Ecology online - Summer C 2018

Course Instructor

Learning Assistants:

Yulio Font, Ridha Ahmad

Dr. Suzanne Koptur

PLTL Leaders:

OE 232, ph. 305-348-3103; email: kopturs@fiu.edu

 

Virtual office hours

Tuesday 4 – 6 pm EST

Thursday 3 – 5 pm EST; and by appt.

Link to PLTL

What can Ecology do for you?

Have you ever wondered how things in nature have become the way they are? What is the worth and role of organisms, and non-living parts of ecosystems, on the earth? How do organisms adapt to environmental stresses? How are organisms modified in response to their environments? How can the life history of a species be used to evaluate and compare its strategies for reproduction and interactions with other species? How do organisms and habitats compare in different biomes around the world? How does energy flow and nutrients cycle through food webs and communities? How can we compare and evaluate communities in terms of species richness and diversity? What roles have humans played in transforming natural ecosystems? And what are our prospects for conservation of remaining biodiversity?  In this course you will use your foundation in biology, chemistry, and math to explore the data examining and implications of the answers to these questions. 

Learning goals:

            Students completing this course should gain foundational knowledge, including:  the worth and role of all organisms and non-living parts of ecosystems on the earth; how organisms adapt to environmental stresses; how organisms are modified in response to their environments; how life histories can be used to evaluate and compare strategies for reproduction and interactions with other species; how organisms and habitats compare in different biomes around the world, and how things have come to be the way they are; energy flow and nutrient cycles through food webs and communities; how communities can be compared in terms of species richness and diversity; the role humans have had in transforming natural ecosystems; the prospects for conservation of remaining biodiversity; and more. 

You will integrate and apply what learn to hypothetical and real-world situations, preparing for challenges you may face in future courses, research, employment, and life.  Students will gain skills in problem solving, information retrieval and synthesis, writing, presentation, and working with others.  Hopefully, you will also become aware of the consequences of their/our/human actions on natural biota, and what can be done to ameliorate negative effects and promote ecosystem health.  

            Class content will be presented in our textbook and recorded lectures by the professor and videos available on our course website.  There will also be readiness quizzes over the reading, and other assignments to be completed online to augment your learning. We will use small-group learning, and students will engage in contests, discussions, games, problem solving, and various assessment techniques to facilitate their understanding of the material. 

We will also explore the quantitative aspects of ecology using exercises and models, including some in our textbook.  The PLTL session each week will focus on strengthening comprehension and recall of important things covered week by week, and is part of the lecture class grade.  We plan that all parts of the course will work together to give you a dynamic understanding of this science and its interfaces with mathematics, statistics, and other sciences. 

Grading:

            This course will involve continuous assessment, not all of the graded kind: some will be educative in nature, allowing us to know if you have learned the material, and helping you to learn more in the process of being assessed. One way this will be accomplished is with exams at the end of each module, taken first individually, then in groups.  Another way is with student assessments of your own knowledge at the beginning of the course, and learning gains, along with some other in-class surveys.

            The writing component of the course has two additional parts:  short essays, and group projects called jigsaws.  The five-minute essays will pop up in class throughout the modules, and the best 80% of them will be counted for a percentage of your final grade.  The jigsaw will be done in groups on assigned topics, in stages; we will have some training in library research to help you find references relevant to your topic, and you will to start projects early enough to find relevant references, read the scientific articles, as well as other relevant information found from other sources, and to put together your ideas.   Groups will present their findings in recorded presentations posted on the website, and also turn in their words via TurnItIn.com to verify originality.  Students will review the work of other groups’ presentations and also report their group members contributions to their final products.  Needless to say, plagiarism is unethical and will not be tolerated in this or any course activity.     

Individual/Group assessments – end-of module exams (four highest scores out of five - 30%) and online quizzes (10%)

40%

Final Exam

10%

Best 60% of "pop" essay grades and other activities

20%

Jigsaws – two presentations with written components

20%

PLTL - attendance, participation, and performance

10%

Syllabus for Ecology (PCB 3043) online – Summer C 2018

Textbook:  Ricklefs, R.E. and R. Relyea. 2014.  Ecology: The Economy of Nature, 7th edition, W.H Freeman and Company, New York.   

 Schedule of events

 Module

Dates to open

Lecture Topic

Readings - R&R chapter

 1

7 May 2018

Pre-test and Introduction

Read through module 0 and get familiar with course

Module 1 –

read ch. 1 of textbook

take quiz 1

listen to lecture – Introduction

watch short videos – What is Ecology? And Giant pandas in China

 

 1

 

9 May

The Physical Environment - Water and Nutrients – adaptations to the aquatic environment

Read ch. 2 in textbook

Take quiz 2

Watch lecture – Physical Environment: water and nutrients

Watch plant nutrition video

Essay: Ecological questions about your favorite organism (due by 14 May)

 2

14 May

The Physical Environment - Light, Energy, Heat – adaptations to the terrestrial environment

Read ch. 3 in text book

Take quiz 3

Watch lectures:  

Light and energy

Heat and energy

Watch videos on photosynthesis and Emperor penguins

Do area/volume relationships exercises and submit answers

Biomes assignment – begin collaboration on topics

 3

 

16 May

Variation in Climate and Soils

Read chapters 4 and 5

Take quiz on chapters 4 and 5

Watch lectures:

