Syllabus for GC 1112
Ecological Evaluation of Environmental Problems
Spring 2006

File written by Adobe Photoshop® 4.0

Instructors: Jay Hatch, H.T. Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor
Kevin Dorn and Nick Gidmark, Undergraduate Teaching Assistants
Offices: Hatch—382 Appleby Hall, TAs—304 Appleby Hall
Office Hours: Hatch—10:10-11:00 MWF and by appointment
Phone: Hatch—612-625-9346
Emails: hatch001@umn.edu, dorn0111@umn.edu, gidm0002@umn.edu
Course Website: http://www.hatch001.gen.umn.edu/default.htm

Description of the Course

CLE Designations
Welcome to GC 1112, Ecological Evaluation of Environmental Problems. This is a 4-semester-credit introductory course in environmental science that presumes no prior specific course work in college science, mathematics, or writing. The course meets two CLE requirements: 1) Biological Science with Lab in the Diversified Core, and 2) Designated Theme in the category of Environment. As such, it is transferable to all other colleges at the University of Minnesota provided you receive a satisfactory grade (which for most colleges is C or higher). Please note that approximately 35-40% of the laboratory hours are spent outdoors, depending on the term and weather conditions.

General Content
The overarching theme of the course is sustainable development—a concept and a process that we will build throughout the course. To that end, the course will provide you with: 1) experiences that allow you to discover how scientists construct knowledge, 2) a scientific knowledge base for understanding the immediate and root causes of our current environmental problems, and 3) processes for deciding which actions you will take or support to help solve environmental problems.

The best way to learn how scientists construct knowledge is to engage in scientific inquiry yourself. In this course, you will do so in a series of field measurement exercises and laboratory experiments. In some exercises, you will formulate questions and hypotheses, design experiments to test them, collect and analyze data, interpret the data critically, and draw conclusions. In other exercises, you will discover how environmental scientists make field measurements to monitor and describe environmental quality and to make decisions about environmental actions. In all exercises, you will learn about variation in nature and measurement, and how this variation influences the way scientists interpret data and draw conclusions.

After learning about basic principles of ecology, you will uncover the cause and effect mechanisms associated with a variety of environmental problems. Ecological principles and concepts will include limiting factors, range of tolerance, trophic dynamics, production biology, material cycling, competition theory, predator-prey and other species interactions, ecological succession, island biogeography, and patterns of population growth. The environmental problems or issues will include human population growth, world hunger, global climate change, acid rain, ozone depletion, cultural eutrophication and other forms of water pollution, toxic and hazardous wastes, energy use and abuse, habitat alteration, biotic impoverishment, and preserving biodiversity. Further, you will learn to use several process-oriented models that will help you select or formulate interventions that you believe will help alleviate the problems.

Finally, in the process of analyzing these problems and the data you collect from the field, you will learn something of the social value (and limitations) of science as a discipline, the contributions made to environmental science by other disciplines, and of the personal importance of science as a part of liberal education.

To help you achieve all of the above, you will receive instruction and practice in reading and extracting information from scientific texts, tables, and graphs, and in certain aspects of scientific analysis and writing.

Major Overall Objectives
If you successfully complete this course, you should be able to:

  1. read science materials and write summaries from them that will help you learn scientific concepts and apply them to problem-solving exercises;
  2. produce and interpret bivariate graphs and write out their take-home messages in understandable English;
  3. find and use relevant subject matter on line and in the catalogued periodic literature of the University of Minnesota library system;
  4. write a content-rich, well-organized paragraph about each of the major ecological principles and concepts introduced in the course that describes how the concept or principle can be used in the analysis of an environmental problem;
  5. focus on a current environmental issue of your choice and write a 3- to 5-page essay that adequately delineates the problem, identifies the immediate and root causes of it, predicts related long-term impacts, and formulates realistic interventions;
  6. focus on a current environmental problem of your choice and write a 1- to 2-page essay explaining how your life and the lives of your children likely will be affected depending upon what interventions are carried out;
  7. select, from a series of choices, the most scientifically sound interpretation of empirical data presented in graphic or tabular form;
  8. write a scientific laboratory report, acceptable for a 1-xxx level college course, that adequately addresses issues of natural variation and scientific error.

