EEB 100 Introduction to Ecology and Behavior Fall 2005 Instructors Dr Peter Nonacs Sept 29 Nov 1 Life Science Building 3125 Office hrs Thur 10 12pm or by appointment pnonacs biology ucla edu Phone x67332 Dr Victoria Sork Nov 3 Dec 8 LSB 5209 Office hrs Wed Thur 2 30 3 15 pm vlsork ucla edu Phone x57755 Course website http www lsic ucla edu classes fall Teaching Assistants TBA Lecture TR 3 30 4 45 pm 110 LaKretz Hall Discussions 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 1G 1H 1I 1J M T T T W W W W W R 9 00 10 50A 9 00 10 50A 11 00 12 50P 11 00 12 50P 8 00 9 50A 9 00 10 50A 9 00 10 50A 4 00 5 50P 4 30 6 20P 8 00 9 50A Geology 4645 Franz 2288 Franz 2288 Geology 4645 Franz 2288 MS 5225 Slictr 2834 Franz 2288 MS 5225 Franz 2288 Required texts Buy Readers at Course Reader Material 1137 Westwood Blvd 1 Behavior Reader 2 C Krebs Ecology 5th edition and 3 Choice of Behavior Reader supplement OR J Alcock Animal Behavior 8th edition If you intend to take more Behavior courses e g EEB 129 you should probably buy the Alcock textbook If this is going to be your last class in behavior then consider buying the supplementary reader instead The reader will contain just the assigned pages from the text You should however get one or the other Test questions will come from the readings Ecol Evol Biology 100 Nonacs Sork Fall 2005 page 2 COURSE SYLLABUS LECTURE DATE Thurs 29 Sept 1 Tues 4 Oct 2 Thurs 6 Oct 3 TOPIC READING Natural Selection adaptation and genes Behavior Reader B R 1 and 2 Nonacs Levels of analysis Instinct versus learning B R suppl 3 or Alcock Chap 2 pp 2328 34 46 B R 4 optional Sexual dimorphism B R 5 Tues 11 Oct 4 Sexual selection B R 6 pp 889 904 optional Thurs 13 Oct 5 Mate choice and mating systems B R suppl 7 or Alcock Chap 12 Tues 18 Oct 6 Social behavior B R 8 Thurs 20 Oct 7 Kin selection Tues 25 Oct 8 Parental care Thurs 27 Oct 9 Predation and looking for food Tues 1 Nov 10 Optimal foraging Thurs 3 Nov 11 Introduction to Ecology Sork Optional B R suppl 11 or Alcock Chap 15 Krebs Chap 1 3 Tue 8 Nov Thurs 10 Nov 12 Optional Review 3 30 4 30 PM MIDTERM 5 8 PM 13 Distribution of Populations Krebs Chap 4 8 Tues 15 Nov 14 Population parameters Krebs Chap 9 10 Thurs 17 Nov 15 Population Growth Krebs Chap 11 157 225 Tues 22 Nov Krebs Chap 12 179 199 Chap 13 206225 Thurs 24 Nov 16 Interspecific interactions Competition Predation Thanksgiving Holiday Tues 29 Nov 17 Mutualisms None Thurs 1 Dec 18 Communities Krebs Chap 20 Tues 6 Dec 19 Community Change Krebs Chap 21 Thurs 8 Dec 20 Nutrient Cycles Krebs Chap 27 Thurs 15 Dec 3 6 PM FINAL 110 LaKretz Hall B R suppl 9 or Alcock Chap 13 pp 396 404 411 417 B R 10 Ecol Evol Biology 100 Nonacs Sork Fall 2005 page 3 COURSE POLICIES EXAMS The Midterm will be a combination of multiple choice true false short answer essay and problem solving The midterm will be partially open note You will be allowed to bring calculators and use one 8 x 11 piece of paper on which you can write any information you consider relevant or helpful for doing well in the exam The Final will be identical to the midterm in length and point value and will cover only the last half of the course The format will be the same as the mid term but it will not be open note Bring calculators GRADING Behavior test Midterm Ecology test Final Discussion Total 400 points 400 points 400 points 1200 points Target Grade Assignments 90 100 A 80 89 B 70 79 C 60 69 D 60 F The assignment of grades will be based on percentages see box If the class mean is 75 or higher letter grades will be based on a straight percentage of the 1200 point maximum according to the breakdown shown in the box Within each letter grade a minus will be assigned to the bottom three percentage points and a plus will be assigned to the top three percentage points e g 80 82 9 is a B 87 89 9 is a B If the class mean is lower than 75 we will lower the cutoffs somewhat to compensate e g 89 may become an A DROPPING THE COURSE If you perform poorly in this course the grade you receive could prevent you from graduating or from getting into a professional school If you are failing the course it may be in your best interests to drop before the final exam Do not wait until the last minute to get our signatures on the drop form After we sign the form you are not obligated to turn it in if you change your mind Do not wait until after the final exam to try to drop the course MAKE UP FOR EXAMS Please check the syllabus carefully to make sure you do not have a scheduling conflict with the test dates No make up tests or extra credit assignments will be given CHEATING or PLAGIARISM Any student caught cheating or plagiarizing will be given zero points for that test or paper and be reported to the Dean s Office for disciplinary action Ecol Evol Biology 100 Nonacs Sork Fall 2005 page 4 SCHEDULE FOR EEB 100 DISCUSSIONS Week 0 Sept 29 No instruction Week 1 Oct 3 6 Demo topic TA introduction Biomed library tour Assignment 1 Use online search to find one 1 recent article published in 2004 or 2005 in behavior Read the paper and determine whether the research looks at a proximate or an ultimate explanation or both Justify your conclusion and contrast to either a proximate or an ultimate mechanism that was not considered by the authors Week 2 Oct 10 13 All sections meet in the Young Computing Labs Sections 1A 1F 1J room 4336 Sections 1B 1C 1E 1H room 4335 Sections 1D 1G 1I room 4340 Demo topic Computer lab learn how to use J Watcher to quantify behavior 10 pts Assignment 2 Paper critique 1 page Your TA will assign a behavior paper for you to read and critique Due Assignment 1 Online Search with copy of chosen paper and search history which online service used which keywords were used etc 10 pts Week 3 Oct 17 20 Demo topic Sections 1B 1D 1E 1G 1H 1I Collate and discuss results from previous week s behavioral exercise Discuss the paper in Assignment 2 Initiate discussion on designing a behavioral experiment 10 pts Demo topic Sections 1A 1C 1F 1J Scrub jay foraging experiment in the Botany Gardens Initiate discussion on designing a behavioral experiment 10 pts Assignment 3 Find a topic that will form the basis for …