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Laboratory Syllabus
Biology of Plants and Microbes
Fall 2006
All labs meet in Room 119, Halsey Science Center
Laboratory instructors:
Dr. Todd Kostman
Lab meeting time: A01L: 10:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m. Monday and Wednesday
Office: HS 156
Phone: 424-7301
Email: kostman@uwosh.edu
Web page: http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/Kostman/kostman.html
Dr. Bob Wise
Lab meeting times: A02L: 1:50-3:50 p.m.; A03L: 4:10-6:10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday
Office: HS 16
Phone: 424-3404
Email: wise@uwosh.edu
Web page: http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/wise/wise.html
Basic details of the lab
All students are assigned to a morning or afternoon lab. The labs are operating at full enrollment,
therefore switching from one lab to the other just isn’t possible because there aren’t any spare seats.
There are no assigned seats but typically students return to the same lab bench every meeting--just like
the swallows to Capistrano, the buzzards to Hinkley, or the mud daubers to Lukenbach. So be careful
what you say to that person sitting next to you--you are stuck with them all semester.
Laboratory manual
You are required to purchase and bring to every lab a copy of the Biology 231 Lab Manual. It is
available in the University Bookstore. If you do not have the lab manual, you cannot do the lab. You
will also need to bring your textbook to lab each day, as there are excellent pictures (referenced in your
lab manual) of the slides you will be looking at in lab. Looking at the pictures in the book will really
help you understand and interpret the slides as you view them.
Laboratory assignments
The schedule on the back of this page lists the various lab assignments. The lab schedule follows the
same basic layout as the lecture schedule. Indeed, most days the lecture and lab topics will be
identical. Each lab meeting has an exercise or set of exercises to be performed on that day--most
often, but not always, a drawing of some kind.
Making up lab assignments
About half of the labs use living specimens or one-time demonstrations. Obviously, they cannot be
made up. For the other half of the labs we use preserved specimens or prepared slides. These
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specimens will be kept for review purposes in a cabinet at the front of the room until the subsequent
lab exam. You may access the HS119 at any time using the super secret door lock code of 28523.
Grading
There will be 300 total points assigned in lab that will be counted towards your final grade in the
course. This is broken down into 200 points from the four laboratory exams (50 points each) and 100
points for the lab manual grade. There are 18 labs that have material (mostly drawings but sometimes
graphs and data) that we will grade, and each lab will be worth 10 points. At the end of the semester
we will add up how many total points you receive out of 180, divide by 180, which will yield a
percentage (such as 89%). This will then be multiplied by 100 to calculate your lab grade...in the
above case you would get 89 of the 100 points for lab manual grade. At the end of the semester we
will report your total number of laboratory points earned (lab exams plus lab manual score) to Dr.
Bentivenga who will add this to your lecture exam total to determine your final grade.
Missing Lab.....
Please note that if you are absent from lab without a valid excuse you will not be eligible to receive the
points for that laboratory-even if you do the drawings later. If you are absent for a university
sanctioned event and we are notified before the lab takes place, you will be eligible for the points for
the lab missed.
Lab manual
The lab manuals will be collected and graded periodically throughout the semester. Grading guidelines
are given in the manual.
Lab exams
Four lab exams will be given in HS119 on the dates indicated on the back of this page. They will be
based entirely on material you have been taught in the lab. Each exam will be worth 50 points and that
score will be added to the 50 points of the accompanying lecture exam (usually given on the same day
as the lab exam). The two scores will be summed and used to calculate the final semester letter grade.
You will not receive separate letter grades for lecture and lab.
Academic dishonesty
Students are referred to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Student Discipline Code as detailed in specific
provisions of Chapter 14 of the State of Wisconsin Administrative Code. Any student(s) found in violation of
any aspect of the above Code (as defined in sections UWS 14.02 and 14.03) will receive a sanction as detailed
in UWS 14.05 and 14.06. Examples of violations include: looking at another student’s exam or answer sheet
and copying the answers during and exam, talking or whispering to another student during an exam,, and
receiving text messages during an exam on an electronic device. Sanctions range from a grade of zero for the
assignment in question to an oral reprimand to expulsion from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Students
have the right to request a hearing and to appeal sanctions (as defined in UWS 14.08-14.10).
Laboratory Schedule-Fall 2006
Date
Sept. 6
Exercise #
0
Topic
Some basic lab rules, then on to Greenhouse and Herbarium tours
3
Sept. 11
Sept. 13
1
2/3
Using Dichotomous Keys
Using microscopes. Start Exercise 3: Pond water
Sept. 18
Sept. 20
3
4
Continue Exercise 3: Pond water
Cyanobacteria
Sept. 25
Sept. 27
5
6
Fungi 1--Zycomycota and Ascomycota
Fungi 2--Basidiomycota, Lichens & Mycorrhizae
Oct. 2
Oct. 4
--7
Laboratory Exam #1 (Exercises 1-6)
Protists I--Phyla Myxomycota, Rhodophyta, Dinophyta and Euglenophyta
Oct. 9
Oct. 11
8
9
Protists II-- Phyla Oomycota, Bacillariophyta and Phaeophyta
Phylum Chlorophyta-green algae
Oct. 16
Oct. 18
10
11
Phyla Hepatophyta and Bryophyta
Phyla Psilotophyta, Lycophyta, Sphenophyta and Pterophyta
Oct. 23
Oct. 25
12
13
Phyla Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Coniferophyta and Gnetophyta
Pollination and Floral and Seed Anatomy
Oct. 30
Nov. 1
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Nov. 6
Nov. 8
15
16
Plant Cells and Tissues
Root Anatomy
Nov. 13
Nov. 15
17
18
Shoot and Leaf Anatomy
Plant Water Relations
Nov. 20
Nov. 22
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Laboratory Exam #3 (Exercises 13-17)
Thanksgiving recess (starts Tuesday Nov. 22, after night classes)
Nov. 27
Nov. 29
19
20
Hormones and Tropisms
Photosynthetic Pigments
Dec. 4
Dec. 6
21
22
Photosynthesis
Plant Genetic Engineering
Dec. 11
Dec. 13
23
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Forensic Botany: CSI Oshkosh
Laboratory Exam #4 (Exercises 18-22)
Laboratory Exam #2 (Exercises 7-12)
Fruit and Seed Anatomy and Morphology