 

How Objectives Are Met
The course attempts to meet the first objective by having you read, write, and think every week under the guidance of the instructor and teaching assistants. Your instructor, teaching assistants, and your classmates will provide feedback and critique on your work, and as the course progresses, you will learn to critique your own work.

The second objective is met as you interpret a variety of bivariate graphs from the textbook and periodic literature, and construct graphs based on data you collect in the field and laboratory.

The third objective is met by having you locate and use both primary and secondary literature to complete environmental issue thumbnails (see below) and lab reports.

Objective 4 is met by having you read about and discuss the topics in the course schedule, and complete individual and group-based problem-solving exercises based on those topics.

Objectives 5 and 6 are met by having you: 1) carry out several environmental field projects (with both qualitative and quantitative components), and 2) develop a series of environmental issue thumbnails, which are critical thinking exercises that ask you to develop informed opinions about causes, effects, and risks of various environmental problems and suggest plausible interventions.

Objective 7 is met by having you carry out a series of laboratory and field exercises. In these exercises, you will collect data in the form of qualitative observations and quantitative measurements, organize and interpret your data, and critically evaluate whether the data support or reject the hypotheses you are testing. In some exercises, you actually develop the hypotheses and the experiments you will perform to test them.

Objective 8 is met by having you write a formal laboratory report for selected laboratory/field exercises.

Instructional and Other Materials

  1. a copy of the text, Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 8th Edition, by W. P. Cunningham, M. A. Cunningham, and B. Saigo. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005. This is available from the Williamson Hall Bookstore;
  2. copies of the field/laboratory exercises (handed out in class and/or available on line)
  3. copies of problem-solving exercises (handed out in class and/or available on line)
  4. a device for storing electronic files
  5. a back-up for storing electronic files

Instructional Methods
Less than 25% of the classroom time involves actual lecture-style delivery. The remainder of the time is spent carrying out activities that include pair- and group-interactive problem-solving; assessments and challenges of preconceptions; and small-group to whole-class discussions. Writing-to-learn is a major learning strategy for this course. So, you will be writing a lot in this course (mostly informally, but with some formal writing in lab).

In the field and laboratory you will collaborate in groups of three to make observations, collect data, organize and interpret data with the help of computers, draw conclusions, and discuss their limitations. Undergraduate teaching assistants will assist your instructor in guiding you through the exercises, in the analysis and interpretation of data, and in writing of formal laboratory reports. It is absolutely essential that you come to laboratory on time and prepared (physically and mentally) for the day’s work.

Credits and Workload Expectations
For undergraduate courses, one credit is defined as equivalent to an average of three hours of learning effort per week necessary for an average student to achieve an average grade in the course. For example, a student taking 15 credits should engage in approximately 45 hours of work each week. Laboratory and field work is accessed at 2-3 hours per week per credit.

The average workload for this course on a per week basis is: 3 hours in the classroom, 3 hours in the laboratory or field, 2-3 hours reading, 3-4 hours of problem-solving and writing. The average weekly time commitment should be very close to 12 hours.

Course Work and Requirements

To Receive Credit for This Course You Must:

  1. if registered S/N, accumulate at least 518 points (= grade of C-); or if registered A/F, accumulate at least 443 points (= grade of D),
  2. complete the final exam, and
  3. miss no more than 2 laboratory periods

Course Work To Earn Points

 

Type of Work

Quantity

Points Possible

1.

Study Question Sets (SQs)

150 at 1 pt each

150

2.

Learner Exercises (LEs)

5 at 15 pts each

75

3.

