Florida International University

Department of Biological Sciences

Biscayne Bay Campus

OCB2003L – Introduction to Marine Biology Laboratory

Summer A 2016

Updated  June 10th at 8:40pm 2016

The NOAA forecast at 12:00 calls for West winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas around 2 feet.

In other words this means we will :-) have the trip tomorrow since seas will be flat.

Please make sure you give yourself plenty of time to arrive there tomorrow at 8:00. 

 

 

Contact Information:

Lab Coordinator

Richard Brinn

brinnr@fiu.edu

Lab Instructor

Jimmy Kilfoil

jkilf001@fiu.edu

 

Course Information:

Day/Time

Section

Location

Lab Website

Wednesday and Fridays
12:00 -14:45

B51

MSB 220A

http://faculty.fiu.edu/~brinnr

Course Texts:

No text require although students must print out task sheets and bring to lab.

 Lab Supplies:

·         Lab coat (Long sleeve shirts are not acceptable substitutes for proper lab coats)

·         Closed-toe shoes, preferably waterproof but MUST be able to be worn in water (no flip-flops or sandals)

·         

Grading Breakdown:   Grades will not be curved and based on the following:

Midterm Practical Exam – 25%

Final Practical Exam – 25%

Quizzes – 20%

Lab Task Sheets – 20%

Participation - 10%

 

 

 Grade

Range

Grade

Range

A

90 & above

D

60-69

B

80-89

F

< 60

C

70-79

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Participation:

Participation also includes wearing proper attire for lab work (closed-toe shoes and lab coat) and outdoor field work (getting wet from the head down if it is raining and from the feet up when we wade into the adjacent Biscayne Bay to collect samples) and cleaning up after each lab.  There will be a required half-day snorkeling field trip on Saturday. Other trips on and off campus will also be held during lab hours.

 Notebook

You are required to print out, read and bring to lab each assigned task sheet(s) before the lab period.  It is highly recommended to maintain a lab binder containing your observations, detailed drawings of all specimens and answers to exercise questions. 

Practical Exams

There will be a midterm and a cumulative final practical exam.  Due to the nature of the laboratory practical exams, you will also receive a grade of zero if you are late or miss the exam.  You may not attend any other lab section if you miss an exam and no make-up exams are available.

 Quizzes:

There will be several quizzes and dates are indicated in the schedule of this syllabus.  Quiz material is based on material presented in the previous lab as well as that day’s activities.  You will be expected to recall major concepts and results discussed from the previous lab and background introductory information from the current lab.  You must be present at the beginning of the class in order to take the quiz.  If you are late or absent, you will receive a zero and no make-up quizzes are available.

 

Lab Task Sheets:

Each lab has an associated task sheet that can be found online at faculty.fiu.edu/~brinnr.  It is your responsibility to print out, read and bring to lab each assigned task sheet(s) before the lab period. The questions within the task sheet(s) should be completed and turned in at the beginning of the next lab session. No late materials will be accepted.

 

Help:  If you need additional assistance with the information presented in this course, contact your TA, instructor or lab coordinator.  If the office hours are inconvenient, other arrangements can be made.

 

Important Policies:

All students should follow all policies as stated in the University Handbook, Undergraduate Manual and posted within fiu.edu.  Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the course and possibly the University. 

Sexual Harassment:     http://www.fiu.edu/hr/eop/Forms/Policies/Sexual_harassment.pdf

Plagiarism:  Cheating is unacceptable and will be reported to University Officials

Emergency and Excused Absences:  “Emergency” is determined as an unpreventable event such as:

·         Medical emergency with Medical Doctor/emergency room’s note.

·         Automobile accident with police report (lack of ride is NOT an emergency)

·         Death of immediate family members.

·         Natural events causing the closing of FIU-BBC

·         Emergency situations also include problems with late registration.  However, your instructor reserves his/her right to deny you a seat in this course. 

You will only be excuse of your absence if an email is sent to your Instructor or the Lab Coordinator within 48h of the occurrence. This should be followed by the proper documentation within one week of the occurrence. Emergency also covers natural events such as hurricanes, floods, or fires that causes the closure of FIU-BBC. Please note that the lab will be closed for the whole week if one of the week’s lab sections is closed/affected. Your instructor will do his/her best to inform you in advance via email. But it is your responsibility to find out the status of emergency. You may contact following numbers for information campus-wide, not specific to Biology Department.

 

   The task sheets below may be compacted in zip format with multiple sheets each.

Section B51

Date

Topic

Task Sheets

May 18

Think Like a Scientist

Scientific Method   Task Sheet Lab 1 Lab Rules

May 20

Seawater Chemistry (quiz 1)

Seawater Chemistry    Task Sheet Lab 2

May 25

Microscopic Marine World (quiz 2)

Microscope Use Phyto and Zoo  Plankton Guide Task Sheet Lab 3

May 27

Organisms and their Environment (quiz 3)

Fish ID   Organism and Environment    Task Sheet Lab 4

June 1

Evolution of Appendages and Feeding Behavior (quiz 4)

Invert Morph   Task Sheet Lab 5  

June 3

Midterm

 

June 8

Rocky Intertidal Diversity

Task Sheet 8

June 10

Kayak trip and Mangroves, Seagrasses and Algae (quiz 5)     Blank Key  DEP Field Guide  Marine Plants  Task Sheet Lab 6
June 11 Saturday Field Trip (quiz 6) Florida's Reefs   Reefs at Risk  Release Forms  Task Sheet Field Trip

June 15

Water Pollutants and Living Organisms (quiz 7)

Water Pollutants   Task Sheet Lab 7
June 17 Comparative Morphology of Shark vs. Bony Fish (quiz 8) Shark versus Fish  Fish Dissection
June 22 Review  

June 24

Final  

SYLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE