COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE PHYSIOLOGY LAB, WWU BIOL 468, SPRING 2014
Lab Section:
Instructor:
Office Hours:
Lecture Text:
Recommended Text:
CRN 23084, in BI 354, at 0900-1250, Fridays
Dr. Roger Anderson
In BI 311: M, T, W 0900-0945 open door
Principles of Animal Physiology, 3rd Ed by Hill, Wyse, & Anderson
Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, & Evolution, 3rd Ed by Kardong
Course Description:
Design and implement laboratory research on some aspect of whole-animal performance physiology.
Lab Objectives: You will participate in experiential learning, with respect to learning how to think and perform as a
scientist, within the context of whole-animal physiology. You will perform non-invasive, non-injurious experiments with
vertebrates. You may study ecologically relevant performance of animals in one of many potential performance criteria,
such as running (acceleration, velocity, endurance), jumping, biting, and thermoregulating. You also may study the
temperature-dependent performances of predator-evasion, predator-avoidance, bite force, bite velocity, learning, and
cognition.
You will be guided by Dr Roger Anderson in your
(1) pursuit of a physiological question of interest on an ectothermic vertebrate of interest,
(2) transformation of the question into testable, alternative hypotheses about cause & effect,
(3) creation of a proposal to conduct experiments with available instrumentation and available
animals to test assumptions and predictions of the hypotheses,
(4) effort to develop reliable, systematic methods of analysis
(5) pursuit of statistically analyzable data that either refutes or supports these hypotheses.
(6) presentation of results audio-visually and in scientific paper format
LAB SCHEDULE
Introduction, choose project, set-up cages, stands, runways.
Begin literature search to develop individual expertise that will contribute to team expertise.
April 11
Begin to develop proposal (i.e., complete preliminary drafts of Introduction & Methods sections),
18
Complete first draft of proposal. Begin research set-up, learn to use instrumentation, submit proposal to
another research team.
21
Submit review of another research team’s proposal.
25
Revise proposal and submit proposal (due after first hour of lab), solidify methods, write first complete
draft of Introduction &Methods for team research paper (using student expertise from individual papers).
25
Obtain preliminary subject animals & perform & complete preliminary trials.
May
2
Make final major changes in methods, obtain subject animals, perhaps begin data collection,
entering & practice editing data, refine methods, begin re-writing Methods section of team research paper.
9
Begin or continue data collection, enter data, complete writing Methods section, Revise Introduction.
16
Continue or complete data collection, begin making tables, figures, and perform data analyses.
23
Complete data collection, perform or complete data analyses, complete Results section, revise
Methods; make good progress on writing Discussion.
May 27
Submit penultimate draft to another research team to review, begin developing power point presentation.
May 30
Return edited draft; begin work on final draft of research paper and develop power point presentation.
June
6
Give power point presentation, make final revisions, submit final draft (no later than noon June 2).
April
4
Lab Assessment (150 points):
10 pts First Draft Team Research Proposal, due Friday, April 18
10
10
20
20
15
15
40
10
Team Proposal Review, due Wednesday April 21 at 1700 hours (individual & team assessment)
Final Draft of Team Research Proposal, April 25 in lab (team assessment)
Individual Paper, Physiological Research Techniques or Animal Subject Review, due Friday, April 18
Team Research Paper: penultimate draft, due noon Tuesday, May 27 (individual writing efforts assessed)
Team Research Paper Review: due noon Thursday May 29 (with individual review efforts assessed)
Team power point presentation, on Friday 1030, June 6 (individual & team assessments)
Team research paper, Final Draft, due noon on Saturday, June 7 (team assessment)
Individual assessed by other team members and Dr A for effort, comportment, and teamwork
Individual performance and writing requirements:
The physiological research “techniques paper”: 4-6 pages, 6 original references, minimum
Team lab performance and writing requirements:
The team laboratory research projects will result in team reports, both as papers and posters, written in scientific
paper format. Explication of scientific paper writing and live presentations are well reviewed in Jan Pechenik's book
titled A Short Guide to Writing About Biology. Copies are available to borrow from Dr. Anderson. The standards
expected for the scientific paper are high, so a significant effort by all group members will be necessary. All data are to
be entered into a spreadsheet, analyzed in a statistical package, and depicted in a graphics package, as well as written on a
standard word-processing program.
2