BIOLOGY 319: GENERAL ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY
SPRING 2006 COURSE SYLLABUS (finalized on 1/28/06)
Chief Instructor
Lab 2 Instructor
Dr. Dana K. Vaughan (Lecture, Discussion, AM Lab 1)
HS 249, Phone 424-3076, E-mail: vaughan@uwosh.edu
Office Hours: MW 1:50-2:50 pm, Th 8:00-9:30 am,
 There will be several extra office hours prior to the final exam.
Dr. Sheldon J. Cooper (PM Lab)
HS 153, Phone 424-7091, E-mail: cooper@uwosh.edu
Office Hours: TBA at first lab meeting
Timetable
Lecture (DKV)
MW
3:00-4:30 pm
Lab 1 (DKV)
T
9:40 am – 12:40 pm
Lab 2 (SJC)
T
1:20 – 4:20 pm
Discussion* (DKV)
R
9:40 – 10:40 am
*Only one Discussion section, for all students, will be held.
Halsey 237
Halsey 165
Halsey 165
Halsey 367
Prerequisites
 REQUIRED: A year of General Chemistry (CHEM 105 + 106).
 REQUIRED: Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology (BIO 323).
 RECOMMENDED: Biology of Animals (BIO 230) (however, don’t worry if you don’t have it).
Students with disabilities are welcome in this course. Please notify me immediately of any requested accommodation
and provide me with a copy of the customary documentation.
Academic honesty policies concur with those found in your UW Oshkosh Student Handbook. Penalties for cheating or
plagiarism will be severe. At a minimum, a zero will be entered for a dishonest assignment.
Textbook and Materials
 REQUIRED: Sherwood et al.’s Animal Physiology, Thomson-Brooks/Cole, 2005.
 REQUIRED: 5 x 5 quad ruled 80 page composition lab notebook sold at the campus bookstore.
 REQUIRED: Lab exercises published on D2L, print out yourselves.
 REQUIRED: Any additional reading posted on D2L or e-Reserve, print out yourselves.
 REQUIRED: Free subscription to “Science in the News”, an email service through Sigma Xi which delivers the top
science news stories of the day to your uwosh.edu account. Please scan the stories daily for animal physiology news,
which will be the basis of discussions.
A Note about the Sherwood Textbook. Science textbooks, including this one, are expensive. This is the first semester
we have used this particular book at UW Oshkosh. The change was not made lightly. I have reviewed at least a dozen
textbooks, and used about half of them, in my career teaching physiology.
I think this is the BEST book of them all and I plan to use it every spring from now on. For one thing, it includes
a chapter on immunity, which none of the other animal phys texts have. For another, I think you will find it readable,
complete without being overwhelming, and well-illustrated. It is basic enough that it will not go out of date.
This text is a good investment. Plan to bring it to every lecture AND to some labs (I will notify you of these
labs). To save money, you can already find used copies of this 2005 textbook at online booksellers. You might also
consider sharing a textbook purchase with another student.
Sometimes students risk not getting the textbook. That will be a problem in this course. I will be assigning
reading and then testing you on it. I will show images from the book on Powerpoint, and discuss them rapidly without
time for you to copy them down, because I assume you own the book I require you to own.
Course Goals


The student is offered a general understanding of animal physiology, necessitating a synthesis of several areas within
science (biology, chemistry, physics, scientific terminology, quantitative skills) and within physiology (respiration,
circulation, digestion, energy metabolism, reproduction, etc.).
 Topics will be examined from a mammal-centric perspective, but will also include substantial treatment of
comparative aspects of physiological solutions to environmental challenges.
 This course supports the education of pre-human health, pre-animal health, pre-graduate school, and
Biology MS degree students.
The student is offered laboratory experience with data collection of physiological variables in the context of sound
experimental technique. Scientific communication skills will also be developed in lab.
How to do your best in this class
 Show up. None of our activities are optional. If you must miss, get the notes to minimize the negative impact.
 Speak up. Ask questions. Answer questions. Offer new information. Use your physiology vocabulary often.
 Keep up. Trust me, you cannot “cram” physiology.
 Build up your skill at mental imaging by sketching and re-sketching concepts and processes often.
 Use mnemonic (memory) devices that work, no matter how silly they might appear to others.
 Organize your learning into concept “posters” that are not limited by the chronology of presentation. For example,
create an “oxygen poster”, a “pH poster”, a “digestion poster”, and so on.
