BL 209. BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY LABORATORY
SPRING SEMESTER 2011
Location: Pomponio Science Center, S-204
Time:
Tuesdays:
9:25–12:05 A.M.
Instructor: Dr. Harry Taylor, Department of Biology (e-mail: htaylor@regis.edu).
Office: Pomponio Science Center; inner office, room S-203.
OFFICE HOURS: Monday and Wednesday: 2:30–3:30; Tuesday: 1:30–2:30;
Thursday: 1:00–3:00; other times by appointment.
Lab Manual: Walker-Pacheco, Suzanne E. 2010. Exploring Physical Anthropology: A lab manual
and workbook. 2nd ed. Morton Publishing Co.
The principal goals of this course are to introduce the practice of biological anthropology while
simultaneously providing augmentation and reinforcement of lecture material. You will learn how to
recognize problems worth investigating and how to construct and test hypotheses with quantitative
evidence. Most of you are taking this lab and the accompanying lecture course to satisfy the Core
Science Requirement. Although you are not science majors, the course does have a certain amount of
intellectual rigor. Nevertheless, the goals of this introductory course can be met if you are willing to
expand your working biological vocabulary, get a grasp of fundamental, genetic and evolutionary
principles, perform some elementary quantification of data, and develop an understanding of Homo
sapiens from a scientific, biological perspective.
______________________________________________________________________________
Week Date Lab Activity
Lab Manual
______________________________________________________________________________
1
1/18 Introduction
2
1/25
Anthropology and the problem of human variation.
Do differences in the number of individuals in categories mean anything?
Testing an hypothesis using a statistical test.
I’ll provide instructions.
3
2/1
Physical Anthropology as a science
Using SPSS statistical software to construct and save
a database.
I’ll provide instructions.
4
2/8
Using evidence in your database to reach some conclusions.
Did Egyptians from 4,000 BC differ phenotypically
from those occupying the same locality in 150 AD?
Evidence: Egyptian skull measurements
Descriptive statistics and a statistical test
I’ll provide instructions.
Lab Exercise 1.2 using data for one of the skull characters
5
2/15
Test 1
1
Ch. 1
Ch. 1
Week Date
Lab Activity
______________________________________________________________________________
6
2/22
2/8 Major Forces of Evolution
Ch. 6
7
3/1
(1) Cellular organization of organisms
(2) DNA
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
8
3/8
Spring Break
9
3/15
Mitosis and Meiosis
10
3/22
Test 2
11
3/29
Human biological variation
Bones
Ch. 15
Ch. 7
12
4/5
Forensic Anthropology
Ch. 8
13
4/12
Comparative Osteology
Ch. 9
14
4/19
Bipedalism and Australopithecines
Ch. 13
15
4/26
The genus Homo
Ch. 14
Ch. 4
16
5/3
Final Exam: Test 3: Tuesday, 10:10 A.M.
______________________________________________________________________________
Your success in this course is contingent on 100% attendance; labs and lab tests typically cannot be
made up at a later time. Acceptable excused absences include athletic or forensic competition,
documented serious illness, and death of a close relative. See lecture syllabus for examples of
unacceptable excuses.
Lab-time is not to be used for extraneous activities such as pursuing or maintaining social contacts
and relationships.
You are expected to show respect for laboratory equipment, furniture, models, and skeletal
material; handle the latter with care. Vandalism or any other intentional damage will minimally
result in failure of the course—a grade of F.
There are certain things that can’t be used in lab (e.g., cell phones and other electronic devices) or
brought into lab (food and/or beverages).
From time-to-time, there will be short quizzes AT THE BEGINNING OF THE LAB PERIOD
over the previous week’s lab (number of points varies/quiz). These quizzes can neither be taken
later in the lab period nor made up at a later date. Therefore, a missed quiz means fewer points
for computing your final grade….set your alarm!
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There are three major tests; all tests and quizzes are closed book, closed notes.
Grades are determined from points accumulated from quizzes and tests. Points are totaled and scaled to
100% to determine a letter grade from the scale below.
GRADING SCALE (%):
93--100
89--92
85--88
81--84
77--80
73--76
A
AB+
B
BC+
69--72
65--68
61--64
57--60
53--56
< 53
C
CD+
D
DF
Notice that the numerical boundaries between letter grade categories are sharply defined---e.g., a final
average of 88% is B+, and one more percentage point gets you an A-. Don’t get caught on the cusp.
See the lecture syllabus for a disability statement.
Electronic exchanges. I will communicate with you personally concerning this course, grades, and
attendance, but electronically only via your Regis e-mail address.
The last day to withdraw from this course is Friday, March 25.
Academic dishonesty is unacceptable. If you are caught cheating, the consequences are severe. If you
cheat on a test, you get zero points for that test. If you cheat on more than one test, there is immediate
failure of the course—grade F. Cheating ranges from answering questions by copying from a neighbor’s
test, using notes, and using electronic devices to retrieve information. Consistent with the Academic
Integrity Policy of Regis College, I will report all violations to the Dean’s Office. Students who have
committed multiple instances of academic dishonesty can be subject to institutional penalties such as
probation, suspension, or expulsion, in addition to the penalties for this course. The Academic Integrity
Policy is described in the Regis University Bulletin; detailed information about the policy and the
appeals process can be found in the Dean’s Office.
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