LAB MANUAL
LAB RESEARCH SYMPOSIA
ATTENDANCE AND MAKE UPS
Labs are completely dismantled every Friday. Therefore, if you miss a lab (even for medical
or religious reasons), you must make it up in the same week. Please be sure to plan ahead!
There are no make up labs after the last lab of the week is over.
If you anticipate having to miss a lab (due to a religious holiday, for example), NOTIFY YOUR
TA WELL BEFORE THE WEEK OF THAT LAB so that arrangements can be made in advance for you to make up the lab (either
before or after your regularly scheduled lab). Make up exams/quizzes must be arranged between
you and your TA.
GRADING
For due dates and other information regarding these
assignments, please see the BIL 161
Syllabus.
Your TA will give you more specific
instructions on each of these requirements--especially the nature of the
research symposia presentations, midterm and final exams.
Don't wait until the night before to start writing! IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BACK UP YOUR WORK AND KEEP A COPY UNTIL YOU HAVE A FINAL GRADE AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER.
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
ACADEMIC ETHICS
LAB SUPPLIES YOU'LL NEED
Return to BIL 161 Home Page
You must bring your lab manual, Life, the Universe, and Everything with you to the first and every laboratory session, whether in hard copy or on your laptop.
It will be your guide through the Wonderful World of Evolution and
Biodiversity. Also bring your Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining
Forms (by Donald Borror) with you to every laboratory.
Each laboratory experiment will be followed by a team power point presentation the following week. Instructions for effective presentations can be found in your lab manual, and our Laboratory Instructor will also provide you with additional instruction.
Include an appropriate INTRODUCTION (a paragraph or so) explaining the reason
for the exercise/experiment, METHODS explaining how you performed the exercise/experiment,
RESULTS showing your data and statistical analysis (if appropriate), and DISCUSSION in
which you explain your observations in one or two short paragraphs. You need not include an
abstract or literature cited in a mini-report, unless your TA requires you to do so.
Attendance in laboratory is MANDATORY. If you miss your assigned lab in the first week of lab,
your space may be assigned to the next person on the waiting list, and you are likely to lose
your space in that lab, even if you are officially registered for it. On the first day of labs, your TA will be explaining very important lab policies,
his/her own grading scale, and other information that you will need for the
rest of the semester. DO NOT MISS YOUR FIRST
LABORATORY. It is your responsibility to be aware of your instructor's requirements.
Your grade in BIL 161 will be based upon:
Any student found guilty of wanton negligence or abuse of lab equipment (such as leaving a microscope dirty, leaving a microscope slide on the scope stage, leaving glassware dirty, leaving a scope cord dangling and hazardous for the next student, throwing trash in the sinks etc.) will automatically be docked 5 points. THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY USE THE SKILLS AND TOOLS OF YOUR CHOSEN FUTURE PROFESSION. WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU, BUT WE CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOUR COOPERATION.
Cheating, including copying on exams and plagiarism on research presentations, will not be tolerated, and is easily detected by our very experienced and jaded TAs. Any student caught cheating will automatically receive an "F" in the course and brought before the university's Undergraduate Honor Council for possible further penalties. Every student will be required to read and sign a document on what constitutes plagiarism, We will keep the documents as proof that each student understands the definition of cheating.
You must bring the following items with you to the first and every
lab: