BIOL 205 Animal Behavior
Walla Walla Community College – Spring 2011
MTWTh: 9:30-10:20 ~~ Lab T 9:30-11:20
Instructor: Cyndi Gill
Office: 152 Phone: (509) 758-1727
cynthia.gill@wwcc.edu Email is the easiest and most reliable method to
contact me!
Required Texts: Principles of Animal Behavior, Lee Dugatkin
Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 10:30 am – 11:20 pm
If my door is open I am available to talk to you. If my door is closed I am busy preparing for class. I
am still available if you must speak to me about something urgent.
OFFICIAL COURSE DESCRIPTION
Study of the behavior and social organization of a variety of animal groups ranging from insects to
primates; analysis of general principles of behavior modes; observation of animal behavior in the field and
laboratory. Prerequisites: BIOL& 100, or BIOL& 160, or BIOL& 211, or BIOL 130.
Intended Learning Outcomes
ntify proximate and ultimate questions and hypotheses to explain observed behaviors.
strategies (e.g., monogamy, polygyny).
GPA
GRADING
Your final grade will be calculated based on the
percentage of the total points you have earned out the
total possible points applied to the grading scale
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
4.0
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
0.0
Percentage range
93
90
88
83
80
78
73
70
68
60
0
-
100 %
92 %
89 %
86 %
82 %
79 %
76 %
72 %
69 %
66 %
59 %
There will be five unit exams and a comprehensive
final. Your lowest lecture unit exam will be dropped.
This does not apply to the final exam. The final exam is
comprehensive. You must take the final exam. The
final exam is not eligible to be a dropped score. The
laboratory portion of the course will consist of lab
exercises and assignments.
Graded things
Points possible
4 highest unit exams (@ 100 pts. ea.)
400 points
Final Exam
200 points
Laboratory
TBA
Group Project
200 points
POLICY ON MAKE UP EXAMS
Lecture Exams: You may use your drop exam for the first lecture exam that you miss. No make up lecture
exams will be given without documentation of an emergency that prevented you from taking the exam. There
will be NO exceptions to this policy. MAKE UP EXAMS ARE GIVEN IN EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
ONLY! If an emergency arises and you need to take a test on a day other than the day it is scheduled, you
must talk to me BEFORE THE DAY OF THE TEST and schedule a date for you to take it. If you miss a test
without informing me at least one full day in advance, you will be given a “0” for that test; unless you can
show me some proof of an emergency that prevented you from contacting me. I reserve the right to give you
a make up exam that is different in form (i.e. all essay) than the regularly scheduled exam. You must
schedule and take a missed exam within one week of the exam date or you will not be given credit for the
exam. You may not reschedule a make up exam after we have set a date and time.
THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THIS SYLLABUS AT ANY TIME
Lab Assignments: There are no makeup labs. You must come to lab and participate. I will not
accept any assignment from you for a lab you did not attend.
***** If you miss lab expect a zero for that lab activity.*********
I expect you to attend every lecture and laboratory session for the full amount of time that it is scheduled.
(Do not schedule doctor’s appointments or anything else during scheduled class time!) Since you are
adults, I will not dock you points for missing a class. You will, however, be held responsible for all of the
material covered in the course regardless of whether or not you were in attendance when it was presented.
Additionally, you will be held to the due date for an assignment even if you were not in class when it was
assigned. You will not be able to make up any quizzes or in class assignments given during your absence. If
you ever have to miss a class, ask one of your fellow students to pick up an extra copy of any handouts and
assignments for you. Make sure that you get the notes they took in class, too. If all else fails, come and see
me to get any assignments you may have missed. Under no circumstances will I allow students to copy my
lecture notes after they have missed a class. REMEMBER - NOT KNOWING THAT I ASSIGNED
SOMETHING IS NOT A VALID EXCUSE FOR IT BEING LATE.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Cheating and/or plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course. If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing,
reactions on my part can range from giving you an F for the assignment or exam in question to
recommending expulsion from the Community College. The following excerpt is from “Code of Conduct” in
the Student Handbook:
EXAM CHALLENGE PROCEDURE
You may resubmit each unit exam for re-grade if corrections are needed due to grading errors. If you feel
you have been graded unfairly, you may challenge individual test questions. The procedures for doing so are
written below. Challenges are due one week after the exam in question is handed back. Challenges turned
in after that will not be considered. I WILL NOT VERBALLY ARGUE POINTS WITH YOU UNLESS YOU
BRING IN A WRITTEN CHALLENGE FIRST.
