Biology
through Bugs!
SYLLABUS
NR 747/847
Summer 2004
P. C.
Biology
through Bugs! Is designed to enable high school
biology teachers to use insects throughout the course of instruction in
biology.
Insects are cheap, easily reared, alternatives to vertebrate models for
classroom use. A general background in insect biology and ecology is included,
as well as the preparation of an insect collection suitable for use as a
reference collection. The broad areas
covered in the course include:
Evolution Arthropods are among the oldest complex
organisms, and insects and related arthropods were the first terrestrial
animals. Important points in their
evolution and adaptive radiation into terrestrial habitats will be discussed
relative to that of the vertebrates.
Basic concepts of evolutionary theory will be presented.
Life History The growth and development of insects from
eggs to reproductive adults will be examined.
An overview of internal structure and function will compare the insects
approach to homeostasis to that of vertebrates.
Metamorphosis and molting will be emphasized. Dispersal and migration, reproduction,
dormancy, and feeding behavior will be included in a general study of insect
life history. These approaches to successful adaptation to their environment
will be compared to vertebrate approaches.
Behavior Armed with a brain with less neural
capacity than the average home computer, insects have managed to invade and
survive in habitats ranging from the interior of a single seed to pools of
crude petroleum. The advantages and
disadvantages of instinctive and learned behavior will be explored.
Communication (particularly visual and chemical), and social behavior will
receive particular attention and will be contrasted to vertebrate communication
and social structure.
Ecology Insects play critical roles in virtually
all terrestrial, and most aquatic, ecosystems.
They are also excellent experimental subjects for basic ecological
studies, and
our attempts to manipulate economically important species depend on application
of ecological principals. We will focus
on population and community ecology, including general principals and
specific examples using insects.
GRADING
The final course grade will be the
percentage of total points that each student earns, based on the following
point schedule:
|
EVALUATION
INSTRUMENT |
POINTS NR747 NR847 |
|
Exam I Exam II |
100 100 100 100 |
|
Lab Quizzes
& Reports |
100 100 |
|
Collection |
100 100 |
|
Student Genrated Lab |
NA 100 |
|
Total |
400 500 |
EXAMS
Two 1‑hour exams are scheduled
during regular class meetings. Although
exams are not intended to be cumulative, some overlap is inevitable. Exams will
consist of short answer and short discussion questions. Discussion questions are
designed to allow you to integrate facts into a meaningful presentation of a
topic. Your discussion should be concise
but thorough, and should consist of several well conceived paragraphs. Illustrations are encouraged where
appropriate, but they should not be substituted for text.
LAB QUIZZES
& REPORTS
Laboratory exercises will supplement
lecture material and are an integral part of the course. Grading instruments will include lab quizzes
and written reports. Quizzes will test
objective knowledge of the material covered in the lab, while reports will test your ability
to summarize materials, methods and
results of laboratory experiments and demonstrations. Labs will be geared
toward the types of labs suitable for high school level biology instruction.
Students enrolled in the graduate level course (NR847) will also be expected to
prepare a laboratory on a topic of their own choosing related to insect
biology, behavior or ecology.
OFFICE HOURS
I will maintain formal office hours
(TBA), but feel
free to "drop in" for informal discussion or questions any time.
Paul Johnson
Room 258
Spaulding Life
Sciences Bldg.
Phone: 862-1717
E-Mail: pcj@cisunix.unh.edu
If
I am not in my office, check my lab across the hall in 265 Spaulding.
Adams, J.
(Ed.). 1992. Insect
Potpourri: Adventures in Entomology.
Sandhill Crane Press, Inc.:
Evans, H.E.
1984. Life on a Little Known Planet. Univ.