Course
Guidelines for Biology 316L Animal Development Lab, 1 section (1 credit)
Instructor: Dr. Christopher Rose
Office hours: TuTh 9-11, Wed 9-9:30; if I am not in my office, look for me in my lab; email me for an appointment outside of office hours.
Office: Bioscience 2028A Lab: Bioscience 2022
Phone: 568-6666 (O) email: rosecs@jmu.edu
Lab, exam and assignment schedule
Catalogue description: Animal Development Lab (0,3). 1 credit, Offered fall
This course complements Bio 316 with hands-on laboratory experience. Emphasis will be on microscope study of chick and frog embryos to better understand embryonic processes and anatomy, learning the tools and techniques for manipulating live embryos, and designing and carrying out independent research projects on live embryos using developmental biology techniques and reagents. Co- or prerequisite: Bio 316.
Goals and Objectives:
1. have students develop the skills for
visualizing embryonic processes and anatomy in four dimensions.
2. have students develop the skills for
designing and carrying out their own developmental biology research
experiments. These include how to extract useful information from experiments
that appear to have failed or do not provide clear-cut or obvious results, how
to anticipate sources of experimental error and trouble shoot new procedures,
and how to design a logical sequence of questions and experimental and
observational steps for investigating complex phenomena.
3. have students develop research and
communication skills by producing a lab report and presentation on their group
research experiments.
Prerequisite or corequisite: BIO 316.
Course time and place: Labs are on MF 1:25-3:00 in Bioscience 2033.
Required texts and materials: The required reference text is "Laboratory Studies of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Embryos, Guide and Atlas of Descriptive and Experimental Development (9th edition)" by Gary C. Schoenwolf.
Adding/dropping class: Policy and deadlines can be found at http://www.jmu.edu/syllabus/
Disabilities: Policy and deadlines can be found at http://www.jmu.edu/syllabus/
Attendance policy: There is no credit given for attending class and no grade penalty for missing class. However, since the skills learned in this course are cumulative and since a large component of the grade is based on participation and seriousness of effort, students are strongly recommended to come to all classes and to make up material missed due to absences.
Grading: Grades will be based on the scores of two exams, a group lab report and presentation, peer evaluation in the group effort, participation in class and seriousness of effort. The grade breakdown is:
|
|
Exam 1 |
25 % |
|
|
Exam 2 |
25 % |
|
|
Participation in class |
10 % |
|
|
Seriousness of effort |
10 % |
|
|
Group lab experiment report and presentation |
20 % |
|
|
Peer evaluation in group lab experiment |
10 % |
|
|
|
|
Exams: The first will involve the identification of developmental anatomy from microscope slides, whole-mounts and/or models. The second, which will be open-book, will test experimental skills including hypothesis formation, designing experiments, and interpreting results.
Group lab experiments and presentations will be graded on the basis of the quality and timely submission of a written Introduction, Materials and Methods & Schedule, the effectiveness of your lab activity, self-scoring of individual performances, and the quality of the presentation of Results and Discussion.
Final letter grades will be assigned using the standard numerical scale (e.g., > 90 = A, 80-89 = B, etc.). Grades of WP and WF will not be given out in this class.
Missed classes, exams and deadlines: While there is no penalty for missing labs, students are strongly recommended to come to all labs and to come to office hours and ask for additional lab time to make up for missed labs. If you have a valid excuse (school-recognized religious observation; official school business; job, court or graduate school interview; sickness with doctor’s note; death or serious illness in family) for missing an exam or assignment deadline, contact me by email at least three days before the date in question and you will either be given an extension or make-up exam or have your grade calculated on the basis of the remaining evaluations. If you do not have a valid excuse or fail to contact me three days before the date, your grade will be zero.
Inclement weather policies: Missed labs will be made up at times to be announced at the next lab meeting. On days when the start of school is delayed past the start of a lab, the professor will announce by email whether the lab will still be held.
Religious observation accommodations: Policy and deadlines can be found at http://www.jmu.edu/syllabus/.
