Spring 2008

CSUS- Department of Biological Sciences                                        Phone #: 667-3483

Animal Physiology- Zool. 4230 and 4232                                         

Dr. Watson                                                                                          Office – N276                                                                                                            

Office hours- W - 1:00 - 4:00 P.M.                                                                                        

 

Prerequisites:  Biol 3310 and Chem 3010, 3012

Satisfies the physiology elective for the biology major

Corequisite:  Zool 4232

 

Brief course description

 

This course presents animals-- invertebrates and vertebrates, and how they function in their environments.  Lecture materials emphasize the familiar subjects of physiology: digestion, respiration, circulation, excretion, muscle and movement.  However, these topics are arranged according to major environmental features: food and energy, oxygen, temperature and water.  This arrangement is important to understand how living organisms adjust to the adversities of their environment such as – obtaining enough water to live or avoiding too much water, escaping freezing to death or dying from excessive heat, moving about to find suitable surroundings and food.

 

At the end of the course the students will be able to understand the relationships between anatomical structures and their functions, and how they are correlated and integrated into a smoothly functioning organism.  Furthermore, they will be able to understand how living organisms adjust to the adversities of their environment, using various modifications of the anatomical and physiological specializations.

 

This course will also provide students with opportunities to collaborate and cooperate in designing their own laboratory research (3 students per group).   One written laboratory report in the format of the scientific method, using Power Point, will be presented to the class during lab.  In addition, each student is required to review his/her lab partner’s reports (2). Besides a lab report, an individual literature research project on a specific topic of animal adaptive physiology of his/her choice will also be presented in lab using Power Point. Hence, research, writing and speaking skills will be utilized in this course. 

 

Course objectives

The students will:

  1. Understand the fundamental biology of animals and their environments.
  2. Explain the mechanisms and origins about how animals carry out their physiological functions.
  3. Understand why animals possess the mechanisms they do.
  4. Examine the tissue level of organization and interpret the role of tissues in animal systems. 
  5. Examine the process of oxygen uptake and release of carbon dioxide in aquatic and terrestrial animals.
  6. Understand the transport of gases, nutrients, a variety of metabolic products, and heat as the primary function of blood.
  7. Understand the major purpose of moving solutes, including gases, in the body with emphasis on the highly developed circulatory systems of vertebrates.
  8. Examine the chemical components of animal bodies and how animals are able to synthesize chemical components of their body from the food and nutrients they obtain from their environments.
  9. Understand animals’ need of special food according to their anatomy and environments, their processes of digestion, and specific nutritional requirements to maintain their body processes. 
  10. Compare temperature regulations of extreme daily life of animals in aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
  11. Understand muscle physiology, how animals use muscle in locomotion, and how animals achieve the most economical use of muscle energy.
  12. Understand osmoregulation-- the problems of keeping water and solute concentrations constant in animals with varying environments such as in fresh water, in salt water, and on land.
  13.  Understand basic principles of excretory processes to maintain proper concentrations of solute and blood volume and removal of metabolic wastes.
  14. Compare and contrast the two essential integrating organ systems, nervous and endocrine, and understand how these systems work together to control and regulate all physiological activities.

 

  

 

 

Tentative lecture schedule

 

Text:  Animal Physiology by Hill, Wyse, and Anderson

 

DATE

TOPIC

CHAPTER

2/14, 19

Introduction -- What is Physiology?

Homeostasis, Size and Scaling

1

 

Fundamental Mechanisms of Adaptation

 

1

2/21, 26

Acquiring Energy:  Food and Fuel

 

4

2/28

Energy Metabolism

 

5,6

3/4

Exam 1

 

3/6, 11

Respiration

 

20,21,22

3/11

Last day to drop a course

 

3/18, 20

Circulation

 

23

4/1, 3, 8

Oxygen, Carbon dioxide, and Internal Transport at Work:  Diving by Marine Animals

 

24

4/10, 15

Thermal Relations

 

8

4/17, 22

Animal Water Balance

25, 26

4/24

Exam 2

 

 

4/29, 5/1

Kidneys and Excretion

 

27

5/6, 8

Muscle and Movement

 

19

5/13, 15

Nervous System-- Control and Integration

 

10,11, 12

5/20

Endocrine System-- Control and Integration

 

14

5/22

Final Exam 8:30A-10: 30A

 

 

            The above sched­ule is tentative and may subject to change.                         

                                                 

Method of Instruction

 

This course will involve lectures, class discussions and labs.  Reading assignments are required for discussion during class.  There will be a paper focused on physiological specialization of a specific animal (you choose the animal and the organ system). This paper (50 points) will be presented to the class on assigned dates in lab (sign-up sheets will be circulated in class). The use of Power Point is vital to enhance the presentation. The paper is due on the day of the presentation.  The paper must be typed and the oral report will be graded according to presentation, information and discussion of chosen topic(s).  Three questions pertaining to your presentation and their appropriate answers must be included with the term paper.  Failure to complete the term paper will result in a deduction of 50 points from your final grade.  In addition to giving me a hard copy of your paper, email a copy to me as well.  My email address is flora@science.csustan.edu.  All term papers and laboratory reports will be submitted to

http://www.turnitin.com.   Any form of plagiarism will result in a F grade for the course.   

