SCIE 1005H ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Spring Semester 2010
Class Time: M,W,F; 10:00-10:50am; Britt 103
Instructor: Phil Hightower
Email: phightower@abac.edu
Phone: 229.391.5111
Division Office: 229.391.5100
Office: Britt 209 (Biology Building)
Office Hours: M, W, F; 11:00-12:00am
LECTURE Portion of the Class
TEXTBOOK: J. Withgott and S. Brennan. 2008. Environment: The Science Behind the
Stories. 3rd edition. Pearson/Benjamin Cummings.
ATTENDANCE: Regular class attendance is expected. Roll will be taken each day of
class and generally at the beginning of the hour. Any student not present at the time the
roll is taken will be counted absent. Students absent from class due to any noninstitutional reasons will not be allowed to make up any missed point opportunities
(quizzes, exams, in-class assignments, etc.). In addition, the student will lose the
opportunity to learn the material in a classroom environment and may miss any
announcements regarding exams, quizzes, and assignments. It is each student’s
responsibility to keep up with all classroom activities; lecture notes (spoken aloud,
written on the board, or on slides); and dates of exams, assignments, quizzes, etc.
Students missing class due to official ABAC business are required to notify the
instructor ahead of time and make arrangements in a manner acceptable to the instructor
to ensure they do not miss any course content, assignments, or exams.
Unless an extreme effort is made to learn any missed material, a student should
expect their grades to be adversely affected due to missed classes. In an effort to
encourage classroom attendance and thus enhance a student’s exposure to the material,
the following bonus points (12 maximum pts) will be awarded to students who have no or
limited non-institutional absences at the end of the semester.
Dates absent (if any)
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0 absences = + 12 pts
1 absence = + 10 pts
2 absences = + 8 pts
3 absences = + 6 pts
4 absences = + 4 pts
5 absences = + 2 pts
6 absences or more = + ZERO pts
WITHDRAWAL: A student may withdraw from the course up to the midpoint of the
semester and receive a grade of W. After midterm, students may withdraw only with the
permission of the Academic Dean and may receive a W or WF according to their
averages at the time of withdrawal. Students abandoning classes will receive an F at the
end of the semester. See the college catalog for the college policy on withdrawal.
ACADAMIC RESPONSIBILITY: Cheating and Academic Dishonesty in any way,
shape, or form is grounds for an assigned grade of an F, possible dismissal from the
course, and perhaps other punitive action depending upon the circumstances. Refer
to the college catalog (www.abac.edu/ses/handbook/CodeofConduct.pdf) for a more
complete explanation. Be aware that plagiarism is also considered to be academic
dishonesty. Feel free to check with the instructor before turning in an assignment if
you are unclear on the meaning of plagiarism.
GRADING: Lecture Grades will be determined on the percentages listed below of all the
possible points that you earn. Points from the five highest lecture exams and any
quizzes/assignments will be combined for a lecture point total. It is estimated that there
will be approximately 600 lecture points. Any late assignments will receive a 10%
penalty for each 24 hour period or any part thereof that it is late.
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F zero-59%
TESTING: There will be five lecture exams over content assigned or discussed during
class. The lowest regular lecture exam will be dropped. NO makeup exams will be given.
If a student misses one exam, then that will be the lowest grade (0) and will be dropped.
Subsequent missed exams will not be able to be dropped. For example, if a student
misses two regular lecture exams, one will be dropped and the student will normally
receive a ZERO for the other missed exam. The final exam will be comprehensive and
will not be able to be dropped.
Cell phones, pagers, music players, and any electronic communication device must be
turned off during any testing periods. All such items must be on mute/silent at other
times. Students may not use programmable calculators on in-class exams or quizzes.
Students may be asked to remove caps or turn them around during testing periods.
Individual Environmental Presentation: Each student will be required to prepare and
present a 15 minute presentation (Powerpoint or other visual aids required) based on a
peer-reviewed scientific research article or closely related series of articles relating to
an environmental issue of their choice. Proper credit for any graphics used must be given
and the article(s) should be properly cited at the beginning of the presentation. A short
question and answer period/discussion will follow each presentation. All students are
encouraged to contribute meaningful questions or comments during this time. (SEE
NEXT PAGE!)
