Biology 1040 Organismal Biology Lab Fall Semester 2009 Biology Department College of Arts and Sciences Valdosta State University Instructor Steven M Thompson Office Science Building 1103 Office Hours Monday and Wednesday from 2 00 3 00 pm or by appointment Phone Office 333 5773 Biology Dept Main Office 333 5759 E mail stthompson valdosta edu Room Science Building 1085 Midterm October 8 2009 This is the last day to drop this course and receive a withdrawal grade W Credit Hours 1 Course Description Bio 1040L Organismal Biology Lab Co requisite Bio 1030 This course cannot be taken for credit toward the major in biology A laboratory course to accompany Bio 1030 lecture emphasizing the structure of multicellular organisms Course Objectives This course is designed to accompany Bio 1030 by presenting exercises that emphasize the processes involved in the development and maintenance of multicellular organisms The objective of this course is to provide students with a hands on experience in general biology Students will participate in the process of scientific inquiry by asking scientific questions developing hypotheses predicting outcomes of experiments collecting and interpreting data and drawing conclusions from the results Educational outcomes associated with this course include 3 and 4 as specified by the VSU Department of Biology and 4 5 and 7 of the general outcomes specified by Valdosta State University Materials Biol 1040L Lab Manual 7 e Organismal Biology authored by VSU Department of Biology Faculty Attendance Attendance in lab is mandatory If you do not attend your regular lab section you must arrange to make up the lab before the end of the week This must be in the week the lab is scheduled As per University policy a student who misses more than 20 of the scheduled classes of a course will be subject to receiving a FAILING grade in the course 3 missed labs If you are 10 minutes late to lab you will be turned away from the lab It will be your responsibility to contact me after class to arrange your attendance in another lab Lab Make up Policy The privilege of making up a lab is not guaranteed A lab exercise MAY ONLY BE MADE UP DURING THE WEEK IT IS SCHEDULED Students with lab scheduled late in the week must be especially cautious since the number of subsequent labs for the week may be few Prior to attending another lab the student is responsible for obtaining written permission from BOTH his her instructor and the other lab instructor It is possible that the other instructor s lab is full and you will not be able to attend that lab If this procedure is not followed the student will be turned away from the other lab The student should remind the other lab instructor to give a note to his her instructor verifying the student s attendance The instructor will determine validity of excuses ONLY ONE 1 MAKE UP WILL BE ALLOWED PER SEMESTER Grading Your final grade will be determined by laboratory quizzes laboratory reports homework assignments and daily participation grades You will be told at the end of each lab what you will be responsible for the next lab period whether it be a quiz or homework to turn in Quizzes are given at the beginning of each lab If you are late to class or miss the class you will not be able to make up the quiz MAKE UP QUIZZES ARE NOT GIVEN SO DON T ASK The lowest quiz or assignment grade will be dropped when calculating the student s final grade If you miss the class completely you are responsible for the material covered that class period and you must be prepared for the quiz the following class period I will not accept assignments or a lab report from a class that you did not attend I will not accept any late assignments either You will receive a daily participation grade Therefore if you are not present you will receive a zero grade for the day Final Grades Final grades are based on the following cumulative point totals 90 100 A 80 89 99 B 70 79 99 C 60 69 99 D Below 60 F Cheating and Plagiarism Academic integrity is the responsibility of all VSU faculty and students Faculty members should promote academic integrity by including clear instruction on the components of academic integrity and clearly defining the penalties for cheating and plagiarism in their course syllabi Students are responsible for knowing and abiding by the Academic Integrity Policy as set forth in the Student Code of Conduct and the faculty members syllabi All students are expected to do their own work and to uphold a high standard of academic ethics A student caught cheating on a quiz lab report or assignment will receive a grade of zero and may receive a failing grade F in the course Each student will be required to complete his her own lab report or assignment for certain lab experiments Many of the experiments will be conducted as groups however group lab reports or lab reports identical to others in the class are not acceptable If two or more students turn in identical or similar lab reports or assignments those students will receive a grade of zero on the assignment Disruptive Behavior The academic community is under a strong obligation to protect the campus community from disorderly disruptive or obstructive actions which interfere with academic pursuits of teaching learning and other campus activities Therefore any disruptive behavior in the laboratory that interferes with the teaching of the laboratory exercises or disturbs other students or faculty will not be tolerated Any student that disrupts the class will be removed from the class and possibly dropped from the course This student will also forfeit any points toward his or her grade from that day and will not be able to make up the lab Refer to the Undergraduate Catalog for more information Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 It is illegal to release personal information about an individual to others Grades averages and other information will not be released to anyone but that individual therefore no grades will be posted or given out over the phone or email Students with Disabilities Students requesting classroom accommodations or modifications due to a documented disability must contact the Access Office for Students with Disabilities located in the Farber Hall The phone numbers are 245 2498 V VP and 219 1348 TTY Strategies Used to Support Learning The Student Success Center The Student Success Center SSC provides free peer tutoring in core courses the top four of which are math writing Spanish and