This course is an integrated introduction to concepts and methods of the natural sciences through lectures, laboratories, field work and seminars. Fundamental methods, conceptual and quantitative skills needed for understanding the organization and operation of various ecosystems are explored. Emphasizing patterns and processes in natural systems, the course explores basic tenets of such fields as physics, chemistry, geology and biology to underscore common systems of logic that are shared. Student skills in quantitative reasoning are a feature of this course; these may include descriptive and univariate statistics, experimental design, development and analysis of a database, scales of measurement, unit conversions, significant figures, scientific notation, and construction of basic mathematical models. Discovery-oriented learning featuring a hands-on approach to laboratories and fieldwork characterize the course. Student involvement in experimental design is maximized, utilizing local aquatic and terrestrial systems. Critical thought is engaged by addressing alternative hypotheses and learning to use differing methodologies and data collection strategies. Written reports and oral presentations aid in developing perspectives on the environment and society. This course introduces both biological and physical sciences.

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Specific Description for Fall 2000:

Site NAVIGATION: Table of Contents

Grading Scale& Assignments Student Generated Labs & Natural Systems Database Library Resources WWW Search Engines Guidelines for Student Generated Labs SYLLABUS: Module 1-The Nature of Science SYLLABUS:Module2-From the Universe to Planet Earth SYLLABUS: Modules 3&4 The Web Forum-Student Research Feedback& Progress Reports In-House" Ecology Database Search Engine = Instructor Generated Lab Report Format Science Journals & Ohio Link

Specifc Course Topics, Assignments and Due Dates	Research Projects and Lab Reports	Other Resources
Grading Scale& Assignments	Student Generated Labs & Natural Systems Database	Library Resources
SYLLABUS: Module 1-The Nature of Science	Guidelines for Student Generated Labs	WWW Search Engines
SYLLABUS:Module2-From the Universe to Planet Earth	The Web Forum-Student Research Feedback& Progress Reports	"In-House" Ecology Database Search Engine
SYLLABUS: Modules 3&4	Instructor Generated Lab Report Format	Science Journals & Ohio Link

In the present, and for the foreseeable future, science is the most pervasive philosophy of inquiry through which we endeavor to understand our world, yet there is little agreement on what science really is. We begin this course with a discussion of the nature of science. Next, we explore the process of scientific discovery of the universe, covering basic principles in astronomy and planetary geology. Then, we focus on biological and geological systems on earth: their history of change and their current condition.

At the heart of this course is the idea that science is best learned by doing science, as well as by critical reflection on the work of others. Most scholars regardless of their area of academic interest agree that intellectual excitement and stimulation come not from the passive acceptance of information transmitted from the teacher to the student in the classroom, but rather through the active involvement of the individual in the learning process. Quite simply, we learn by doing. Many of the course activities will underscore personal discovery-oriented participation in the learning process--this includes the interpretation of data obtained in the field as well as writing reports and participating in class presentations. This is a field course. The first half of the field experiences will be instructor generated. The laboratories for the rest of the course will be up to you! You will be responsible for developing labs that your classmates will do.

We hope that when the course is completed you will have a firm understanding of scientific method regardless of your academic focus. This course meets the Miami Plan Foundation IV-Biology and lab science requirement.

For group lab projects, the class will be divided into about groups of 5 indiv./group. Each member of a team is expected give 100% to the effort.

No assignments will be accepted by the instructors past any deadline.

During the semester, you will be responsible for 4 Instructor Generated Discovery Labs. Each lab will require a two page, type written, double-spaced report due on the appropriate dates listed on the syllabus. Assistance on the format can be obtained from the Peer Science Center, the Writing Center, or your instructors. All lab notebook write-ups are to be by each individual, not the group. The format listed below is recommended.

1. Introduction (a paragraph or two)

• Purpose/Problem
• What did you think you would accomplish?
• Brief background information
• Relevance, if any

2. Materials and Methods (brief and to the point)

• Describe important materials and how they are used in an exercise or experiment
• Describe Methods, when appropriate

3. Results (no more-no less)

• Observations
• Tables (numerical data) and figures (graphs, drawings, etc.) when appropriate

4. Questions

• Answer the questions which appear at the end of the exercise.

5. Discussion (parsimony as well as an aesthetic response is expected)

• Interpret your results, explaining why you got the results you did
• Think beyond the project. What additional questions do you have?
• What suggestions do you have for further investigation?

In the spirit of discovery-oriented science, a segment of the NS I labs will be devoted to allowing students to ask their own questions, design methods, write their own text, run their own lab, analyze the data, and present the results.