Laboratory policy: Students must wear closed-end shoes (no flip flops, sandals or other shoes with open toes or heels) when attending all labs. Some lab procedures might requite the use of safety glasses. Some laboratory exercises will involve the manipulation of frog and chick embryos. All procedures will be done in accordance with government regulations protecting animal rights and welfare. If any student objects to the use of live material for such educational purposes, he or she is strongly requested to bring their concern to the instructor's attention at the start of the course (i.e., in the first week of classes). Depending on the circumstances, the student may be given an alternative lab assignment or advised to reconsider their enrollment in the course. All students are requested to treat all laboratory exercises and animals with the respect and maturity befitting serious scientific inquiry.
Honor Code: All students are expected to be familiar with and abide by the JMU Honor Code (http://www.jmu.edu/honor/code.shtml). Forms of academic dishonesty include cheating on tests or homework, lending your work to another person to submit it as his or her own, reporting false data, selling or uploading unauthorized documents from a class, deliberately creating false information on a works cited or reference page; and plagiarism, presenting another person’s writing, ideas or results as your own, whether intentional or not. Work submitted for this course must be your own and written for this course. To avoid plagiarism in writing, paraphrased and quoted materials must be properly cited in the text and referenced in the bibliography (see above); unnecessary or excessive use of direct quotations will be penalized.
Additional reference texts and lab manuals (all of which are available for short term loan from me, the lab room or the library):
Gilbert, S.F. and Epel, D. 2009. Ecological Developmental Biology, Integrating Epigenetics, Medicine and Evolution. Sinauer Associates, MA.
Wolpert, L. 2007. Principles of Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press, UK
Slack, J.M.W. 2006. Essential Developmental Biology, Blackwell Publishing: Malden, MA
Gilbert, S.F., Tyler, A.L., and Zackin, E.J. 2005. Bioethics and the New Embryology, Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA
Wilt, F.H and Hake, S.C. 2004. Principles of Developmental Biology, Norton and Co.: NY, NY
Wilkins, A.S. 2002. The Evolution of Developmental Pathways, Sinauer: Sunderland, MA
Gerhart, J. and Kirschner, M. 1997. Cells, Embryos, and Evolution, Blackwell Science, Malden, MA
Gilbert, S.F. and Raunio, A.M. (eds) 1997. Embryology: Constructing the Organism, Sinauer: Sunderland, MA
Carlson, B.M. 1996. Patten’s Foundations of Embryology, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill: New York
Kalthaus, K. 1996. Analysis of Biological Development, McGraw-Hill: New York
Raff, R.A. 1996. The Shape of Life: Genes, Development, and the Evolution of Animal Form, University of Chicago Press: Chicago
Hall, B.K. 1992. Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Chapman & Hall: London
Browder, L.W., Erickson, C.A., and Jeffery, W.R. 1991. Developmental Biology, 3rd ed., Saunders College: Philadelphia
Raff, R.A. and Kaufman, T.C. 1983. Embryos, Genes, and Evolution: The Developmental-Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change, Macmillan Publ.: New York
Slack, J.M.W. 1983. From Egg to Embryo, Cambridge, University Press: Cambridge, UK
Balinski, B.I. 1981. An Introduction to Embryology, 5th ed., Saunders College: Philadelphia
Mathews, W.W. and Schoenwolf, G.C. 1998. Atlas of Descriptive Embryology, 5ft ed., Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Johnson, L.G. 1995. Johnson & Volpe’s Patterns and Experiments in Developmental Biology, 2nd ed., Wm. C. Brown: Dubuque, IA
Schoenwolf, G.C. 1995. Laboratory Studies of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Embryos, Guide and Atlas of Descriptive and Experimental Development, Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ
Tyler, M.S. 1994. Developmental Biology: A Guide for Experimental Study, Sinauer: Sunderland, MA
Cruz, Y.P. 1993. Laboratory Exercises in Developmental Biology, Academic Press: San Diego
Rugh, R. 1962. Experimental Embryology: Techniques and Procedures, Burgess Publ.: Minneapolis
Hamburger, V. 1960. A Manual of Experimental Embryology, revised ed., University of Chicago Press: Chicago
Developmental biology webpages
Consult the following websites for information on educational rights and privacies:
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974
Lecture, lab, exam and assignment schedule