Biological Communities

Soils & Biomes

Watch videos on soil, soil textures, pottery making, and survival of trees

Work with partners on Biomes project

 4 & 5

21 May

Read chapter 6

Take quiz on chapter 6

6

 

23 May

Biomes Group presentations due today – review and feedback – all online

Students evaluate each group’s presentation, and evaluates their own group’s collaboration

 

 

25 May

Exam 1  - online

 

Module 2

28 May

Evolution and Adaptation 

Read chapter 7

Take quiz on chapter 7

Watch lectures:

Adaptation and Natural Selection

A. & S. part 2 – Behavioral Plasticity

Evolutionary Change and Genetic Fixation

Watch videos on the Galapagos finches and the Peppered Moth

Write Essay # 2 – herbivore and tree evolution

7

 

30 May

Life Histories and Fitness

Read chapter 8

Take quiz on chapter 8

Watch lectures:

Life History Strategies

Life History Theory

Watch videos on Bacteria, and Birds of Paradise, Crickets

8     

 

4 June

Reproductive Strategies

Read chapter 9

Take quiz on chapter 9

Watch lecture:

Sex and Family

Watch videos on Beetles and Sex in the Insect World

Complete activities sheet on Life Histories, Fitness, and Reproductive Strategies

9

6 June

Social Behavior

Read chapter 10

Take chapter 10 quiz

Watch lecture:

Society and Evolution

Watch videos: mountain lions, prairies dogs

Listen to recordings: Charles Darwin meets Snoop Dogg

Complete Clutch Size vs. Age of First Reproduction activity

10

 

8 June

Exam 2

 

Module 3

11 June

Population Distribution

Read chapter 11

Take quiz on chapter 11

Watch lectures:

Population structure

Population size

Watch videos: Bugger off and Mark/recapture

Complete Mark/recapture activities with butterfly and vole simulated populations

Species interaction jigsaw assignment – library training - begin collaboration on topics

11

 

13 June

Population Growth and Regulation

Read chapter 12

Take quiz on chapter 12

Watch lectures:

Population Growth

Life Tables

Population Regulation

Watch videos: Pied Flycatcher, Dall sheep, Thinning your plants

Write essay individually and submit online

12

 

18 June

Population Dynamics   

Read chapter 13

Take quiz on Chapter 13

Watch lectures:

Population dynamics

Time delays and oscillations

Watch videos: monarch butterflies, moose and wolves, and manatees

Complete Population dynamics activities in an online group discussion

 

13

 

20 June

Exam 3

 

Module 4

25 June

Predation and Herbivory

Read chapter 14

Take quiz on Chapter 14

Watch lectures:

Predation

Mimicry and modeling predation

Herbivory

Watch videos: body invaders, black racer, plant vs. predatorComplete assignment:  predation experiment

Write up results and submit online

 

14

 

27 June

Parasitism and Infectious Diseases

Read chapter 15

Take quiz on chapter 15

Watch videos: lyme disease, S-I-R model on prime time

 

15

 

29 June

Competition 

Read chapter 16

Take quiz on Chapter 16

Watch lectures:

Competition

Modeling Competition

Watch videos: gooseneck barnacles, mussel-eating competition

Complete activity on competition models and turn in online

16

 

2 July

Mutualism 

Read chapter 17

Take quiz on Chapter 17

Watch lectures:

Coevolution and Mutualism

Modeling Mutualism

Watch videos: I’iwi bird, crazy ant farmers

Complete activity on Complex Interactions and turn in online

 17

 

4 July

Species Interactions Jigsaw Presentations  due  today – peer review and feedback

 

 

6 July

Exam 4 

 

Module 5

9 July

Community Structure  

Read chapter 18

Take quiz on Chapter 18

Watch lectures:

Community Structure

Community Attributes

Watch videos: James Lovelock, Trophic Level Cascades

Complete activity on Community Diversity and turn in online

 18

 

11 July

Community Succession

Read chapter 19

Take quiz on Chapter 19

Watch lectures:

Community development -succession

Community development – models of succession

Community development – disturbance

Watch videos: Mayan community discovered, beaver dams, volcanic eruptions

Complete group activity on succession and submit online in discussion forum

 19

16 July

Energy and Elements in Ecosystems

Read chapter 20

Take quiz on chapter 20

Watch lectures:

Energy pyramids and productivity

Energy transfer

Watch video: Frances Moore Lappe

Complete Energy in Ecosystems problems and activities – turn in online

Read chapter 21

Take quiz on chapter 21

Watch lectures:

Elemental cycles

Nutrient flow

Watch videos: acid rain

Complete group activity – elemental cycles – submit online

Complete individual activity – poem or creative composition – submit online

 20, 21

 

18 July

Exam 5

 

 Module 6

20 July

Landscape Ecology, Biogeography, and Biodiversity

Read chapter 22

Take quiz on chapter 22

Watch lecture:

Biodiversity and Niche Theory

Watch videos:

22  

 

23 July

Conservation of Biodiversity

Read chapter 23

Take quiz on Chapter 23

Watch lectures:

Conservation Biology

Conservation and Extinction

Watch videos: spotted owl and Green Ninja

Complete Endangered Species group activity and submit online

23

 

25 July

Exam 6

 

 

27 July

Cumulative Final Exam