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Instructor Dr. Jeff Kopachena, Science and Technology Center, Rm 260 (Phone 903 468-8730) e-mail: Jeff_Kopachena@tamu-commerce.edu Office hours: MW 9:00 - 11:00, TR 11:00 - 12:00

COURSE SYLLABUS

Textbooks: 1. Smith & Smith. 2001. Ecology and Field Biology. 2. Leopold, Aldo. 1949. A sand county almanac. (Required). 3. Lab Manual (Required - see link below)

Lecture Topics: Mainly theoretical ecology. - Ecosystem ecology - feedback systems, energy and matter, productivity, food chains, trophic pyramids, food webs, biogeochemical cycles. Note: The links below may require a powerpoint viewer which is available here. (Thanks to Charles Pence for pointing out this site) Click here for: biome map, holdridge life zones, vegetation types of Texas - Community ecology - zones of tolerance, physical structure, vertical and horizontal heterogeneity, ecotones, ecoclines, biodiversity, succession, dynamic equilibrium. - Species interactions - niche theory, competition, predator-prey relationships, functional and numerical responses. - Population ecology - density, dispersion, mortality and survival, natality, age structure, population growth. Outcomes and Assessment: Students will be expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of basic ecological principles and techniques. They are also expected to be able to write in scientific style. Students will be assessed for these outcomes through thee lecture tests and a comprehensive final exam, They will be assessed on the basis of six written lab reports and a written book review.. Grade distribution: Lecture Test #1 15% (Oct 9) Lecture Test #2 15% (Nov 2) Lecture Test #3 15% (Dec 11) Comprehensive Final Exam 15% (Dec 14, 8:00 AM) Lab Reports (6 at 5 pts each) 30% Book Review 10% (Oct. 23) ------ Total 100% Attendance: Any student with 5 or more unexcused absences will be automatically dropped from the class. Students will be notified through their MyLeo account.. Labs Want to know how to write a lab report? Check out this site here . The lab manual is available here Lab Reports and Lab Attendance Attendance of the “Data Collection” portion of each lab exercise is mandatory. A sign-in sheet will be provided at each of these sessions and all students will be responsible for signing that sheet after they have completed the required activities and before they go home. Student who are more than 15 minutes late for the lab will not be allowed to sign in. Students who don't sign the sheets will not be allowed to turn in a report for that lab. Lab Reports (Your lab instructor is Wade Gurley) Want to know how to write a lab report? Check out this site here. Here are some additional notes about writing lab reports: All lab reports must be typed using 12 pt Times New Roman font. Do not use point form and do not use direct quotes. Lab reports should be written in paragraph form in scientific format with the following headings: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion. Failure to use headings will result in lost points. The Introduction should be a short paragraph describing the purpose of the exercise. It should be about 1/2 page long. The Methods section should describe what procedures were used to obtain and analyze the data and what departures from normal procedure occurred that may cause results to vary. This section is usually no more than 1 page long. The Results section describes the data that were obtained and what important trends occur in that data. Reference should be made to figures and tables of data. The written portion of the results section should usually be no more than 1 page long. All figures and tables should be clearly identified and labeled (e.g. Figure 1, Table 1, etc.). Note that "Graph" is not considered acceptable scientific terminology and will not be accepted in your lab report. Use only the terms Figure or Table to refer to figures and tables. Figures and tables should be placed, each on a separate page, at the end of your lab report. All figures and tables must be computer generated. The Discussion section usually provides an explanation for the trends observed in the results section. This section should normally not be more than 1 - 2 pages long. Every student must compose their own, unique lab reports. Duplicate reports will not be tolerated. Duplication of paragraphs or sentences will be treated as plagiarism. All duplicate and/or plagiarized reports will receive a grade of zero! All labs are due on the date indicated. Late reports will NOT be accepted! Book Review Ten percent of your course mark will be based on a book review of "A sand county almanac" by Aldo Leopold. It will be due in mid-semester and should be 2 - 3 pages in length. Your book review should start out with a brief synopsis of the topics covered by the book. More importantly, your synopsis should be followed by a discussion of the ethics presented by the book (particularly those described in the last few chapters). Given that the book was written in 1949, you should describe how these ethics are or are not relevant to today's ecological issues. Justify your arguments. Describe your own ecological ethics and indicate whether or not you felt that the book was useful. Book reports must be typed. Obligatory Statements: Plagiarism is a criminal activity. You must cite all sources of information. Copying of material, whether parts of sentences, whole sentences, paragraphs, or entire articles, will result in a score of zero for your assignment and can result in further disciplinary action. Collusion: Is intentionally aiding or attempting to aid another in an act of scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to, providing a paper or project to another student; providing an inappropriate level of assistance; communicating answers to a classmate during an examination; removing tests or answers from a test site, and allowing a classmate to copy answers. Students with Disabilities: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation fo their disabilities. If you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact: Office of Student Disability Resources and Services, Texas A&M University – Commerce, Halladay Student Services Building, Room 303 A/D, Phone (903) 886-5150 or (903) 886-5835 Fax (903) 468-8148 StudentDisabilityServices@tamu-commerce.edu All student enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency and acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment. See Student's Guide Handbook, Policies and Procedures, Conduct. Students who are disruptive to class activities will be dropped from the class and may face further disciplinary action.

