BIO 190: The Lab

BIO 190 Lab

There is a laboratory requirement (1 hour credit) that web students will need to enroll in at a later date. The laboratory is offered during Fall, Spring, and Summer I semesters on the Flagstaff campus of NAU.

The Conceptual Approach to Animal Biology Laboratory

Animal Biology labs at NAU begin with a series devoted to (1) a survey of what lies ahead in subsequent labs and lectures and (2) conceptual areas such as behavior, ecology, physiology and genetics. These labs serve three primary purposes:

• they introduce students to concepts that can bind together their subsequent taxon-specific studies;
• because they demand considerable student-student and student-TA interaction, they are excellent ice-breakers and integrators of newly-formed classes;
• they allow lecturers time to present introductory material necessary for effective subsequent treatment of taxa and concepts

Following "conceptual" laboratories are a series on specific groups ("taxa," pl., "taxon," sing.) of animals. Teaching Assistants in Animal Biology at NAU have the primary responsibility for presenting the classification and structure of different groups of animals. These "taxonomic" labs ("animal taxonomy" deals with animal classification) precede lectures on the same groups of organisms. This design insures several things:

• students learn the classification and morphology with live and preserved material, CD-ROM's and other audio-visual aids at hand, rather than through dry verbal description in lecture;
• students arrive at lecture with at least a basic mental image of the organisms being discussed;
• lecturers know to what students have been exposed in terms of morphology and systematics;
• lecturers can assume basic knowledge and mental image and move rapidly into more interesting, conceptually based, or significant aspects of various taxa.

We have attempted to arrive at "themes" for labs that will insure treatment of important biological concepts rather than straight morphology and classification:

1. Behavior - human or animal behaviors - behavior is 1st line of response to environment; communication; functions of behavior; all animals behave; use of space; social interactions; courtship

2. Human Physiology - control & integration of diverse functions; all animals face similar problems which require physiological responses; structure and function inseparable

3. Field Ecology (scavenger hunt) - ecology on a small scale; examples of ecological & behavioral principles: population, community interactions and structure, ecosystems & chains/webs; symbioses;

4. Genetics and Evolution - basics of Mendelian inheritance; genes as regulators of phenotype; factors altering gene frequencies in populations; change of phenotype through time reflects change in gene frequencies

5. Protozoa, Cells, Microscopes - Introduction to cells and their parts; unique nature of unicells and their recognition in Kingdom (Protista, Protoctista) status; diversity in form and function among unicells; light scopes, TEM, SEM function and capabilities

6. Porifera, Cnidaria, tissues - from cells to tissues: small steps with big effects; major types of tissues and their functions

7. Worms - diversity of structure and function in a similar body form; significance of body cavities, hydrostatic skeletons, and metamerism

8. Arthropods I - arthropods in waterand land; locomotory & feeding specializations associated with jointed appendages; adaptations to invasion of land; insect specializations

9. Molluscs/Echinoderms - protostome vs. deuterostome evolution; adaptations accompanying a loss n complexity; paleontology and development suggest evolutionary relationships; evolutionary specializations from fundamentally simple form, particular ly in locomotion and feeding

10. Chordates/Vertebrates - deuterostome connections; chordate characteristics; major steps in evolution of verts (bone, jaws, limbs, lungs, amniote egg, insulation, endothermy, homeothermy,...);

11. Vertebrates Structure and Function - review "major steps" in chordate & vertebrate evolution; poikilothermic verts; diversification of body form with and without major gravity effects; second invasion of land - comparisons with arthropods; benefits & detriments to ectothermy; homeotherms; benefits/detriments to homeothermy; reptilian precursors; limits to diversification posed by capacity for flight; reproductive advances (placentae, mammae...); mammalian diversification & convergen ce between bats/birds, whales/fishes, etc.

E-mail the professor, W. Sylvester Allred at Syl.Allred@NAU.EDU, or call (520)523-7214

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