 “Fortune favors the prepared mind”. Do the assigned reading PRIOR to the designated lecture or lab, then come to
lecture and lab and take notes. Afterward, re-read the book to “cement” your understanding.
This is a 5-credit course. Expect it to take lots of your time, inside & outside of class meetings.
Classroom Etiquette
Please: address me as “Dr. Vaughan”; arrive to class on time; if you are late, enter quietly and sit to the side; silence pagers
and cell phones as soon as you enter the classroom; do not eat in the Lecture or Discussion classroom, but feel free to
bring a beverage; food & drink are prohibited from the Lab classroom; do not have side conversations during class; treat
your classmates with dignity, even if you disagree with their ideas; speak to me privately about any conflicts that hamper
group work to which you are assigned; do not start to “pack up” to leave until I have indicated verbally that class is
concluded for the day; if you have a question, raise your hand and say “Question!” so that I do not miss you; do not
monopolize the class conversations, make time for everyone to speak; do not leave class early without notifying me ahead
of time and giving a good reason.
Seating Arrangement
Please sit as close to the front of the classroom as you can. In a class this small, I always try to learn everyone’s last names.
To assist me in this, at the 2nd meeting of class, we will create a seating chart.
About our 90-minute Lectures (Mon and Wed)
 Lectures will mainly cover material in the text, so you are URGED to bring your text to class.
 Diagrams from the text will be displayed on Powerpoint and usually discussed rapidly without time allotted for you
to copy them down.
 Lecture may include outside material that will either be handed out or made available online.
 Anything said in lecture or assigned as reading could appear on an exam.
 I do not provide Powerpoints to students unless there is a University-recognized, documented emergency absence.
About our 3-hour Labs (Tue)
 Expect to spend the full 3 hours; but labs don’t tend to go over.
 Lab safety procedures will be explained at our first meeting. These must be followed completely. Failure to comply
will be penalized in the lab grade.
 Lab will introduce simple versions of real-world skills used in physiology research, designed to reinforce concepts
presented in lecture.
 Lab will involve participation in cooperative groups.
 Small numbers of animals are used in fully approved procedures during lab. Should this present a problem for any
student, s/he is urged to enroll in either Plant or Microbial Physiology to satisfy the core physiology requirement for
a Biology Department degree, because any refusal to participate in lab will negatively impact course performance.
About our 60-minute Discussions (Thu)
 Discussion provides a forum to: rehearse lecture and lab material through critical thinking exercises; discuss
breaking news in animal physiology; and explore pathophysiology. It is also the time when I will conduct periodic
examinations.
About Exams (worth 75% of your course grade)
 There will be four (4) 60-minute exams, all held during the Thursday Discussion time slot (see schedule).
o Exam 1 will cover the material since the start of the semester, and is weighted at 15% of your course grade.
o Exam 2 will cover the material since Exam 1, and is weighted at 15% of your course grade.
o Exam 3 will cover the material since Exam 2, and is weighted at 25% of your course grade.
o Exam 4 will cover material since the start of the semester (i.e. it is a “cumulative final”), but will emphasize
material since Exam 3, and is weighted at 20% of your course grade.
 Exam format will be scantron true-false. This is not my favorite format, but I chose it anyway, for two reasons. First,
it teaches students to read the questions and answers very carefully; that is an intellectual skill worth anyone’s time.
Second, many in the class will be taking this type of exam in the future, and the practice is good for you.
 If you miss Exam 1, 2, or 3 and have a University-recognized, documented excuse, you may apply to take a make-up
exam (the application is found on D2L). The make up exam will be held on the last day of the semester at a time and
place TBA. The content of the make-up exam is at my discretion but will likely emphasize the exam that you
missed.
 Papers are shredded three (3) weeks after they are handed back to the class at large.
About Lab (worth 25% of your course grade)
 Notebook: Lab notebooks are important legal documents in the real world. Poor notebooks have wrecked careers.
You will receive instructions in the first week on how to create a satisfactory lab notebook.
o A poor lab notebook will remove 1% of the 25% of your lab grade.
 Report (5%): Based upon your notebook, you will be required to submit one (1) lab report near the end of the
semester. It is to follow “IMRD” format (details to follow). It will be on one of the lab exercises marked by an
asterisk (*) in the schedule. I’ll tell you which one to write up and submit. You are welcome to work with your
group members in understanding the lab and organizing the report, but each report must be individually written.
