BIO325

Biology 325OL: Life in the Sea

Dr. M. Franklin

Course Prep GuideTips for Success in Biology

The following information will help you to do well in biology. While each student has different study habits and varying degrees of success, this form should be of some assistance.

1) Visit the lecture posts regularly (2-3 times per week).

2) It is important that you keep up with the assigned reading. The information from the text will supplement what is posted on the lecture site. Moreover, in many texts, the summaries and reviews at the end of chapters is especially useful. Review the information to gain more insight about particular lecture topics.

3) Emphasize your understanding of the key concepts. Focusing on the key concepts and processes will allow you to remember specific details. Know and understand the major, the key concepts as discussed in lecture.

4) If you are taking a lab section (you will get 1 unit of credit and satisfy the GE requirement), attend your labs. Many students don't realize that the lab is an integral part of this course. If you do not regularly attend lab, you run the risk of failing the lab and the class.

5) DO NOT FALL BEHIND! This is an interesting class and we’ll cover many topics, if you fall behind, it may be impossible to catch up. DO consider your course load, as well as other responsibilities.

6) If something is not clear, then ask questions. There are only a few questions that really irritate me ( I will let you know what those are, should they come up). If you are lost or don't understand a topic ask. If you don't ask, I will assume you know. You have a variety of ways to get in touch with me, including e-mail. I am available to answer your questions during office hours and this is an excellent time to get clarification on confusing topics.

7) Investigators from all branches of science collaborate. It is a good idea to form study groups to discuss lecture topics. If you can explain a topic (like alternation of generations) to a colleague, you will have a very clear understanding of that topic.

8) A failing grade is not what most students anticipate receiving at the beginning of the term. Sometimes, extra help outside the class or a tutor may be in order. There are many folks on campus that can help you with this topics (or many others in science and math). Graduate students may provide tutoring at a nominal fee.

9) Understand that this is an upper division course for non-majors, and we will cover a large amount of information over the next few weeks. Some of the topics are not directly related, which makes things more difficult. In fact, this course will be more difficult and challenging because of this. Again, be sure you understand the major topics and key concepts.

10) While it is very early in the term and difficult to anticipate problems, never wait to the last minute to discuss the problem. “Stuff” happens, but not communicating with me will make matters worse. In short, don’t assume I will know all the facts, and have documents (doctor or employer letter, etc.) to validate your reasons.

11) Lastly, There are no victims in my classes. Good students anticipate things going wrong during the term (crashed computer, printer ran out of ink, dogfish, catfish, land shark, ate my flash drive, etc.), so plan accordingly. The grade I report is the one you’ve earned.

Keep this document with your syllabus and refer to it often.

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BIOLOGY 325OL: LIFE IN THE SEA

Spring Semester 2010

Instructor: Dr. Michael Franklin

Ticket #: 16014; Arrange, on-line

Telephone: 677-7145 (office), or 677-3356 (Biology office to leave a message)

Office Hours: MT 1100-1230, or by appointment

E-mail: DrMFranklin@aol.com; Website: www.drmfranklin.com

Required Texts: Marine Biology, 7th Edition, by Peter Castro and Michael Huber (2007). The Elements of Style, 4th Edition, by William Strunk Jr. And E.B. White (2000).

**NOTE** There may also be handouts and reading material that you will have to obtain from the library. This information will be posted on the lecture site.

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS

LECTURE TOPIC(S)

READING(S) (Chapter)

(In order of posting...)

Introduction/Overview; Marine Biology as a Science;

Formation of Oceans & Plate Tectonics

Properties of Seawater/Oceanography:

Currents, Waves, Tides

Biological Processes, Diversity

4, 5

of Marine Organisms: The Algae

Diversity of Marine Organisms: The Invertebrates

Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycling

Marine Community Ecology/Life on the Benthos:

Intertidal Communities

Life on the Benthos: Subtidal,

11 - 13

Deep-Sea Communities

Life in the Water Column: Plankton

Life in the Water Column: Nekton, Fishes!

15, 16

Marine Birds, Reptiles and Mammals

8, 9

Special Habitats: Estuaries and Coral Reefs

12, 14

Marine Mammals

Food from the Sea; Human Impact on the Oceans

Marine Conservation

Introduction to Marine Ecology

Fisheries Management and the Future of Marine Stocks

Course goals: Over 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered by the world oceans, and most of the life on this planet exists in these seas. We have always been fascinated by the seas and its inhabitants, and we have come to depend on the oceans for various resources. Moreover, we continue to affect marine communities and habitats. Can we continue to turn to the seas for our resources? This course covers general aspects of marine biology (e.g., physical and biological oceanography, biological processes, ecology). You should (1) gain an appreciation and understanding for the diversity of life in marine systems, (2) learn biological processes and ecological concepts relevant to individuals, populations, and communities in the world oceans, and (3) finally, we will examine how human interactions have affected marine populations, as well as whaling policies, pollution, habitat restoration and conservation.

