Principles of Ecology Laboratory Course
Course Information
Course meets: WEDNESDAYS 12 TO 3:50 PM; Olsen 501
INSTRUCTORS
Dr. Rooney-Varga
Office: Olsen 524
Research Lab: Olsen 603
Telephone: 978.934.4715
Fax: 978.934.3044
E-mail:Juliette_RooneyVarga@uml.edu
Office hours: M 1:30 PM-3:00 PM; R 1:00 PM-2:30 PM. I am also available at other times by
appointment - please feel free to call or e-mail to arrange a meeting.
Ms. Sarah Atherton
Office/Research Lab: Olsen 609
Telephone: 719.201.0950; x2884
Fax: 978.934.3044
E-mail: Sarah_Atherton@student.uml.edu
Office hours: M 1:30 – 3 PM; R 12 -1:30 PM.
Ms. Karen Thompson
Office: Olsen 516
Telephone: 978.934.2865
Fax: 978.934.3044
E-mail: Karen_Thompson@uml.edu
Course web site: http://faculty.uml.edu/jrooney/81.317
The syllabus, assignments, and other course information are posted on the course web
page. Please note that the syllabus and other assignments may change and you are
responsible for the active web version.
Because this course only meets once a week, it
is especially important that you regularly check the Home page as changes or new
information relevant to assignments may be posted between class meeting times. A
second means of communication I use is to e-mail students announcements, which will be
sent to your student.uml.edu account.
In order to download files from the web site, you may be prompted for a username and
password. They are:
Username: class_rooneyvarga
Password: MicroEco1
If you get prompted for a domain name, just leave it blank.
Outside reading will be handed out in class or posted on the web page.
Attendance:
Principles of Ecology Lab is a hands-on lab course, so attendance is mandatory. If you
have an emergency that prevents you from coming to class, please discuss making up the
lab with Dr. Rooney-Varga before you miss class.
Field trips:
Many of the labs will consist of field trips to wetlands, forests, or aquatic ecosystems.
Please dress appropriately - hiking boots, jeans, warm outerwear, gloves, rain gear (NOT
umbrellas), etc. We won't be going out in torrential downpours, but we will go out in
light rain. Directions to field locations are posted on the web site.
It is extremely
important to be punctual for field trips. These labs frequently require the entire lab
period and therefore if you don’t begin the exercise on time, you are unlikely to finish it
on time. In addition, we usually walk a distance from the parking area and you are
unlikely to find the lab exercise site if you are not at the meeting spot on time.
Lab Rules
There are requirements for participating in a laboratory situation. These are OSHA and
EPA rules that apply to any lab here at UML. Some are general etiquette rules.
1. No food or drink in lab. Don’t even bring snacks in your backpack. There is a table
outside the lab to put drinks and food on. Don’t apply lip gloss or makeup in lab.
2. Wash hands before leaving lab (even if you’re going to the restroom). We work with
chemicals and bacteria. You may supply your own lab gloves, we don’t.
3. Safety goggles are required. The bookstore has goggles. You will not be able to
participate in lab if you do not have goggles. No contact lenses either.
4. Clothing: No sandals (closed toe shoes only), no shorts or skirts, no bare midriffs, no
spaghetti straps. Don’t wear your nice clothes to lab. If you are wearing inappropriate
clothing, you will not be allowed into the lab.
5. Backpacks and coats are to be left outside the lab room. Only take pencils, notebook
and calculator to your seat.
6. Wash your glassware and your lab bench before you leave. Turn off microscopes and
put away. Return all slides to the front bench. Put all tools away neatly. Throw all trash
away, and place biohazardous waste in the correct bag.
7. Do not remove anything from the lab room (i.e., steal). Treat equipment as if it were
precious.
8. NO CELL PHONES IN RECITATION OR LAB!
Use of computers:
You should be familiar with a web browser (which you will need to check regularly for
course updates), a spreadsheet program capable of conducting some statistical analyses
(e.g., Microsoft Excel), a word processor, and an e-mail program. If you need a hand with
any of these programs, please ASK any of the instructors - we are willing and able to help
you.
Lab Notebooks:
You are responsible for keeping a lab notebook throughout the semester. These
notebooks will be checked and graded periodically in order to help you keep them up-todate. Lab notebooks must be bound books in which you write in pen. They should have
numbered pages and begin with a Table of Contents.