We will use the Western Duck Pond, the woods behind Peabody, and a site in Pfeffer park as model aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Each lab will be divided into four teaching groups. As an out-of-class assignment, each group will choose a question about natural patterns and/or processes at one of the sites, research literature relevant to their question, decide the best way to address the question given available time and resources, and write a laboratory. These laboratories will be collected and distributed for a peer review and discussion to take place the following week. The revised version of each Student-Generated Lab will be bound and titled the Discovery Lab Manual. This is the lab manual we will use for all subsequent labs. The authors of each lab will be responsible for teaching. They will need to provide data sheets and introductory material, oversee fellow students to make sure the procedures are executed properly, and make adjustments for unexpected events.

So, every student group can count on having, for one day, their entire lab section assisting them to gather data on their question of interest. Class time is valuable--students conducting labs are responsible for using their classmates' time effectively (e.g. steps should be taken before the lab to make certain the methods are feasible and efficient). Authors of each lab will then enter the data into a computer database, analyze the data statistically, interpret the results and, towards the end of the semester, give a presentation about the findings and turn in a final write-up.

Student groups interested in related questions are encouraged to share their findings to add new dimensions to their research. For example, a group investigating the spatial distribution of black oaks in Pfeffer park may benefit from a group working on soil nutrients, or from a group characterizing the topography of the study area. A grid may be established for the Duck Pond and Pfeffer park so that all the results can be related to a common, geographically referenced, database. This will facilitate groups who want to share data in a meaningful way.

The student-generated database will be continued from year to year, which will allow future classes access to previously collected data to augment their research interests. The result will be an evolving "Natural Science Database," which will provide the basis for progressively more in-depth and sophisticated analyses of the model aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. A student from the class of 1998, for example, may use the "Natural Science Database" to examine yearly changes in the pH of the duck pond as part of an investigation on acid rain. Peer Science tutors will assist student groups in formating their data for the Natural Science Database. A copy of the Discovery Lab Manual will be placed in the library so future classes can become familiar with what has gone before. For those students who wish to research Western Pond, here are maps of the pond's local watershed and bathymetry .

The Julia Rothermel Center for Science Inquiry

New to the Western Program is a Center for Science Discovery staffed by upperclass students with strong commitments to science. The overall goal of the center is to: 1) serve as an important resource for students thinking through research or pursuing independent investigations, 2) provide a living link between the Natural Science Database and ongoing student investigations, and 3) serve as a central hub for scientific equipment and supplies.

Each student group will work closely with an upperclass science tutor, who will provide advice and help coordinate data.

Points to Consider:

• Material Resources. One of the major challenges in science is to address important questions within the constraints of limited time and equipment. Much can be learned using basic field equipment. A little creativity can go a long way towards designing tools that will be useful in gathering data on any particular question. A list of research equipment available in Boyd Hall will be handed out in class. Also, a (very modest) budget will be available to each group for additional materials (e. g. rope, screen, nails, etc.). Students should consult with course instructors about any specialized equipment they might need.
• Human Resources. In addition to the time each student teaching group spends on their lab project outside of class, each group can count on having one lab devoted to the question they want to investigate, which amounts to about 42 work-hours in class. Teaching groups should set aside 10 to 20 minutes of their lab to orient fellow students about the question(s) being investigated, and the specific procedures to be used (i. e. elaborate on what has been written in the Discovery Lab Manual). If a group wants the class to quantify aquatic insects in the Duck pond, for example, they will need to provide a simple key to identifying commonly encountered insects and instruct the class on how to use the key.
• Research Design and Analysis. It is surprisingly easy to collect data that, while seeming to address the question at hand, is fairly useless scientifically. The best way to avoid problems in research design and analysis is to spend the time in the initial stages of the investigation to think the project through as a whole. Procedures for analyzing data should be determined before the methods are written, not after the results have been obtained. It should also be remembered that most or all of the data will be entered into a computer for analysis. A well designed data sheet, one in which data is collected in a form that can be directly transferred to the computer, can save a great deal of time and frustration during the analysis phase of the project. Some principles of research design and analysis will be covered in class prior to the student generated labs.

  

  Avoid Cheesy Science!

WEB FORUM FOR THE NATURAL SYTEMS DISCOVERY PROJECTS: Visit Research Entry by week 4 to put your project ideas, etc. on the web. We will work together online. Students and instructors will provide ideas and critiques as the projects develop. You will also post Progrees Reports as the semester moves along.

A beautiful mushroom And, finally, a close-up of a praying mantis' claws!

Module 1-The Nature of Science

Students relax on huge boulders deposited at the base of the Bluffs during a recent storm.