Class: Lectures will be posted on the WebCT site. You will also have occasional video presentations will help us to get into a ‘virtual sea’.

NOTE: material covered will come from several sources, including but not exclusively from the text. You are responsible for all readings, lectures, and video/slide presentations that will be in the assignments

Grading and Exams: One short report (6-8 pages typed, double spaced @ 50 pts, 12 out of 14 posted and graded assignments @ 20 pts each (240pts), a self guided tour of the Cabrillo Aquarium and the handout (100 pts), and a video assignment write up (50 pts), and 10 points for an visit to an online virtual undersea lab, for a possible total of 450 points. Grades will be based on the percentage of total points accumulated. I will utilize the following grading scale throughout the semester: 94-100% = A; 89-93% = A-; 88-86% =B+; 85-82% = B; 79-81%= B-; 76-78% = C+; 69.5-75%=C; 65-69.4%=C-; 62-64%=D+; 57-61%=D; 54-56%=D-; below 54% = F. Improvement is also taken into consideration, but don't expect miracles, you are responsible for your grade. As a rule, and a general policy, I do not assign incomplete’s (I), unless there is a compelling reason to do so (not doing well in the class is NOT a compelling reason). Also note, withdrawals will not permitted during the last three weeks of the semester (again the reason must be valid and verifiable). Be sure to refer to the schedule of classes and the CSUN catalog.

Course Assignments: These will be posted on a separate page and will follow the above point convention. Your participation is expected. Directions and due dates will be included for each assignment. Your two lowest scores will be dropped and your grade will be on all of the other assignments. The Elements of Style will help you to put together clear and concise reports.

Biology Department Withdrawal Policy: Unrestricted class withdrawals are permitted only until the end of the third week. Thereafter, requests to withdraw will be honored only when a verifiable serious and compelling reason exists and when there is no viable alternative to withdrawal. Poor performance is not an acceptable reason for dropping a class; in fact, you must be passing in order to withdraw. During the last three weeks of class, withdrawals will not be approved except when a student is withdrawing from all classes for verifiable medical reasons.

Cheating and Plagiarism: Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated and violators of this policy will be punished as per university policy (please see the Catalog). You should cite your sources when you write a paper. Provided that you do give the citation, it is acceptable to relate someone else’s findings or arguments in your own words. Copying another individuals work without proper citation is theft (of intellectual property). Like cheating on exams, this is not to be taken lightly, and will be punished according to university policy (when in doubt, please check your Catalog). Go out of your way to avoid the temptation of academic dishonesty in any form. The consequences far outweigh the “benefits”. I do make use of software to check for plagiarism in reports, so in short, don’t do it.

Special Note: There may be the opportunity to go out into the field once or twice this semester. The outings will help to illustrate some of the concepts covered in class, and you will observe many local marine organisms. This trip (or series of trips) are still in the planning stage, and your participation is optional.

Recommended Corequisite: BIOL 325L. May be used to satisfy the lab requirement in Natural Sciences of General Education, Section B.1, provided BIOL 325 is also completed.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. If my office hours don't fit your schedule, we will set up an appointment.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Biology 325OL: Life in the Sea

Dr. M. Franklin

Useful Web Links

During the term, you should visit this specific tab to see short video clips for the topics we are covering in class. Most of these deal with wave dynamics. There will be many more helpful links and sites for various assignments:

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/video-player/video-player.html (especially the tab labeled WAVES).

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ (especially Violent Hawaii).

http://www.splashvision.com/Video/12133_Annual-Tidal-Wave.html (This IS a tidal wave and NOT a tsunami....). How would you tell the difference?

http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/12/08/tsunami_video_key_video.htm (Clips of the 2005 Tsunami..NOT a TIDAL wave). How would you tell the difference?

http://www.sio.ucsd.edu/ (General marine biology, physical/chemical oceanography).

http://www.truveo.com/Ship-hits-huge-wave-Windows-break/id/1186955536 (Very large wave hits a cruise ship and breaks windows).

http://swfsc.noaa.gov/video.aspx?id=9060&parentmenuid=39 (Pelagic trawl for sardines by NOAA).

http://www.library.ucsb.edu/subjects/biology/bio1.html (Many useful links for current and future projects including journals, etc.).

http://www.marinebio.com/Oceans/CurrentsandTides.asp (Useful information on ocean science. Be sure to see the associated links).

http://www.marinebio.com/Research/Projects/Research/index.asp (Links to still more sites for marine biology journals).

http://biology.fullerton.edu/biol319/marine_bio.html (Very useful links from another Marine Biology class).

