| Contacting me: |
Fall 2008 Lecture: T, Th 10:50-12:05, CNS 112 Lab: T, W, Th 1:00-3:50, CNS 112
I have an open door policy. Feel free to stop by my office and talk to me at any time. If I happen to be busy, please do not be offended if I ask you to come back later. If the sign on the door indicates “do not disturb”, please do not knock. E-mail is also a good way to contact me and I welcome any questions you might have. However, please do not turn in assignments by e-mail. |
|
| Jason Hamilton | ||
| Office: | CNS 252 | |
| Lab: | CNS 282 | |
| Phone: | 274-1439 | |
| E-Mail: | jhamilton@ithaca.edu | |
| Office hours: | ||
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W,Th
|
12:00-1:00 | |
What is ecology? Ecology is the study of how and why organisms live where they live. In other words, the science of ecology seeks to understand how life persists on this planet. In order to get the most out of the semester, I will try to engage your intellect, curiosity, emotions, and state of awareness in many different ways. Your answers from the first class indicate that you want as much hand-on learning as possible. You want to go outside and learn about natural history & species interactions, the impacts of invasive species, and global change. You want to tools and knowledge to understand how humans are affecting the life on this planet and how this will affect your life. Also, many of you want to learn about edible and medicinal plants. Ok, this is what we will do. At the same time, the biology faculty has agreed on course learning objectives for this course. Combining your goals with the department goals, we get:
Required Course Texts:
Cain, M.L., W.D. Bowman, S.D. Hacker. 2008. Ecology. Sinauer.
You will be responsible for all information in the assigned readings whether I discuss it in lecture or not. You must read any assigned material prior to class, and come to class prepared to discuss it.
Student Learning
Outcomes
(= SWBAT = Students Will Be Able To. . .
.)
If all this sounds like too many words and unnecessarily convoluted sentences, Thoreau said it more succinctly:
I seek acquaintance with
Nature--to know her moods and manners. Primitive Nature is the most
interesting
to me. I take infinite pains to know all the phenomena of the spring,
for
instance, thinking that I have here the entire poem, and then, to my
chagrin, I
hear that it is but an imperfect copy that I possess and have read,
that my
ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and grandest passages,
and
mutilated it in many places. I should not like to think that some
demigod had
come before me and picked out some of the best of the stars. I wish to
know an
entire heaven and an entire earth. All the great trees and beasts,
fishes and
fowl are gone. The streams, perchance, are somewhat shrunk. (Thoreau’s
Journal,
March 23, 1856)
Course requirements
Attendance: Because of the interactive nature of the class, attendance is expected. If you will be unable to attend a class, notify me in advance (I check e-mail and voice-mail regularly). If you do not, it will count against your class grade, as well as losing credit for in-class assignments that day.
Final Project: We will have some kind of big project, to be determined.
Other writing assignments: There will be regular, shorter writing assignments. The assignments will include graded writings and informal writings that will not be graded, but will count into the class participation grade.
Quizzes: There will be about six quizzes throughout the semester.
Final: During
the final exam time slot, there will
be a presentation of your final project.
Grading Scale
Grades
will be based on your achievement relative to the five goals identified
above. For each of the goals relevant to
the assignment you will be graded on a scale of 0 – 3 as follows:
0 = No evidence
of achieving goal. The work was
either not done, or done so poorly that one cannot discern any progress
towards
achieving the goal.
1 = Approaches
goal. The guidelines of the
assignment were followed and the work shows evidence of progress
towards
meeting the goal. Nevertheless, it may
be unclear, partially incorrect, or reflect misunderstandings.
2 = Meets goal.
The work is performed with no errors or
misunderstandings, but does not show strong evidence of analytical
ability. For example, it may be more
simplistic, literal and descriptive with less analysis, integration,
sophistication or rigor.
3 = Exceeds goal. Performs the task at the level expected of an
experienced scientist. There are no
significant errors or misunderstandings, the work is clear and
comprehensive,
and it demonstrates sophisticated thinking (insight, analytical
ability,
integration etc…).
These
grades correlate loosely to letter
grades as follows:
“A” – meets or exceeds most goals (note that
it is
would be extraordinarily rare to exceed most goals)
“B” – meets most goals
“C” – Approaches most goals
“F” – No evidence of achieving goals
Academic Honesty:
All the work in this class must be your own, unless stated otherwise. Confirmed instances of academic misconduct will result in a zero for that assignment/quiz and referral to the school judiciary system. Please refer to the Student Handbook for a detailed description of the policies regarding student academic conduct. If you have a question about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask me.
Students with disabilities: