COURSE SYLLABUS
1. TITLE OF COURSE: Ecology of Colorado
PREFIX/NUMBER: BIO 143 CREDIT HOURS: 3
2. PREREQUISITES: REA 060, MAT 090 or MAT107, ENG 060
3. RESOURCES NEEDED:
SUPPLIES: 3-ring binder, Student Supplement, Journal
Colorado Trees and Wildflower pamphlet
Textbook optional: Economy of Nature, Ricklefs, 5th ed.
4. COURSE GOAL:
To provide students with a background and basic understanding of ecological principles including; ecosystems, energy flow, food webs, and population and community dynamics. Students will be able to apply ecological concepts to the Colorado environment and will become familiar with native plants and animals.
5. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Studies the natural environment in Colorado. Explores the vast natural environments of Colorado and the plants and animals that inhabit the life zones of our majestic plains, mountains, and valleys. Discovers the interrelationships of man and his Colorado environment - past, present, and future. Through an inquiry approach, the student examines the changing needs and roles of our environments. Field trips include Commanche National Grassland, Pueblo Nature Center and Wildlife Area, and Spanish Peaks.
6. COURSE OBJECTIVES:
a) Be able to recognize the major physiographic regions of Colorado and how they relate to neighboring states.
b) Develop an understanding of basic ecological principles including ecosystems, energy flow, material cycling, food chains and webs, limits of tolerance, interactions between species and within species, distribution of species, succession, population and community dynamics.
c) Be able to apply the above concepts and demonstrate them in outdoor areas during field trips.
d) Become familiar with Colorado native plants, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and geology. In the field, be able to identify common examples of each.
e) Use simple field equipment to gather data and view organisms. This could include: binoculars, insect nets, plankton nets, microscopes, plant presses, live trapping, and simple water and mineral tests.
f) Demonstrate basic field and hiking safety. Apply knowledge of ecology to solve specific field questions. Demonstrate knowledge of ecology by tanking exams, writing field trip reports and doing class presentations.
7. EVALUATION PROCEDURES:
Grades will be based on the following: TOTAL POINTS
Unit Exams = 2 @ 100 pts. Each 200 pts
In Class Assignments, Plant/Track Exam 100 pts
Field trip participation = 3 @ 25 pts. ea. 75 pts
Journal = 100 pts. 100 pts
Class presentation = 100 pts. 100 pts
575 pts
GRADE PERCENT LETTER GRADE
90 - 100 % A
80 - 89 % B
70 - 79 % C
60 - 69 % D
59% or less F
8. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:
a) In the event that the school or building is closed during the semester, it is the student’s responsibility to contact their instructor concerning missed exams, labs or lectures.
b) It is the students’ responsibility to comply with all of the course prerequisites.
c) Teaching and learning require a team effort. The Science Department expects students to show up for class on time and be prepared for lecture (i.e. you’ve read the assigned chapters and be prepared with questions over the material). We strongly encourage cooperation among students to help in each other understanding of the material. The Science Faculty greatly appreciates specific feedback on any aspects of the course, both positive and negative.
d) Respect and common courtesy to your peers, staff and instructors is expected.
e) There will be no extra credit (point) projects for individuals.
f) Submitted assignments must be your own work even though you may have worked on it as a group (in your own words & handwriting). Plagiarizing other students’ work is cheating and will result in a zero for that assignment. Repeat offenders will not only lose points for the assignment, they will lose points for participating in the lab/project and are subject to disciplinary actions.
9. LECTURES:
a) Attendance is required. The lecture material is supplemental to the text. Your exams will cover both lecture and text materials. To reap your investment of time and money, please attend class. In the event that you cannot possible attend, make arrangements with a classmate to obtained missed lecture notes or watch the appropriate videos.
10. EXAM RULES:
a) With instructor’s approval and appropriate documentation, a make up exam may be given for a missed exam. Failure to take a scheduled examination at the appointed time will result in a 10% reduction in the score of any make-up examination. A second missed exam will result in an automatic 20% reduction. Being unprepared is not a legitimate reason!!
If an emergency arises the day of the exam, appropriate documentation such as an ER admit form, police report of the accident/ticket or a doctor's excuse is required and there will be a 10% reduction of exam score. Documentation is only necessary to make up a missed exam. All make-up exams must be taken within 5 days of the original exam date and may be an essay exam.
If you have a prior obligation the day of the exam you must arrange with your instructor to take the exam prior to the scheduled date.
There are no retakes of exams if a student should fail an exam.
b) Case Studies and study guides to be handed in with the exam. Students need to abide by the school's policy on plagiarism. Remember that plagiarism includes other student's work. Case studies are to be typed and not to exceed 1 page; include a bibliography on a separate page. Case studies and study guides will be accepted up to one day after the exam for 1/2 credit and will not be accepted after that.
c) Cell phones, pagers, and electronic devices with sound are to be turned off, and put away during class times, unless otherwise documented. If you must use your electronic devices, please leave the classroom. This includes text messages (“txting” and “pix”) during any class time.
d) Cheating on an exam will result in a zero for that exam. No make up exam will be given.
e) On exam days, students arriving 20 minutes or more late, will not be allowed to take the exam.
11. SPECIAL REMARKS:
a) There are no extra credit (point) projects for individuals.
b) If after 20% of classes are missed, the student can be dropped from the class.
c) If a student has not met the course prerequisites, the student should not be in the class.
d) Students are expected and encouraged to spend two to three hours outside of class for every contact hour in class and in lab. This is essential in lab.
e) In the event a student receives a failing grade in this course, the student will be required to repeat BOTH the lecture and lab components
f) College policy prohibits the use of tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco, snuff, and chewing tobacco, in all College buildings and facilities.
g) Students giving presentations who arrive 10 minutes or more late for class, points will be deducted from their presentation score. Also students must save PowerPoint presentations as a ppt.. on a floppy disk, CD, or DVD-R. Do not use re-writable CD or DVD or save as “read-only” or PowerPoint Show as these media and formats are not compatible with our systems.
h) Lecture and lab cover the same biological concepts but often from different perspectives.
i) In the event that a problem occurs between students or students and faculty, the appropriate process for addressing student concerns is as follows
· First, address concern with course instructor.
· If your concerns are not rectified, then schedule an appointment with Department Chair.
· If your concerns are still unresolved then schedule an appointment with the appropriate divisional dean.
12. ADA Notice: Students who have a documented disability may be eligible to receive accommodations for this class. Please contact the Disability Resources Center at 549-3446 for further information.
13. Academic Integrity:
The very nature of higher education requires that students adhere to accepted standards of academic integrity. Therefore, Pueblo Community College has adopted a policy of academic conduct as described in the Student Handbook. Violation of academic integrity may be defined to include the following: cheating, plagiarism, falsification and fabrication, abuse of academic materials, complicity in academic dishonesty and personal misrepresentation. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty. Sanctions for violating the standards of academic integrity may include warning, probation, suspension, and/or failure of the course or assignment at the discretion of the instructor
14. FIELD TRIPS
Fieldtrip participation is required. An alternative assignment will only be provided with prior consent of the instructor, except for a documented emergency. The make-up assignment must be completed within 1 week of the missed fieldtrip and there will be an automatic 10% grade reduction. Only one make-up will be allowed.