COURSE SYLLABUS OUTLINE
PREFIX: HON
COURSE NUMBER: 106:01
INSTRUCTOR: JOHNS
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Topics in Science, Engineering and Technology: The Individual and Society: Exploring
Rights, Privileges, and Responsibilities.
An introductory course treating topics or issues in any of the following areas of study:
Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering Technology, Geosciences, Geology, or
Mathematics. Open only to students enrolled in the Commonwealth Honors Academy.
I.
Title
II.
Bulletin
description
III.
Purpose
To introduce basic concepts of Biology, Demography, Ecology, Epidemiology, and
Geosciences.
IV.
Course
objectives
V.
Content
outline
Students completing HON 106 should
a. Engage in research, observations, classifying, applying, analyzing, and evaluating.
b. Be able to discuss concepts of the individual in society, their rights, privileges, and
responsibilities concerning infectious diseases, hazardous wastes, land rights and
stewardship.
c. Be able to discuss major trends associated with conservation, eminent domain, &
resource management.
d. Be able to accurately collect data using standard forest survey practices.
e. Be able to use GIS (Global Information Systems) to navigate using routes and
landmarks.
f. Be able to use GIS to produce an interactive multimedia project to describe field
data as well as community maps.
g. Be able to use reference guides and dichotomous botanical keys in order to identify
common trees and shrubs.
h. Be able to present a final project of demographic information containing text,
graphics, and personal input, providing information about their town, or county
within the state in which they reside.
a. Week 1, Session 1: “Tragedy of the Commons” discussion of Garret Hardin’s
environmental awareness paper. “The Commons Game”
b. Week 1: Session 2: “Mind Walk,” a movie featuring a politician, a physicist, and a
poet, discussing responsibilities and awareness of people on Earth.
Prepare transect lines for field study.
c. Week 1: Session 3: Land Between the Lakes: A Story of Colonialism in Kentucky.
Eminent domain case studies. Stewardship and responsibilities of land ownership.
Introduction to compass navigation. Introduction to GIS & GPS.
d. Week 1: Session 4: Tree identification, height calculations, and digital photo survey
of campus trees. Campus excursion using botanical dichotomous keys. Maps and
Aerial Photos Assignment.
e. Week 2: Session 1: Practice transects, sampling exercises. Final preparation for
Hancock Biological Field Station.
f. Week 2: Session 2: Elective Enrichment Day: Student will collect forest data at
Hancock Biological Research Facility.
g. Week 2: Session 3: Forest data interpretation. Maps and Aerial Photos Assignment
is due today.
h. Week 2: Session 4: John Snow’s Cholera mapping in 1850s London.
i. Week 2: Session 5: Communicable diseases. “Typhoid Mary”
j. Week 3: Session 1: Computer lab, Community Atlas Project
k. Week 3: Session 2: Computer lab, Community Atlas Project
l. Week 3: Session 3: Computer lab, Community Atlas Project
m. Week 3: Session 4: Computer lab, Community Atlas Project
n. Week 3: Session 5: Computer lab, Community Atlas Project
VI.
Instructional
activities
VII.
Field and
clinical
experiences
VIII.
Resources
IX.
Grading
procedures
 Tours of campus flora
 Software tutorials
 Videos: “Mind Walk”, and ”Typhoid Mary”
 Discussion of readings, presentations of data
During the first week and part of the second week of the course students will be preparing
and training with field equipment necessary to collect quantitative and qualitative data. We
will learn compass orientation, identify invasive plant species, and gather height and species
data from trees. On Tuesday, June 17, 2008 transportation will be provided to Hancock
Biological Research Facility, Murray State’s premier biological field station near Kentucky
Lake where students will prepare transect lines and collect data on trees that live within a
ten-acre plot of forest located at the site. Students will be served lunch at the station as well
as given a tour of the facility.
Access to the Murray State Library and Online resources will be provided during scheduled
periods. The Mid-America Remote sensing Center (MARC) will be available for students
completing GIS projects. Students may wish to bring their own flash memory drives to store
and transport digital information.
Grades will be based on students’ writing assignments, examination, and participation in
course. A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, E=less than 60
Community Atlas Project......................................................................................... 400 pts
Maps and Aerial Photos ........................................................................................... 300 pts
Field work ................................................................................................................ 200 pts
Case Studies on Eminent Domain............................................................................ 100 pts
Total ......................................................................................................................... 1000 pts
X.
XI.
XII.
Attendance
policy
Attendance at all classes is mandatory. If you are unable to attend class for medical reasons,
you must immediately contact a member of the Leadership Team.
“Cheating, plagiarism (submitting another person's material as one's own) or doing work for
Academic
honesty policy another person which will receive academic credit are all impermissible. This includes the
Text and
references
use of unauthorized books, notebooks, or other sources in order to secure or give help during
an examination, the unauthorized copying of examinations, assignments, reports, or term
papers, or the presentation of unacknowledged material as if it were the student's own work.
Disciplinary action may be taken beyond the academic discipline administered by the faculty
member who teaching the course in which cheating took place.” (see current MSU
Undergraduate Bulletin)
Breslin, P., Frunzi, N., Napoleon, E., & Ormsby, T. 2004. Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop.
Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo. ESRI Press.
Feaster, L., Malone, L., Napoleon, E., Plamer, A.M., Voigt, C.L. 2002. Mapping Our World:
GIS Lessons for Educators.
1968. Hardin, G. The Tragedy of the Commons. Science. Vol. 162. 1243-1248.
XIII.
Prerequisites
XIV.
Statement of
Affirmative
Action and
Equal
Opportunity
1990. Hazardous Wastes from Homes. Enterprise for Education, Inc.
Admission to the Commonwealth Honors Academy.
Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin,
sex, religion, marital status, age, or disability in employment, admission, or the provision of
services, educational programs and activities, and provides, upon request, reasonable
accommodation including auxiliary aids and services necessary to afford individuals with
disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in all programs and activities. For
information regarding nondiscrimination policies contact the Office of Equal Opportunity,
270-809-3155.