 

Grades and Evaluation

 

Due to the quantity and complexity of this subject, students need to attend class and lab on a regular basis.  It is to your advantage to read the assigned chapter and attend class regularly as I may present information that compliments the materials covered in the textbook.  If you missed a lecture or lab, it is your responsibility to obtain the information from your colleagues. Unannounced quizzes, approximately 10%+ of the grade, will be given in class.  Bonus points may be given during these quizzes.  This is to encourage students to be prepared for class and attend class regularly.  No other extra credit will be available in this class.  No make-up quizzes will be given. 

 

Exams will be combinations of multiple-choice questions, true-or-false, fill in the blanks, and essays.  Both lecture materials and information assigned from the textbook will be included in the exams.  The final exam will be comprehensive, but not from previous exams. No cell phone may be used during the exam. 

 

Multiple-choice questions should be answered on the exams as well as on the scantron.  You need Scantron Form No. 882-E for each exam and a number-2 pencil with a good eraser.  It is the students’ responsibility to transfer the correct answers from the exam to the scantron; only  the answers from the scantron will be accepted.    If you need more time to take an exam for any reason, please request permission at the Student Services Center.  If you are going to take the exams at the Student Services Center, be sure to give the necessary form to me at least one week before the exam date.   I will need to send the exam over to the test center ahead of time. 

 

The given schedule is a tentative outline and is subject to change.  Lecture grade is based on unannounced quizzes, a research paper, two exams and a final exam.  Information presented from student term papers will also be included in the lecture final exam. Lab reports and worksheets grades will be added with lecture grade to compute the final percentage of your final class grade. Grading will be based on percentages.

 

If you miss an exam, either in lecture or lab, without letting me know ahead of time or without an acceptable excuse, you will receive a 0 for that exam.  If you miss an exam due to illness or family emergency, please provide official documentation and a make-up exam will be scheduled. 

 

Lab reports and Lab Grades

 

There will be a total of-- one assigned PowerPoint lab report-- 65 points per report, 2 reviews of lab partners' reports, 10 points per review, and 5 lab worksheets-- 20 points per worksheet per group of three students.  Laboratory worksheets will be collected on five occasions at the beginning of randomly chosen labs.   Some worksheets consist of materials that are downloadable from the website.  These include questions listed in the exercises as well as data sheets for the Biopac and PhysioEx exercises.  Worksheets must be turned in at the beginning of the period when asked for; worksheets will not be accepted after the first 5 minutes of lab.  They are worth 20 points each for a total of 100 points.  

                                     

The lab report should be ready (to your lab partners’ perusal) a week after the experiment is assigned and finished.  Your lab partners will have a few days to review your report.  You may/may not incorporate their suggestions into the final copy which is due two weeks after the experiment is finished.  The Power Point lab reports must be presented in the format of the scientific method.  Oral presentation, using Power Point, and written report includes background research, hypothesis, data presentation (results from other students should be included), discussion, and conclusion.  Late lab reports are penalized 5 points a day.   For each lab report that is not received by the end of the semester, 50 points will be deducted from your final grade.  In addition to hard copies of your report, email a copy to me as well.  My email address is flora@science.csustan.edu.             

 

Be prepared-- download your lab assignment posted on the website before coming to lab.   Please do not use the lab printer to print your lab exercises and worksheets.  Only labs with an asterisk may be used for lab reports.  At the beginning of each lab, organize your lab space and get all necessary instruments and reagents.  Be aware of what you and your lab partner(s) are doing.  At the end of each lab, clean all glassware and return all supplies to their proper locations. You will be working in assigned groups (no more than three students per group) and your group is responsible for the given equipment and supplies.  Missing and broken glassware/equipment will be charged to the group.   These items have to be replaced before a grade will be given. Clean your lab area with soap and water before you leave the laboratory. NO FOOD OR DRINK is allowed in lab.

 

Attendance

Attendance in lab is required.  It is required that you remain in the laboratory until the entire exercise/experiment is completed and your lab areas are cleaned.  Individuals leaving their lab partners to collect data, or leaving their workspaces messy will have10 points deducted per lab.  Due to the complexity of the experiments, no make-up labs are available.  Twenty points per lab will be deducted from your grade if you miss more than one lab.

 

 

Please turn off your cell phone and pager before each lab.  Cell phones must be put away during exams and quizzes.

 

There is zero tolerance for academic dishonesty.  Any form of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean and will result in an F grade for the course. 

 

 

 

 

 

Grading scale:

 

100-94% = A

93-90% = A-

89-87% = B+

86-84% = B

83-80% = B-

79-77% = C+

76-74% = C

73-70% = C-

69-67% = D+

66-64% = D

63-60% = D-