1. Check the correct answer. Make sure you are convinced that the answer you selected
is better than the one the key says is correct.
2. Write out a challenge. In this challenge, you should indicate why you think you should
be given credit for something that I counted wrong or did not give you points for. Be precise,
and back up your assertions with references from the text book or some other valid
source. I'm pretty confident that the answers I selected are the correct ones. If you want me
to give you credit for your answer, you need to convince me that it is a better answer than
the one I put (or at least that it is equally as good an answer).
Please check the addition on your exams. You may bring exams to me immediately if
there seems to be an addition problem. All other challenges to exams must be in
writing. I will not verbally argue with you about points See the challenge procedure
above.
Lecture Exam Format:
Expect exams to contain some, all, or none of the following at my discretion: multiple choice,
short answer, essay, diagram reproduction and labeling, fill in the blank, and true/false. Do not
expect an exam to be composed of only multiple choice questions. Please expect more short
answer and essay. Be prepared to address a topic in any of the above formats.
THINGS THAT IRK ME
I think it is only fair that I let you know some of the things that upset me, so that you can avoid doing
them. If you really want to annoy me, you should…
1. let your cell phone ring in class. If your phone rings I reserve the right to answer your phone.
THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THIS SYLLABUS AT ANY TIME
2. carry on a conversation while I am trying to lecture. If you are whispering and think no
one can hear you or is disturbed/distracted by your conversation….you are wrong.
3. show up for class late.
4. gather up your books and shuffle around before I am done talking.
5. ask me, “Do we have to know this?”
6. whine a lot about having too much information on a test.
7. Argue with me during class about your exam grade
WHAT I EXPECT FROM YOU
As a student in my class, I expect that you will…
1. show due respect to your fellow students and to me.
2. frequently review course material.
3. do all of the reading in the text and lab manual which supports what we discuss in lecture and
lab.
4. Keep track of your progress. In other words, if you are doing poorly, you should realize it early
and come to see me before it is too late.
5. Enjoy yourself.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURE TOPICS / EXAMS
I have not attached exact dates to the topics below so we are free to adjust the amount of time we spend on
each. The test dates are firm, and will include all topics covered in lecture and laboratory up to the exam.
The text book for this course is excellent, and you should rely heavily on it for studying. I will not usually test
you on subjects I have not presented in class, but time limits the amount of detail I can present. I will expect
you to fill in the gaps with your reading. THE MOST RELIABLE THING YOU CAN DO TO ENSURE YOUR
SUCCESS IS TO DO ALL APPROPRIATE READING.
Topic
Introduction / Syllabus review
Principles of Animal Behavior, Evolution, Proximate factors
Learning, Cultural Transmission
Sexual Selection
Mating Systems
Kinship, Cooperation
Foraging
Antipredator Behavior
Communication
Habitat selection, migration, territoriality
Aggression, Play
Animal Personalities
Exam Schedule
Lecture Exams
1
2
3
4
5
Final Exam
Text Chapter(s)
1, 2, 3
4, 5
6
7
8, 9
10
11
12
13
14, 15
17
April 11
April 25
May 9
May 23
June 3
June 8
Note for students regarding disabilities: If you have a disability for which you are or may be
requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the
Disabilities Coordinator in the Student Development Center as early as possible in the quarter. I
can not give you accommodations until you do so.
THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THIS SYLLABUS AT ANY TIME