Ecology for QBIC - Spring 2020

Tuesday and Thursday 11 am - 12:15 pm

meeting in PG6 112

Course Instructor:

Dr. Suzanne Koptur

Professor of Biology

 

Learning Assistants:

Laura Cardenas, Nicole  Jones, Sofia Ocampo, Estefania Soccoro

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

Website: faculty.fiu.edu/~kopturs

 

Office hours

Tuesday and Thursday, 9 - 10:30 am

Wednesday 10 - 11 am; and by appt.

Course hosted in Canvas

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 solve problems, retrieve and synthesize informatiom, write, present, and work with others.  Hopefully, you will also become aware of the consequences of our/human actions on natural biota, and what can be done to ameliorate negative effects and promote ecosystem health. 

Class Content:

            Concepts 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 brain-storming, contests, discussions, games, problem solving, and various assessment techniques to facilitate their understanding of the material.

            Writing in Ecology: The writing component of the course has two main parts:  short essay assignments, and a group project called a jigsaw.  The essays will pop up in class throughout the semester, and the best 80% of them will be counted for a percentage of your final grade.  The jigsaws 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 topics, and you should 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 class, post their presentations in Canvas, 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.     

           Quantitative Skills in Ecology: We will also explore the quantitative aspects of ecology using exercises and models, including some in our textbook.  Learning Assistants will facilitate group work, as well as interact with students in discussions and other activities. 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.  Packback (see below) will offer a continuous forum for discussing course material, and sparking interest in areas that might have been overlooked. 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. 

 

PackBack:  We will use PackBack, an online learning tool, to facilitate weekly discussions on the topics of the week. Participation is a requirement for this course, and the Packback Questions platform will be used for online discussion about class topics. Packback Questions is an online curiosity community where you can be fearlessly curious and ask BIG questions about how what we’re studying relates to life and the real world. My goals for using Packback are for us to hear more about, and discuss, some topics that are not  covered in depth in my lectures, yet are important, interesting, and relevant.  I also hope to increase participation by students who often prefer to sit back in person, as there are many hidden diamonds we might otherwise not see.

            Your participation on Packback will count towards 10 percent of your final grade. In order to receive your points per week, you must post 1 Question and 2 Answers per week, relevant to our class subject matter that week (i.e., focused on the chapters and topics covered that week).   Before you start posting, be sure to read the Community Guidelines found in the tutorial on Packback. If your post doesn’t follow the Packback Community Guidelines, there is a chance it will be removed and you won’t receive points for that post. There will be a Sunday 11:59 PM deadline for submissions in your community each week. Note: it takes 24 hours for the Packback team to moderate a post and send a coaching email. If by any reason your post is moderated because it does NOT meet the Community Guidelines, you will need to edit and re-publish your post to receive credit for the week. This is why it is best for you complete your Packback questions and responses a few days before the deadline, in case your post needs repairs.

How to Register on Packback: There is a fee for registering with Packback ($25 unless you have used it previously in another course, then reduced). You will receive a welcome email from holla@packback.co prompting you to finish registration.   Packback has already created an account for you with your school email, all you need to do is reset your password. This email may be directed to spam or filtered out, so make sure you do a thorough scan of your inbox if you can't find the email.

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.  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.

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

40%

Final Exam

10%

In-Class Activities

20%

Best 80% of "pop" essay grades and other written activities

10%

Jigsaw – group presentations with written components

10%

Packback – posting at least one question and two responses each week

10%

 

Syllabus for Ecology (PCB 3043) Spring 2020

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 2020

Lecture Topic and pre-class activities - you should do all these things before class this day

Readings - R&R chapter

 1

7 Jan

in class: Pre-test and Introduction

Read through module 0 and get familiar with course

On to 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 Jan

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

In class: First essay; Ecological questions about your favorite organism group activity

 2

14 Jan

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 – use collaboration option in our Canvas course

 3

 

16 Jan

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 Jan

Biomes - Read chapter 6

Take quiz on chapter 6

In class: work with partners on Biomes project

6

 

