EEB 129 Animal Behavior Summer 2010 Instructor Thea Wang Office Life Science Building 3125 Office Hours Monday 12 30PM 1 30PM Wednesday 9 45AM 10 45AM or by appointment E mail eebtwang ucla edu Phone 310 206 4983 Course website http www lsic ucla edu classes summer10 Teaching Assistant Miles Meyers Office Botany 113 Office hrs TR 1PM 2PM or by appointment E mail mmeyer1 ucla edu Phone 510 708 4850 Lecture Discussions 1A 1C MWF 11 00AM 12 20PM TR 11 00 AM 12 50 PM MW 3 00 PM 4 50 PM Botany 325 Botany 109 Botany 109 Required text John Alcock Animal Behavior An Evolutionary Approach 9th ed Other required reading will be posted on the course web site LECTURES Will be held in Botany 325 We will not be able to cover all topics in animal behavior Instead we will focus on a few adaptations for survival feeding habitat selection communication reproduction mating systems parental care and social behavior There is assigned reading for each lecture you may benefit from reading before coming to class There will be 4 quizzes given at some point during lecture The quizzes will be on the reading or lecture material You must be in lecture to take the quiz Your quiz scores will count towards your final grade EXAMS There will be three exams total Two midterm exams and one final Exams will take place during lecture Exams will be a combination of true false and short essay questions The exams will be cumulative but not specifically cumulative The topic naturally builds on previous knowledge So it would be wise not to forget everything right after the test Exams are closed book There will be no make up exams DISCUSSION SECTIONS Will be held in Botany 109 Discussion sections will consists of labs discussions paper critiques and a behavior project or proposal Students will be expected to critically evaluate scientific literature discuss topics in animal behavior and create hypothesis predictions and background literature for a project Attendance in discussion section is mandatory except for discussion sections designated as review for exams Late assignments will receive a penalty for each day that it they are late If you can not attend a section and you arrange beforehand you may be able to attend another section depending on space limitations PLAGERISM WARNING Any student who plagiarizes will be sent to the Dean of Students Office for disciplinary action Please take a look at the following website to familiarize yourself with what constitutes plagiarism In addition it has useful information tips for excelling on exams and graded papers http www deanofstudents ucla edu integrity html GRADING TOTAL 1000 points Exams 60 of your grade 200 points each Midterm 1 Midterm 2 Final 600 points 60 Other total of 40 of your grade Discussion Section and Quizzes 25 of your grade 250 points total Bean lab Paper critique termite lab Jwatcher lab game theory lab lecture quizzes Zoo Project or Behavior Proposal 15 of your grade 150 points total Literature research data collection project report or literature research and proposal If the class mean is 75 or higher letter grades will be based on a straight percentage of the 1000 point maximum i e 90 100 A 80 89 B 70 79 C 60 69 D 60 F 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 and 87 89 9 is a B If the class mean is lower than 75 we will lower the cutoffs appropriately to compensate e g a 88 might become an A but this depends entirely upon the final distribution of grades Lecture Schedule Lecture Week Date 1 1 August 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 1 2 2 2 3 August 4 August 6 August 9 August 11 August 13 August 16 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 August 18 August 20 August 23 August 25 August 27 August 30 September 1 September 3 September 6th September 8 6 September 10 Discussion section schedule Section Week Date 1 1 Aug 2 or 3 2 1 Aug 4 or 5 3 2 Aug 9 or 10 4 2 Aug 11 or 12 5 3 Aug 16 or17 6 3 Aug 18 or19 3 Aug 20th 7 4 Aug 23 or24 8 4 Aug 25 or 26 9 5 Aug 30 or 31 10 5 Sept 1 or 2 11 6 Sept 6 or 7 12 6 Sept 8 or 9 Topic Reading Course Overview and Introduction and Foundation of Animal Behavior Adaptations for survival Feeding behavior Habitat selection dispersal Migration and Communication Midterm 1 Communication Continued Reproductive behavior reproductive behavior Sexual selection mating systems Mating Systems No Lecture Zoo Field Trip Parental Care Chapter 1 Midterm 2 Social Behavior Social Behavior Insect Social Behavior Labor Day Holiday no lecture Social structure Social learning and cultural transmission Final Exam Topic Introduction and Bean Lab Paper Critique Termite Lab due 1 week from lab Review for Midterm 1 J Watcher Lab No section Zoo Field Trip Zoo follow up Review for midterm 2 Game theory lab Paper Discussion No Discussion Section Review for Final Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 13 TBA