Date	Topic	Readings
Week 1 8/22-24	Lecture: Introduction to the Course Lab: Introduction Lab, R- Field Trip to Pfeffer Park (Sneakers!!),Meet in front of Peabody/Naturalist Essay	Seeing the Familiar, R Measuring Time, R Thinking Like a Mountain, R
Week 2 8/29-8/31	Lecture: Making Sense of Data Labs: Introduction to Student Generated Labs How to Access all Human Knowledge--Library exercise WWW Frisbee lab Or, a PDF Frisbee Lab Download	Measurement and Statistical Methods, R The Tree--Fowler, R **Naturalist essay due
Week 3 9/5-9/7	Lecture: Making Sense of Data Seminars: No Tues Lab (Mon/Tues. switch week) Labs: Earth-Moon laboratory Or, a PDF Moon Lab Download Student generated lab brain storm session	Rapid Changes in Tree Leaf Chemistry, R **Library exercise due **Post Research Ideas Post Critical Reviews/Suggestions for Peer Ideas

Module 2-From the Universe to Planet Earth

These hominids feel an affinity with the Class Reptilia

Date	Topic	Readings
Week 4 9/12-9/14	Lecture: Structure of the Universe Lab: Stargazing/Telescope use Open Inquiry Lab Student Generated Labs	An Overview of the Universe, R Ned Wright's Cosmology tutorial Ned Wright's Freq. Asked Questions The Big Bang, R The Fate of the Universe, R The Moon: Rosetta Stone, R The Moon, R **Frisbee/clover lab due Post Critical Reviews Post Progress Reports
Week 5 9/19-9/21	Lecture: Doppler effect/ Kepler's Laws Lab:Stargazing/Telescope Use Extraterrestrial search laboratory Problem set on Keppler Student Generated Labs	Red giants, White dwarfs, & Black holes, R Doppler Effect, R Johannes Kepler, R Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram, R Star Clusters, R **Moon Lab Due Post Critical Reviews Post Progress Reports
Week 6 9/26-9/28	Lecture: Galaxies/Life & death of stars Star Temperature/Supernova Overhead Lab: Stargazing/Telescope Use Constellation Exercise PDF Student Generated Labs	The birth & death of stars, R The winds of starbirth, R The coolest stars, R Interview with Sol, by Dr. Nemiroff From the Solar Center **Lab Proposal Due Post Critical Reviews Post Progress Reports
Week 7 10/3-10/5	Exam 1 Review Questions The Ultimate Fates of Medium and Heavy Stars Lecture:**EXAM I (covers through 9/30) Lab:Student Generated Labs Round-robin review of S-G labs by class Lab Work	Post Critical Reviews Post Progress Reports
Week 8 10/10-10/12	Lecture: The Solar System & Earth: Plate Tectonics Lab: Exercise with Maps of the seafloor Student generated lab work! Three day weekend--Oct. 16	A pedestrians guide to plate tectonics, R Post Critical Reviews Post Progress Reports

Module 3- Evolution & Extinction

	JUST BEFORE the big hit: the dinosaurs await their fate...a really bad day at the office for the Earth! 65 my ago, the continents were in slightly different places and sea level was higher. The green areas are the exposed continental areas. The red spot shows where the asteroid will hit in a few minutes...							Sixty-five million years later -----------> human-type mammals celebrate the Mass Extinction (our big chance to run the planet). In this computer generated gravity anomaly image of the structure of the ocean crust (continents are black), the horrific effects of the hit are still identifiable after 65 million years. The red spot shows the Chicxulub Crater site where the asteroid hit.
		Date Topic Readings Week 9 10/17-10/19 Lecture: Evolution I--Darwin's Arguments •Lab: Student-generated labs,organization Discuss Time Scale Projects Extinction, Raup Chs 1-4 **LAB PACKETS DUE (Posting + Hard Copy) Post Progress Reports Week 10 10/24-10/26 Lecture: Evolution II--Modern Understandings Student-generated lab 1 Discovery Lab Manual, 1 Raup Chs 5, 6 Post Progress Reports Week 11 10/31-11/2 Lecture: The Muck Swamp Lecture; Natural Selection, Hardy-Weinberg • Lab: MUCK SWAMP LAB Student-generated lab 2 Discovery Lab Manual, 2 Raup Chs 7,8 Post Progress Reports Week 12 11/7-11/9 Lecture: The Human Face of Evolution •Lab: Muck Swamp Frog Lab Student-generated lab 3 Discovery Lab Manual, 3 Raup Chs 9-11 ***Geologic Time-Scale Projects Due Post Progress Reports
	The 10 km wide asteroid hits after a 2 second transit through the Earth's atmosphere. In that eventful 2 seconds, most of its mass has vaporized into a 95 km raging, planet rocking fireball. In less than 1 second more it will hit the ocean, then submerged continental shelf crust. The vaporized asteroid will be blasted upward on a column of superheated steam. More nifty details of mass extinction in lecture...						A view over the crater into the now very round Gulf of Mexico (well, it will be the Gulf in 65 million years). After about 2 hours, the tsunamis have died out but the local ocean is still boiling and Yucatan-to-be is fried and still nearly molten as mantle materials emerge through the shattered continental shelf crust. The biosphere is still burning in a planetary firestorm and is visible as the black soot in the sky. More details in lecture...