During the presentation, the presenter will briefly discuss in general terms any
necessary background information to understand the issue; materials and methods, data,
important statistics and/or graphs, results, and conclusions of the article; and the
importance of the article’s findings as it relates to the chosen issue. The student should
demonstrate understanding of the use of the scientific method as applied in the article.
An informal one page typed single spaced paper in the student’s own words
addressing the required points will be handed to the instructor at the beginning of the
class period in which the presentation occurs. The complete article reference (including
the author(s), title, year published, journal name, journal issue number and page numbers)
should be at the top of the page along with the student’s name. Issues/topics will be
approved by the instructor on a first come basis. Closely related topics may or may not be
approved. If you have problems finding an article, see me and I may be able to give you
suggestions.
Individual Environmental Presentation:
Presentation
20 pts
Paper
10 pts
Participation in discussions 5 pts
Total
35 pt
Other Assignments, take home quizzes, and pop quizzes:
Approximate Total
65 pts
Exam 1
100pts
Exam 2
100pts
Exam 3
100pts
Exam 4
100pts
Exam 5
100pts
Total Exam Points
400pts (remember lowest grade drops)
Comprehensive Final Exam
100pts
Total Lecture Points
600 pts (Approximate)
LABORATORY Portion of the Class
Lab Room: Britt 102
Lab Time: Thursday 2:00-3:50pm (Additional time may occasionally be needed as per
the course description)
There is no lab book or packet for this course. Lab assignments or handouts will be given
to you by the instructor.
ATTENDANCE: Roll will be taken each day of lab. Students absent from lab due to
any non-institutional reasons will not be allowed to make up any missed point
opportunities (quizzes, exams, assignments, etc.). It is each student’s responsibility to
keep up with all lab activities; lab notes (spoken aloud, written on the board, or on
slides); and dates of exams, assignments, quizzes, etc.
Students missing laboratory due to official ABAC business are required to notify
the instructor ahead of time and make arrangements in a manner acceptable to the
instructor.
LAB ASSIGNMENTS AND QUIZZES: There will be lab assignments and possibly lab
quizzes throughout the semester estimated to be worth a total of 200 points.
Some of the lab assignments will require outside work. Wear weather appropriate
clothing that can be gotten dirty. Off campus field trips will be scheduled as well and
may require additional time outside the scheduled lab time
Group Project: (100pts) Each group of 2-3 students will select a topic from the folder
Environmental Issues on File located in the lab. Issues will be approved by the instructor
on a first come basis. Closely related topics will not be approved. Each group will
prepare a presentation including but not necessarily limited to a description of the
problem/issue and its effect on the environment, causes of the problem, geopolitical areas
and habitats most affected, possible solutions, and complications in resolving the
problem.
The group presentation should last 20 to 30 minutes and include visual aids
(Powerpoint and/or others). Each member of the group should be responsible for a
portion of the presentation but the presentation should flow smoothly. Practice is
recommended. Contact the instructor if you need help finding a room with a projector to
practice. Each presentation will be followed by a short question/discussion period.
Members of other groups are expected to contribute meaningful questions/thoughts to the
discussion.
On the day before the presentation, the group will give the instructor an outline of
the presentation and a bibliography of sources used for the presentation. At this time,
each member of the group will provide no less than THREE abstracts from primary
references used to prepare their portion of the presentation. The student will be expected
to answer general questions about each reference. See the instructor for more
information.
LAB EXAMS: There will be one Lab Midterm Exam (50pts) and one Lab Final Exam
(50pts) based on the ideas, concepts, and materials covered in lab.
Lab Midterm Exam
Lab Final Exam
Lab activities and quizzes
Group Project
Total Lab Points
50 pts
50 pts
200 pts (Estimated)
100pts
400pts (Estimated)
GRADING: Points from the group project, lab assignments and quizzes, and lab exams
will be combined for a lab point total. Lab Grades will be determined on the percentages
listed below of all the possible points that you earn.
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F zero-59%
FINAL COURSE GRADE
An assigned final grade for the 4hr course will be determined using the
letter/percentages above by combining the percentages from lecture and lab. The lecture
grade will count 75% of the final grade and the lab grade will count 25% of the final
grade.
For example, if you made a 0.78 in class and a 0.88 in the lab; you would figure your
grade as (0.78 X 0.75) + (0.88 X 0.25)= (0.585 + 0.22) = 0.805 and thus you would have
earned a B for the 4 hour course.