23 Jan

Biomes Group presentations today

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

Jigsaw Project assigned (due 18 February)

 

 

28 Jan

Library Instruction Day - training on finding literature on your topics - plan and begin collaboration on jigsaw project

 

 

30 Jan

Exam 1 - over chapters 1-6

 

 

Module 2

4 February

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

In-class: essay on herbivore and tree evolution, natural selection activity

7

 

6 Feb

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

In class: Essay and activity on fitness

8     

 

11 Feb

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

In class: Life Histories, Fitness, and Reproductive Strategies Activities

9

13 Feb

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

In class: Clutch Size vs. Age of First Reproduction activity

10

 

18 Feb

Jigsaw Group Presentations - Reproductive Strategies and Social Behavior

 
 

20 Feb

Jigsaw Group Presentations - Reproductive Strategies and Social Behavior

 
 

25 Feb and 27 Feb

SPRING BREAK!

 

 

3 March

Exam 2

 

Module 3

5 Mar

***Population Distribution***

Read chapter 11

Take quiz on chapter 11

Watch lectures:

Population structure

Population size

Watch videos: Bugger off and Mark/recapture

In class: Mark/recapture activities with butterfly and vole simulated populations

11

 

10 Mar

***Population Growth and Regulation,  Population Dynamics*** 

Read chapter 12

Take quiz on chapter 12

Watch lectures:

Population Growth

Life Tables

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

 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

In class: Essay, and Population dynamics activities

 

12 & 13

 

12 Mar

***Predation and Herbivory; Parasitism and Infectious Diseases***

Read chapter 14

Take quiz on Chapter 14

Watch lectures:

Predation

Mimicry and modeling predation

Herbivory

Watch videos: body invaders, black racer, plant vs. predator

Read chapter 15

Take quiz on chapter 15

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

In-class activity on contagious conditions?

In-class:  predation experiment

Write up results of predation experiment - due next class

14 & 15

 

17 Mar

***Competition and Mutualism***

Read chapter 16

Take quiz on Chapter 16

Watch lectures:

Competition

Modeling Competition

Watch videos: gooseneck barnacles, mussel-eating competition

In-class activity on competition models

 

Read chapter 17

Take quiz on Chapter 17

Watch lectures:

Coevolution and Mutualism

Modeling Mutualism

Watch videos: I’iwi bird, crazy ant farmers

In-class activity on Complex Interactions

 16 & 17

Module 4

19 March

 Jigsaw Presentations - Species Interactions

 

 

24 March

Jigsaw Presentations - Species Interactions

 

 

26 March

Exam 3

 

 

31 March

***Community Structure and Community Succession*** 

Read chapters 18 and 19

Take quiz on Chapters 18 and 19

Watch short lectures:

Community Structure

Community Attributes

Community development -succession

Community development – models of succession

Community development – disturbance

 

Watch videos: James Lovelock, Trophic Level Cascades, Mayan community discovered, beaver dams, volcanic eruptions

In-class: activity on Community Diversity; activity on succession

18 & 19

 

2 April

***Energy in Ecosystems, Elements in Ecosystems***

Read chapters 20 and 21

Take quiz on chapters 20 and 21

Watch lectures:

Energy pyramids and productivity

Energy transfer

Elemental cycles

Nutrient flow

Watch videos: Frances Moore Lappe, acid rain

In-class: Energy in Ecosystems problems; group activity on elemental cycles

April is poetry month - assignment: compose original  poem or creative composition on any subject in Ecology (due 14 April)

 20, 21 

Module 5

7 April

Exam 4

 

9 April

***Landscape Ecology, Biogeography, and Biodiversity***

Read chapter 22

Take quiz on chapter 22

Watch lectures:

Biodiversity and Niche Theory

in class activity:

Patterns in Species Diversity Exercise

22  

 

14 Apr

***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

In-class: Endangered Species group activity

Original creative activity (poetry) due today

23

 

16 April

Exam 5

 

 

21 April

Cumulative Final Exam - all extra credit due by today

 

 

26 April

Complete all surveys by today