Module 4-Ecosystems of Interest

Erosion exposes shale and limestone outcrops deposited during the Ordovician Period.

Date	Topic	Readings
Week 13 11/14-11/16	Lecture: Tropical Rainforests Lab:Rainforest discussion Student-generated lab 4	Discovery Lab Manual, 4 The structure of rainforests **Muck Swamp Frog Lab Due Post Progress Reports
Week 14 11/21-11/23	No Lecture: Thanksgiving Holiday Lab: Student generated labs	Post Progress Reports
Week 15 11/28-11/30	Coral Reefs Tropical Sun & Disturbance Lecture Lab: Student-generated lab 5 Discussion Student generated labs	Discovery Lab Manual, 5 Diversity in Tropical Rainforests and Coral Reefs, R Post Progress Reports
Week 16 12/5-12/7	Course Review: (DOWNLOAD the Final Exam Review Sheet) Posting LAB HELP: (DOWNLOAD the Help Sheet! Lab: Final report preparation Course review Media Night Discovery Science Presentations, One from each section, Monday, 7-10 pm	**Student Generated Lab Reports Due post to web include a Mac OS copy on a floppy disk paper copy
Week 17 Tuesday (12/12/00) at 5:30 pm	Comprehensive Final Exam!!	See ya next semester!

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The Swans show off their feeding strategy in this Quicktime Video Check out the final report of the Swan Study.

Other Important Stuff

WCP 121/123 is part of your education in interdisciplinary studies. It is also part of your liberal education and the course is planned to explicitly address the principles of the Miami Plan for Liberal Education, Foundation IV-biology and lab science requirement. In the section that follows we give you some idea of the ways these principles are expressed in the course curriculum.

Critical Thinking: This course is characterized by DISCOVERY-ORIENTED Learning. Discovery labs are process-oriented and centered on the student. Students will learn to generate their own laboratory exercises, which the whole class will do together. We will critically evaluate hypotheses, experimental designs, and the methods of acquisition, and the analysis, of data.

Whereas content is important, student involvement is even more so. By stressing the process of scientific inquiry, discovery-oriented labs impart the content of science in a manner that makes science a way of knowing. Laboratory work is not added; it is integral to the development of critical thinking. Critical thinking is revealed in writing, presentations and discussions.

Understanding Contexts: The central context to be understood is that of science and scientific knowledge itself. This context is established by placing ourselves, faculty and students, as scientific learners.

Engaging with Other Learners: Engaging with other learners is of vital importance to the pedagogy of Natural Systems courses. Besides weekly discussion sessions, students will be working together on both instructor- and student-generated laboratories. We are building a cumulative "Natural Science Database" monitoring our local environment on the Western Campus and immediate locality. Student involvement in generating this Database will influence "other learners" in the future as well as the immediate group in any particular class. This unusual interaction permits contributions to be made from one class to another.

Reflecting and Acting: All Natural Systems courses recognize the relationship between the environment and society and each course provides a distinct, though related, series of angles from which this relationship may be viewed. The first course, WCP 121, is a course that reflects on both the biological and the physical sciences, with about two thirds emphasizing the biological sciences and one third the physical sciences. Implications of scientific data for making citizenship decisions are important to the students. The course is composed mainly of students majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies and Environmental Design. For both of these constituencies it is important to raise the questions: What is scientific knowledge? and, What does this knowledge mean for both local and global society?

Assessment: The very nature and direction of this course depend on student input. To a greater degree than most courses, WCP 121/123 evolves as a result of your participation. Your assessment of what the course has covered and what questions you would like to investigate next will determine the subjects and events of the last half of the course. We use an experimental approach (e.g., student-generated laboratories) to teaching that will demand much from you and the instructors.

Besides the formal assessment procedures of the Western Program, your instructors consult extensively with each other during course planning and work together closely to share resources and ideas.

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Interdisciplinary Studies: Natural Science Program Teaching Philosophy

Click if you'd like to learn about our instructor and student generated labs, independent research & publications, the natural science database, opportunities for field research, writing in the sciences, the Julia Rothermel Peer Science Center, and tutor responsibilities.

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