1 / 16

Welcome to General Ecology Bio 4416 Instructor: Susan Schwinning

Welcome to General Ecology Bio 4416 Instructor: Susan Schwinning Office Hours: Mon, Wed 1:00 – 2:00 pm, or by appointment 312 Supple. 1. How this course works. Lab and Lecture sections are taught independently. To pass the course you must pass both (>60%).

barbara-maxwell
Download Presentation

Welcome to General Ecology Bio 4416 Instructor: Susan Schwinning

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Welcome to General Ecology Bio 4416 Instructor: Susan Schwinning Office Hours: Mon, Wed 1:00 – 2:00 pm, or by appointment 312 Supple

  2. 1. How this course works. • Lab and Lecture sections are taught independently. • To pass the course you must pass both(>60%). • To pass the lecture: acquire a minimum of 120 points • in 3 midterms (40pts) and 1 final (80 pts). • To pass the lab: show up, submit assignments and complete an independent research project.

  3. Advice on how to handle the lab: • The lab grade is 1/3 of the course grade • The lab grade will often improve the course grade • Failure to attend 3x gives you an “F” in lab, therefore an “F” in the course • 50% of the lab grade is tied to the independent research project • Partnering up in teams of two is recommended

  4. Advice on how to do well in lecture: • attend and review all lectures using materials posted online • think along and ask questions • make use of office hours/email • read the required texts • form study groups • study for the midterms and final.

  5. Grading:

  6. How you get information. http://www.bio.txstate.edu/~schwinn/Ecology (or through TRACS or the department’s faculty web pages)

  7. 3. What is ecology?

  8. Ecology From greek words oikos (= house/household) + logia (= study of) Ernst Häckel (1866) “Ökologie”: the comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment. Today’s definition: The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and of the interactions that determine distribution and abundance.

  9. Prairie Coral Reef The distribution and abundance of organisms is a complicated thing. How can we even begin to study it scientifically?

  10. The hierarchy of biological organization: ecosphere END biome landscape ecosystem community START population organism organ tissue molecular cell Ecology (Adapted from Odum & Barret, 2005)

  11. 4. Why do we need math to do ecology?

  12. Why Math?

  13. Why Math? Math is a way to express commonality in the perplexing richness of human observation and experience.

  14. The richness of biological phenomena:

  15. Let’s have a great semester!

More Related