You will submit your notebook along with your report near the end of the semester, and they will be graded as a
portfolio effort.
 Exams (2 x 5%): We will have two brief open book lab exams (written and practical) followed by lab work (see
schedule).
 Oral Presentation (10%): Pairs of students will be assigned animal physiology topics to research all semester long.
Then, during a lab session near the end of the semester, each pair will make an oral presentation using Powerpoint
that is designed SPECIFICALLY to TEACH THE CLASS at an appropriate level (not too simplistic, but not over
their heads, either). Just 10-15 minutes long. Details to follow. Presenters will be evaluated on their teaching efforts
by both classmates and the lab instructor.
 Participation: includes attendance; evidence of preparation; attention to instructions; and adding value to
cooperative group work. Students will be evaluated on their lab participation by both classmates and the lab
instructor.
o Negative participation indicators will remove earned percentage points from the lab cumulative.
 Example: Your lab cumulative is 90% (22.5% of the possible 25%, an AB), but you also missed a lab
and didn’t bother providing your Lab Instructor with any documentation. The 22.5% is reduced by
2%, to 20.5%. Your 90% (AB) in Lab is correspondingly reduced to 82%, a B.
 Example: Not only did you blow off a lab, but you also showed up to one where you clearly didn’t
know what was going on in class, making life harder for the rest of your group who had to carry the
burden. Your 20.5% drops another 1%, to 19.5%. Your 82% in Lab is correspondingly reduced to
78%, a BC.
 Example: Not only did you blow off one lab and show up unprepared to another, you also brought a
soda into the Lab, a clear violation of written class policy. Your 19.5% drops another 1%, to 18.5%.
Your 78% in lab is correspondingly reduced to 74%, a C.
BIO 319 Grading Scheme, Spring 2006
Some BIO 319 assignments are worth more than others toward your final course grade. This is called
“weighting” your assignments. I have used it to evaluate students for years now, and I feel it does a good job.
For 319 this term:
 Exam 1 is weighted at 15% of your course grade.
 Exam 2 is weighted at 15% of your course grade.
 Exam 3 is weighted at 25% of your course grade.
 Exam 4 is weighted at 20% of your course grade.
 Lab cumulative is weighted at 25% of your course grade.
I curve Exam scores. To see how I do this, imagine the following example: Possible = 109, high = 106; midpoint =
107.5. Let’s say you earned 94 points. 94  107.5 = 87.4%, a B (see below).
My grade scale for assignments and for the course:
92 - 100
A
87 – 91.99
AB
82 – 86.99
B
77 – 81.99
BC
72 – 76.99
C
67 – 71.99
CD
60 – 66.99
D
< 60
F
I display Exam grades on D2L as curved percentages.
I post Exam keys at the lab classroom (Halsey 165). If you wish to debate the key, it must be done
o Politely,
o Outside of class time,
o Within one week of when the exam was returned to the class AND
o In writing, documenting the correctness of your argument.
If there was simply a math error of some kind, see me immediately to have it corrected. It’s easy!
Students often want to know what grades they have “thus far” in the course, or especially “going into” the final.
You can compute this yourself. Here’s how:
First, assemble all your Exam grades “thus far” and express them as curved percentages (what D2L
reports).
Prior to Exam 2, your grade “thus far” is your Exam 1 grade.
Example: you got an 85% on Exam 1. Your grade thus far is 85%, a B.
Prior to Exam 3, your grade “thus far” is computed as follows:
Multiply Exam 1 grade by 0.15.
Multiply Exam 2 grade by 0.15.
Add these two numbers together.
Divide by 0.3.
Example: you earned an 85% on Exam 1 and a 69% on Exam 2.
(85 x 0.15) + (69 x 0.15) = 12.75 + 10.35 = 23.1; divide by 0.3 and get 77. Your grade thus far is 77%, a C.
Prior to Exam 4, without the Quiz average, your grade “thus far” is computed as follows:
Multiply Exam 1 grade by 0.15.
Multiply Exam 2 grade by 0.15.
Multiply Exam 3 grade by 0.25.
Add these three numbers together.
Divide by 0.55.
Example: you earned an 85% on Exam 1, a 69% on Exam 2, and a 91% on Exam 3.
(85 x 0.15) + (69 x 0.15) + (91 x 0.25) = 12.75 + 10.35 + 22.75 = 45.85; divide by 0.55 and get 83.4.
