, 16-17
22 / 8 / Neurulation, Amphibian Organogenesis / 8-10 / Ex. 10p. 34
29 / 9 / Avian Organogenesis / 11 / Ex. 11p. 35
Nov. / 5 / 10 / Cell Communication in Dictyostelium;
Mammalian Organogenesis (whole mounts, sagittal sections) / 12 / Ex. 18-1p.111+
Ex. 12.1p. 36
12 / 11 / Mammalian Organogenesis (nervous to reproductive system) / 12 / Ex. 12.2p. 37
19 / 12 / Mammalian Organogenesis (circulatory system) / 12, 13 / Ex. 12.3p. 38
26 / -- / No Class - Thanksgiving Recess / -- / --
3 / 13 / Fetal Development / -- / Ex. 14:1-4 p. 49+
Dec. / 10 / 14 / Final Exam Practical followed by written exam / 8-13 / Ch. 8-14, 18

* in A Photographic Atlas of Developmental Biology, **in Laboratory Exploration of Developmental Biology