Biology 325OL: Life in the Sea

Spring Semester 2009 Biology 325: Life in the Sea

Instructor : Dr. Michael Franklin

Mini-Research Assignment

These assignments serve a variety of purposes. The most important purpose is to

introduce major lecture sections and to get you thinking about these important processes (sooner

rather than later). This should stimulate the thought process, and enhance our understanding of

these critical processes and concepts and supplement the lectures. These assignments should be

typed (or word-processed), and double-spaced, with one inch margins. Use a standard font (e.g.

Times New Roman or Courier, 12 cpi) and black ink. Limit your response to no more than 5

pages. You will have until finals week to complete the assignment. Late assignments will NOT be

accepted (accommodations will be made for verifiable and valid reasons only). No exceptions.

You will be evaluated on content and the logical presentation of your ideas. Partial credit will be

given for well supported, but incomplete responses. Be sure to proof-read your papers to insure

your response are complete and accurate, and to also minimize spelling and grammatical errors

(too many errors will result in point reductions). Also, be sure to list all primary sources of

information you used to formulated your responses for full credit (be sure to observe the rules for

ur other writing assignments, e.g. not WIKI references, genus and species in the proper format,

no second person references, etc.). This assignment is worth a maximum of 100 points (thi will

be very helpful, so be sure you turn this in. DON’T ignore this assignment, because it could result

in a failing grade for the semester (this is equivalent to our final, but more entertaining). This is

an independent exercises, and while it is permissible to collaborate, it is NOT permissible to turn

in group papers (do your own work). Should I observe identical papers, the responsible parties

will not receive credit (and all of the paperwork will be delivered to the chair of th Biology

Department for further disciplinary action). Develop a detailed, well thought out response to the

following:

Mini-Research Assignment

Pick an organism (planktonic or nektonic) of particular interest to you from the board field

of Marine Biology and begin collecting information from books and journals, as well as, relatively

current articles on that subject from newspapers and magazines. You should also make use of the

Internet (3 web sites may be used for part of your research). You may also do your report on a

specific habitat (tropical coral reefs, rocky intertidal, polar seas, deep sea environments, etc.), an

oceanographic event (tsunami, El Niño or La Niña, etc.), marine homeotherm, or benthic/sessile

organism. Your report should be no more than 5 pages, typed and double spaced. This

assignment is due during finals week by, Wednesday, December 10th before the Biology

Department closes at 5:00 pm. Be sure you have your assignment done, printed and ready to be

delivered on the 10th (I do NOT want email submissions for this assignment, this is important).

**If you have any questions about your topic, please make sure you contact me.** deliver your

completed report (by Wednesday December 10th to the Biology Department Office,

Eucalyptus Hall 2102).

It is important that you cite the information you include in your paper. This should be

either footnoted or included in the style of most scientific journals. All citation should be listed in

a references cited list at the end of the paper. Example citations for references section:

Merriweather, J.P. 1989. Adaptation of nearshore fishes to changing environments. In:

Anthropogenic Pollutants in the Oceans as a Mechanism for Evolutionary Change. Nothingatall

Press, New York. 345 p. (citing a book).

Johnson, T.E. 1990. Reproduction as a function of resource partitioning in a benthic reef fish. J.

Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 44:123-135. (citing a journal article).

In presenting information about your subject in the text, cite the authors and year in parentheses

after the appropriate sentence -- e.g., "trace metals in our coastal waters increase at a rate of 20%

per year (Merriweather, 1989)."

Staple the paper neatly in the upper left-hand corner - NO FOLDERS, NO FACSIMILE

(FAX)PAPER, AND NO ONION SKIN PAPER (I hate these). Develop a framework or outline

so that your points will appear in a logical format. Also, carefully proof-read your paper (before

you print it or turn it in) to catch grammatical and spelling errors. You may want to have

someone else proof it for you. You want to be sure that your statements make sense. It helps if

you write using topic sentences for each paragraph of text. Additional sentences within the

paragraph support the topic sentence. I will provide more hints through the semester. Again, I

highly recommend the book, Elements of Style, the 4th Edition, by Strunk and White. This small

book contains a significant amount of information

It is essential that you interpret the material yourself. Copying text word for word from your

sources or using another's writing is unacceptable. This is a form of academic dishonesty (called

plagiarism). As stated previously, all of the other guidelines for assignments apply. Again, have

your report submitted by by Wednesday December 10th to the Biology Department Office,

Eucalyptus Hall 2102.

Good Luck!!!


	LEO CARRILLO STATE PARK 36000 W. Pacific Coast Malibu, CA 90265