172 Lab

The laboratory component is a required part of the introductory biology course. The laboratory is designed to provide an investigative-based laboratory experience with concepts covered in the course. Students will usually work in teams of two or four, and are strongly encouraged to participate in class discussions.

Class Lab Policies

• ATTENDANCE TO YOUR ASSIGNED LABORATORY SECTION IS MANDATORY! No switching of lab sections is permitted. Make-up laboratories will not be given under any circumstance. Missed labs will only be excused with a VALID written medical excuse. Labs that are missed for unexcused absences canNOT be made up.
  * A single unexcused absence from lab will result in a reduction in the final lab grade by one letter grade.
  ** TWO labs missed for unexcused absenses will result in a failure in the lab (which means a failure for the course).
  *** Labs missed for EXCUSED absenses (requiring written approval from the Dean) must be made up by attendance to another lab section within that same week. If a student is unable to make up a single lab, it will result in a reduction in the final lab grade by one letter grade. If a student is unable to make up TWO or more labs, the student will receive an incomplete for the course and thus must retake BI 172.
• DRESS: All students must wear closed-toed shoes in the laboratory at all times. Students arriving with open-toed shoes will be required to leave lab to obtain appropriate shoes and potentially will receive a zero if a pre-lab quiz is given. This is a SAFETY issue.
• A marble composition style laboratory notebook devoted solely to the laboratory will be required of each student. Loose-leaf or spiral bound notebooks are not acceptable. Your notebook must be brought to every lab or you will be asked to leave.
• Students should prepare for lab by reading the assigned laboratory before coming to lab. At the start of lab, your notebook should contain the hypothesis or purpose of the week's exercise(s) and a brief overview of methodology. All procedures conducted, data collected, and your analysis will be recorded IN YOUR NOTEBOOK during the lab session.
• The use of cell phones or stereo headphones/music devices in class is disruptive to others. Please turn them OFF while in class.
• There is ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD OR DRINK permitted in the laboratories.
• Individual students will not be permitted to leave lab until the entire class is dismissed by the instructor.

Components of the Lab

1. Notebooks - Pages of the notebook should be numbered. At the beginning of your notebook you should make a "Table of Contents," indicating each lab topic and the corresponding page numbers. Each laboratory write-up should have the following sections, in order:
   • Purpose/Objectives
   • Methods (Procedure)
   • Results (including text description, tables and graphs, sketches and figures as appropriate)
   • Interpretation/Discussion
   • Assigned Questions or Problems
2. Quizzes - You will be expected to take short quizzes at the start of lab periods (frequently throughout the semester) covering the topic of that lab and the previous weeks' lab. The quizzes will be open lab notebook. They may or may not be announced ahead of time. COME PREPARED!
3. Lemna Project Proposal and Bibliography - Early in the semester, you will work in small groups to conduct an original investigation based on a specific experimental system (Lemna, duckweed). Students will be expected to formulate their own hypotheses, plan and execute the experiment, and collect and analyze the data. This will include an annotated bibliography of primary literature used to develop the proposal.
4. Lemna Project Lab Report - Each of you will individually write a formal lab report on your group’s original investigation of Lemna ecology. Your report will follow the format of a journal article, which is described in the Appendix of the General Biology II Lab Manual. You can submit a copy of this paper for initial (non-graded) comments by your instructor. It will be returned and a final (= revised) version will be due at the end of the semester. Although discussion of methods, data, and analysis with other students in your group is encouraged, plagiarism is obviously prohibited.
5. Lemna Project Scientific Talk - Your lab group will be asked to prepare a 12-15 minute oral presentation of your Original Investigation and share it with your classmates during the last day of class. A talk is a standard means of scientific presentation; your goal will be to prepare a concise and interesting description of your experimental design, data, and conclusions. Instructions detailing the presentation are available.
6. Grading - The laboratory component represents 25% of your final course grade.
   • Lab Notebook: 6% (3 labs will be graded in detail at the discretion of the instructor; all labs should be in the lab notebook)
   • Weekly Quizzes: 4%
   • Lemna project proposal and annotated bibliography: 2.5%
   • Lemna project lab report: 5%
   • Lemna project scientific talk: 2.5%
   • Laboratory Practical Exam: 5%

Schedule for the Laboratory: This schedule may change. We will announce any changes in lecture. You will learn more in lab if you read the assigned material before it is discussed. Materials will be available on the class website or will be given out as handouts.

Fall, 2018 Lab Syllabus

170 Lecture | 170 Lab | 171 Lecture | 171 Lab
172 Lecture | 172 Lab | Biology Department | Home

Fairfield University Biology Department
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