Levi Bromley, Andrew Furfaro, and Alex Chesney measuring changes in respiration of smokers versus nonsmokers during respiratory stress (breathing into paper bag to elevate carbon dioxide and reduce oxygen).

BIOL 21400:  Fall 2008 Animal Physiology Lecture: MWF  11:00, Williams 202 Lab: Monday or Tuesday 1-3:50, CNS 107 Dr. Andrew Smith 155 CNS, 274-3975 asmith@ithaca.edu Office Hours: Monday 4-4:30, Wednesday 9:30-10:15;  or any time by appointment Text:  Hill et al. Animal Physiology Lecture Schedule  (PDF)   Practice Exams   Lab Handouts

Animal physiology is the study of how animals work:  for example, how nerves work, how muscles work, or how kidneys work.  In addition, it is the study of how these systems work together to maintain the body's internal conditions (temperature, pH, salt balance, etc...) and how changes in those conditions can affect the systems.  We will take a comparative approach, looking at humans and a wide range of animals.   Studying variation in performance across a range of different animals can show us how far the systems can be pushed to adapt to extreme demands, what features can be changed to alter performance, and what trade-offs must be made. 

To understand physiology, it is essential to develop your ability to think analytically, critically and integratively.  It is not enough to memorize facts about physiological systems.  You must be able to see general principles, and understand variation and how that variation impacts performance.  Furthermore, the function of each physiological system depends on the others – they are integrated.  Thus, you must be able to see connections and integrate and apply what you learn. 

Lecture is designed to provide a basic understanding of the physiological systems and to develop your analytical, critical and integrative thinking skills.  During lecture, I will present background information for each topic, then introduce examples, demonstrations, or key experiments and ask you to predict what would happen or to interpret the results.  During lecture time, you should be actively thinking in addition to taking notes.  Correspondingly, the exams will test your understanding of how physiological systems work and your ability to apply that understanding analytically and integratively.

Laboratory:

The laboratory provides the opportunity for experimentation with a variety of physiological systems.  You will gain an understanding of the how the systems work, and have the opportunity to develop your analytical and integrative skills.  Typically, you will do a few weeks of guided experiments on different systems, then will have a week or two to do an independent project on those systems.  You will repeat this several times throughout the semester. 

Some projects may be done outside of scheduled lab time, in which case you would not be required to attend lab.  I will be available during and outside of the scheduled lab periods to help groups get started on projects (defining a hypothesis, designing the experiments), and to discuss your results.

1.To gain an understanding of how the major physiological systems operate
2. To gain an understanding of the general principles underlying these processes
3. To develop your ability to interpret factors that affect performance of the systems in different situations
4.To develop your ability to identify connections between systems, and infer when connections are likely to exist
5. To develop your ability to interpret physiological data and present reasonable explanations for any observations
6. To develop your ability to analyze complex problems, either experimentally or logically

Performance Evaluation:

• Exams (74% of the grade – 16% each lecture exam, 26% cumulative final exam).  The questions on these exams will be geared towards assessing your progress on all six of the course goals.  Thus, the questions will emphasize understanding, and will often ask you to interpret, analyze, see connections, and integrate information.  All questions will involve written answers ranging from a few sentences to a paragraph in length.
• Lab quizzes (6% of the grade).  These will test your ability to interpret physiological data (Goal #5).
• Three lab projects (20% of the grade).  These will test the last two goals regarding the interpretation of data and analysis of complex problems.  They will be graded using the criteria and scale attached to the end of this syllabus.

Grade scale:   A = 93-100,  A- = 90-92, B+ = 87-89, B = 83-86,  B- = 80-82,  C+  = 77-79,  C = 73-76,  C- = 70-72,
D+ = 67-69,  D = 63-66,  D- = 60-62,  F < 60

There is no extra credit.

All work in this class must be your own, unless stated otherwise.  Confirmed instances of academic misconduct will result in a zero for that test/assignment and referral to the school judiciary system.  Please refer to the Student Handbook for a detailed description of the policies regarding student academic conduct.

Attendance:

Lectures:  Attendance is expected.  There is no automatic point deduction for missing occasional classes, but it is very difficult to keep up with the material if you miss a class. 

Exams:  If you have a substantial time conflict with an exam, you must contact me at least a week before the exam is scheduled.  If you are sick on the day of the exam, you or a friend must contact me before the start of the exam.  If you are too ill to do this, then contact me as soon as possible afterwards.  In either case, leaving a voice mail or e-mail message is sufficient.  Afterwards, you will have to provide written documentation with your excuse.  There will be no penalty assessed for excused absences.  If you fail to notify me adequately, however, you will have to apply in writing for a make-up exam.  There is no guarantee that I will allow a make-up, and I will assess a penalty of up to a full letter grade on that exam for the failure to notify me.

Laboratory:  Laboratory attendance is mandatory except during the projects.  Unexcused absences will result in a ten point deduction from the next lab quiz.
 

Practice questions & Keys (PDF)

• Practice Exam I
• Practice Exam I KEY
  
  
• Practice Exam II
• Practice Exam II KEY
  
  
• Practice Exam III