Laboratory Syllabus
Biology of Plants and Microbes
All labs meet in Room 119, Halsey Science Center
Laboratory instructors
Dr. Stephen Bentivenga
Lab meeting time: 10:20 to 12:20 Mondays and Wednesdays
Office: HS 111C
Phone: 424-7088
Email: bentiven@uwosh.edu
Dr. Bob Wise
Lab meeting times: 1:50 to 3:50 Mondays and Wednesdays
Office: HS 16
Phone: 424-3404
Email: wise@uwosh.edu
Basic details of the lab
All students are enrolled in 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 Hinckley, or the mud daubers to Lukenbach. So be careful what you say to that person sitting next to
you--you are stuck with him or her all semester.
Laboratory manual
You are required to purchase and bring to every lab a copy of the Biology 231 Lab Manual (the book you are
currently reading). It is available in the University Bookstore. If you do not have the lab manual, you cannot do the
lab (and you cannot be reading this text right now). You will also need to bring your textbook to lab each day, as
there are excellent pictures (referenced in your lab manual) of the specimens you will be looking at in lab. Looking
at the pictures in the book will really help you understand and interpret the specimens as you view them.
Laboratory assignments
The schedule below 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 and if
you miss that lab you are out of luck. For the other half of the labs we use preserved specimens or prepared slides.
These specimens will be kept for review purposes in a cabinet at the front of the room until the subsequent lab exam.
You may access HS119 at any time using the super secret door lock code of 28523. If you miss class, you will only
be eligible for those points if you provide a legitimate excuse from the Dean of Students (or other valid source) and
you make up the work.
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 your total number of laboratory points earned (lab exams plus lab manual score) will be added to your
lecture exam point total to determine your final grade.
Lab manual
The lab manuals will be collected and graded every exam day. Grading guidelines are given elsewhere in the
manual.
Lab exams
Four lab exams will be given in HS119 on the dates given below. They will be based entirely on material you have
been taught in the lab. Each exam will be worth 50 points. 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, 2010
Date
Lab #
Topic
Sept. 8
1
Laboratory Introduction
Sept. 13
Sept. 15
2
3
Using Dichotomous Keys
The Dissecting Light Microscope and Pond Water #1
Sept. 20
Sept. 22
4
5
The Compound Light Microscope and Pond Water #2
Cyanobacteria
Sept. 27
Sept. 29
6
7
Fungi 1--Zygomycota and Ascomycota
Fungi 2--Basidiomycota, Lichens & Mycorrhizae
Oct. 4
Oct. 6
--8
Laboratory Exam #1 (Exercises 1-7)
Protists I--Phyla Myxomycota, Rhodophyta, Dinophyta and Euglenophyta
Oct. 11
Oct. 13
9
10
Protists II-- Phyla Oomycota, Bacillariophyta and Phaeophyta
Phylum Chlorophyta-green algae
Oct. 18
Oct. 20
11
12
Phyla Hepatophyta and Bryophyta
Phyla Psilotophyta, Lycopodiophyta, Sphenophyta and Pteridophyta
Oct. 25
Oct. 27
13
14
Phyla Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Coniferophyta and Gnetophyta
Pollination and Floral and Seed Anatomy
Nov. 1
Nov. 3
-15
Laboratory Exam #2 (Exercises 8-13)
Fruit and Seed Anatomy and Morphology
Nov. 8
Nov. 10
16
17
Plant Cells and Tissues
Root Anatomy
Nov. 15
Nov. 17
18
19
Shoot and Wood Anatomy
Leaf Anatomy
Nov. 22
Nov. 24
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Laboratory Exam #3 (Exercises 14-19)
Thanksgiving recess (starts Tuesday Nov. 23, after evening classes)
Nov. 29
Dec. 1
20
21
Plant Water Relations
Monocot and Dicot Development and a Bit on Tropisms
Dec. 6
Dec. 8
22
23
Photosynthetic Pigments
Photosynthesis
Dec. 13
Dec. 15
24
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Review
Laboratory Exam #4 (Exercises 20-23)