Your grade thus far is 83.4%, a B.
Your final course grade is computed as follows:
Multiply Exam 1 grade by 0.15.
Multiply Exam 2 grade by 0.15.
Multiply Exam 3 grade by 0.25.
Multiply Exam 4 grade by 0.2.
Multiply Lab Cumulative by 0.25.
Add these five numbers together to get your final grade.
Example: you earned an 85% on Exam 1, a 69% on Exam 2, a 91% on Exam 3, an 88% on Exam 4, and a
90% on the Lab Cumulative.
(85 x 0.15) + (69 x 0.15) + (91 x 0.25) + (88 x 0.2) + (90 x 0.25) = 12.75 + 10.35 + 22.75 + 17.6 + 22.5 = 85.95.
Your final grade is 86%, a B.
But wait, I’m not quite done…
Then I will examine whether or not your lecture exam scores improved steadily & significantly over the term. I
typically adjust you upward on the scale if they did.
Example: Your Exam grades were 85% (B), 69% (CD), 91% (AB), and 88% (AB). Not what I’d judge to
be steady improvement. No adjustment to calculated final grade.
Example: Your Exam grades were 82% (B), 84% (B), 86% (B), and 88% (AB). Not what I’d judge to be
significant improvement. No adjustment to calculated final grade.
Example: Your Exam grades were 73% (C), 85% (B), 88% (AB), and 92% (A). The steady improvement
is significant, from C to A. That’s worth an adjustment up from your calculated final grade.
Vaughan’s BIO 319/519 Spring 2006 CLASS SCHEDULE (finalized on 1/28/06)
We may go faster or slower in lecture than shown.
Regarding chapter assignments in the Sherwood text: If a chapter is shown in red boldface, you are encouraged to read
the entire chapter in preparation for lecture. If a chapter is shown in regular font, only part of the chapter will be
covered that week, and you are encouraged to make note of the lecture topics and then use the INDEX to discover the
pages within each listed chapter that should be read.
Week Text
Mon-Wed Lecture
Tues Lab
Thur Discussion
Start
Date
Lab Orientation
Jan 30
BIO 323 review: Diffusion,
1, 2, 3, Foundations, Cellular
Anatomy: Micro & Gross
metabolism, Energy balance,
Osmosis, Membrane transport,
15
Thermal physiology
Signal transduction,
Feb 6
3, 4, 9, Transport epithelia, Capillary Teaching Tactics
Science in the News
exchange, Excitable cells,
13
Physics & Chemistry
How to prepare a study poster
Composition of body fluids
Presentation Assignments
Q&A
Feb 13
9, 11,
Integument
Experimental Principles
Science in the News
13
Working with Graphs
Gas Transport & Systems
Hibernation physiology
Integration
iWorx Tutorial
Q&A
Feb 20 8
Muscle Physiology
*Hibernation Lab
Exam 1 (covers Jan 30 – Feb 20)
Feb 27
9
Cardiovascular Physiology
Mar 6
9, 10,
11
*Metabolic Rate and Body Size Science in the News
Growth, Bone & Cartilage
Q&A
Science in the News
Lab Exam I
Q&A
Bioelectricity
SPRING
BREAK
Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, &
Science in the News
Pig Plucks
Q&A
Mar 13
Mar 20
14
Lymphatics & Immunology
Respiratory Physiology
NO CLASS
Digestive Physiology
Mar 27
7
Endocrinology
*Intestinal Glucose Transport
Apr 3
4, 5
Neurophysiology
*Cardiac Dynamics
Apr 10
4, 5
Neurophysiology
*Frog Skeletal Muscle
Science in the News
Q&A
Apr 17
6
Sensory Physiology
Science in the News
Q&A
Apr 24
12, 13
Osmoregulation
May 1
16
Reproductive Physiology
Respiratory System Capacities
& Control
Lab report & Notebook due
Clinical Physiology: Taking
vitals, Hematology, Urinalysis,
Bioimaging
Lab Exam II
Release/presentations
Oral Presentations
Exam 4 (covers Jan 30 - May 10)
May 8
May 15
Mon: Catch-up as needed
Wed: Review Q&A
Fri TBA: Make Up as needed
Grades due on May 17 by 5 pm
Exam 2 (covers Feb 21 – Mar
27)
Science in the News
Q&A
Exam 3 (covers Mar 28 – Apr
24)
Science in the News
Review for Final