- Ecosystem ecology - feedback systems, energy and matter, productivity, food chains,
trophic pyramids, food webs, biogeochemical cycles.

Note: The links below may require a powerpoint viewer which is available here.
(Thanks to Charles Pence for pointing out this site)

- Community ecology - zones of tolerance, physical structure, vertical and horizontal
     heterogeneity, ecotones, ecoclines, biodiversity, succession, dynamic equilibrium.
- Species interactions - niche theory, competition, predator-prey relationships, functional
     and numerical responses.
- Population ecology - density, dispersion, mortality and survival, natality, age structure,
     population growth.

Outcomes and Assessment:

Students will be expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of basic ecological principles and techniques. They are also expected to be able to write in scientific style.

Students will be assessed for these outcomes through thee lecture tests and a comprehensive final exam, They will be assessed on the basis of six written lab reports and a written book review..

                    Lecture Test #1                            15%    (Oct 9)
                    Lecture Test #2                            15%    (Nov 2)
                    Lecture Test #3                            15%    (Dec 11)
                   Comprehensive Final Exam           15%    (Dec 14, 8:00 AM)
                    Lab Reports (6 at 5 pts each) 30%
                    Book Review                               10%    (Oct. 23)
                                                                       ------
                    Total                                           100%

Any student with 5 or more unexcused absences will be automatically dropped from the class. Students will be notified through their MyLeo account..

Want to know how to write a lab report? Check out this site here .
The lab manual is available here

Attendance of the “Data Collection” portion of each lab exercise is mandatory. A sign-in sheet will be provided at each of these sessions and all students will be responsible for signing that sheet after they have completed the required activities and before they go home. Student who are more than 15 minutes late for the lab will not be allowed to sign in. Students who don't sign the sheets will not be allowed to turn in a report for that lab.

All lab reports must be typed using 12 pt Times New Roman font. Do not use point form and do not use direct quotes. Lab reports should be written in paragraph form in scientific format with the following headings: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion. Failure to use headings will result in lost points. The Introduction should be a short paragraph describing the purpose of the exercise. It should be about 1/2 page long. The Methods section should describe what procedures were used to obtain and analyze the data and what departures from normal procedure occurred that may cause results to vary. This section is usually no more than 1 page long. The Results section describes the data that were obtained and what important trends occur in that data. Reference should be made to figures and tables of data. The written portion of the results section should usually be no more than 1 page long. All figures and tables should be clearly identified and labeled (e.g. Figure 1, Table 1, etc.). Note that "Graph" is not considered acceptable scientific terminology and will not be accepted in your lab report. Use only the terms Figure or Table to refer to figures and tables. Figures and tables should be placed, each on a separate page, at the end of your lab report. All figures and tables must be computer generated. The Discussion section usually provides an explanation for the trends observed in the results section. This section should normally not be more than 1 - 2 pages long.

Every student must compose their own, unique lab reports. Duplicate reports will not be tolerated. Duplication of paragraphs or sentences will be treated as plagiarism. All duplicate and/or plagiarized reports will receive a grade of zero!

Book Review
Ten percent of your course mark will be based on a book review of "A sand county almanac" by Aldo Leopold. It will be due in mid-semester and should be 2 - 3 pages in length. Your book review should start out with a brief synopsis of the topics covered by the book. More importantly, your synopsis should be followed by a discussion of the ethics presented by the book (particularly those described in the last few chapters). Given that the book was written in 1949, you should describe how these ethics are or are not relevant to today's ecological issues. Justify your arguments. Describe your own ecological ethics and indicate whether or not you felt that the book was useful. Book reports must be typed.

Plagiarism is a criminal activity. You must cite all sources of information. Copying of material, whether parts of sentences, whole sentences, paragraphs, or entire articles, will result in a score of zero for your assignment and can result in further disciplinary action.

Collusion: Is intentionally aiding or attempting to aid another in an act of scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to, providing a paper or project to another student; providing an inappropriate level of assistance; communicating answers to a classmate during an examination; removing tests or answers from a test site, and allowing a classmate to copy answers.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation fo their disabilities. If you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact:

All student enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency and acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment. See Student's Guide Handbook, Policies and Procedures, Conduct.

Students who are disruptive to class activities will be dropped from the class and may face further disciplinary action.