Before you come to each lab, you should record:
- The title of the lab exercise and the date.
- The objective of the lab exercise (1-3 sentences).
- The procedure that you will follow. This should be in the format of a flow
chart or bulleted list.
During lab, you should record:
- any changes in the procedures
- results (usually in the form of a table)
- a brief conclusion (2-4 sentences)
- enter data into class spreadsheet if necessary
Lab Reports:
Some helpful hints for how to write a successful lab report for this course follow. Note
that you will loose points if you do not strictly adhere to the prescribed format.
Points will be allocated to each section of your report as follows:
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results (including Figures and Tables)
Discussion
Literature cited
5 points
15 points
15 points
20 points
20 points
20 points
5 points
1. Title: your title should be a concise description of your project with enough
information to provide the reader with the essential aspects of your work. It
should be brief (<18 words), and should accurately describe your topic in a
technical manner.
2. Abstract: an abstract is a summary of your study. It should be comprised of 1-2
sentences describing the purpose/goals of your study, 2-3 sentences describing the
approach used to achieve your goals, 1-3 sentences describing your results, and 12 sentences describing your conclusions.
3. Introduction: Your introduction should place the problem within a 'big picture'
framework and provide the context and background information for your study.
Why is your study important? What background concepts are necessary for
understanding your study? What were your major objectives?
4. Methods: The methods section should give enough information to enable an
informed ecologist to repeat your experiment.
5. Results: The results section should describe your findings and provide any
graphical or tabular representation of your results. IMPORTANT: any tables and
graphs must be numbered and described in your text (i.e., "the results indicated
that Quercus alba was predominant in stand A but not in stand B [Table 1]").
Also, every table must have a title (at the top of the table) describing what it
contains. Every figure must have a legend describing its contents (at the bottom of
the figure).
6. Discussion: The discussion should compare your results to those of other,
previous studies and interpret your results. You should end your discussion by
summarizing your major conclusions.
7. Literature Cited: When citing literature, follow the accepted format of a
scientific journal. Here are some examples:
In the text body: "The pointquarter method (Cox, 1996) was used to analyze forest stand composition." In
the Literature Cited section: Cox, G. W. 2002. Laboratory Manual of General
Ecology, 8th Edition. Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Boston. pp. 88-97.
8. Figures and Tables: Figures and Tables present your data analyses and results in
an effective manner. There are several conventions that must be followed when
using figures and tables:
a. Figures and Tables must be cited in the text prior to be presented. E.g., in
the text: “We found that Quercus alba was dominant in stand A, but not
in stand B (Figure 1).” Then, after this point, include the actual Figure 1.
Figures and Tables that are not cited in the text will not be considered
as part of your Results/Discussion sections. Figures and tables must be
numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text.
b. Figures must have a figure caption below the graphical part of the figure.
The figure caption should provide enough information to enable the reader
to understand its contents without reading the text as well. E.g.:
c. Tables must have a title, which is given above the table. Once again, the
title should provide enough information for the reader to understand the
table’s contents. E.g.,:
Homework:
Homework assignments will be given for labs that do not have lab reports. Assignments
will be posted on the web site or will be taken from your text.
Grades:
Assignment
Lab notebooks
Lab participation
Lab Report 1
Lab Report 1 re-write
Lab Report 2
Lab Report 3
Homework Assignments (8 points each)
Percentage Final Grade
10%
5%
7.5%
7.5%
15%
15%
40%
Word processed hardcopies of reports and homework are due at the beginning of the lab
that follows the last lab included in the report (most lab reports will integrate several lab
periods). Handing in a lab report late will be penalized by subtracting half a grade
for every school day they are late (i.e., an A becomes an A-).
You are also required to hand in an electronic copy of your lab reports and
homework assignments via Turnitin.com. Assignments handed in late to Turnitin.com
will be penalized 5% for each school day they are late. In order to hand in assignments to
Turnitin.com:
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Go to http://www.turnitin.com
Click on "New Users"
Select "student"
Click "Next"
For Turnitin class ID, enter "2407641”
Enrollment password is same as password for this web site (“MicroEco1”).
Lab reports will not be accepted if they are more than one week late. Pop quizzes
may be given during any lab period. Quiz grades will account for part of the
participation/lab notebook grade.