Environmental Issue Thumbnails (EITs)

5 at 15 pts each

75

4.

In-class Term Tests

2 at 60 pts

120

5.

Final Exam

1 at 80 pts

80

6.

Field and Laboratory

pts per exercise vary 

250

 

 

Total Possible Points

750

All Assignments must be submitted ON TIME. Late work is not accepted. Read about exceptions under “Course Policies” below. Please do not ask for other exceptions.

Lecture Assignments are due at the BEGINNING of the classroom period on their due dates. All of these assignments have built-in point overruns so that unavoidable absences are automatically accommodated.

Laboratory Assignments are due at the BEGINNING of the classroom period on their due dates. There are no built-in point overruns for laboratory.

Your Work and How It Is Evaluated

Study Questions (SQs)—Nearly every day there are 4-9 study questions that guide you to extracting facts, concepts, and ideas from the text and other readings. You write out answers prior to the class meeting in order to prepare for that day’s discussion and problem-solving. If you submit reasonable answers at the beginning of class, you will receive one point for each answer. Points are awarded based on the general completeness and correctness of the answer. This is a relatively easy and good way to score lots of points—AND it is a good way to prepare for tests (see below). There are about 180 SQs.

Learner Exercises (LEs)—These exercises cover a variety of course content concepts and ways of learning during the first 7-8 weeks of the course. Some are done as pair or group problem-solving exercises in class; some are done individually outside of class. You need to submit 5 of the 7-8 that are assigned. Each is worth 15 points. Here we are looking for how correct or logical your answers/solutions are. You'll get plenty of guidance in doing these exercises; so, the important thing is to TRY THEM and TURN THEM IN ON TIME.

Environmental Issue Thumbnails (EITs)—These are critical thinking exercises that ask you to develop informed opinions about causes, effects, and risks of various environmental problems and suggest plausible interventions. Here we are looking for correct linkage of impacts or effects to immediate and root causes, appropriate use of relevant ecological concepts, reasonableness of risk assessment, and appropriate linkage of plausible interventions to specific causes. Each EIT is worth 15 points. You need to submit 5 of the 8 that are assigned.

In-class Tests—There are two in-class term tests (usually in weeks 4 or 5 and 9) and a comprehensive final during exam week. The tests and final will consist of multiple parts and will be comprised of mixtures of multiple-choice, true-false, computation, short-answer and essay. The tests are derived from SQs, LEs, EITs, and other problem-solving exercises we do in the classroom. Alternatives to the written form of the tests are available upon consultation with the instructor. Please discuss alternatives at least two weeks in advance of the test.

Field and Laboratory—There are 13 weeks of field and laboratory exercises. Points are awarded for coming to lab prepared, for submitting data sheets and completed assignments, and for writing laboratory reports. The points vary somewhat from week to week and are detailed in laboratory exercise handouts. PLEASE NOTE: Lab is 33% of your grade, AND if you miss more than two lab periods, you fail the course!

Grades

Course Grade Determination
The grades and points for GPA below have been established by the University of Minnesota Senate and apply to all campuses.  Instructors are not obligated to use plus and minus signs with letters grades; but if they do (I use them), the associated grade-points will be used to calculate the student's GPA. I established the low-end cutoffs in accordance with the generally accepted notion of 90% and higher = A, 80-89% = B and so on.  I use A-, B-, and C- only in cases where students have just missed the threshold for the next higher grade.

Course Grade

Points & Percentages

 

 

Points

Total Points

%

 

Grade

for GPA

675-750

90

 

A

4.00

668-674

89

 

A-

3.67

638-667

85

 

B+

3.33

600-637

80

 

B

3.00

593-599

79

 

B-

2.67

563-592

75

 

C+

2.33

525-562

70

 

C

2.00

518-524

69

 

C-

1.67

488-517

65

 

D+

1.33

443-487

59

 

D

1.00

below 443

 

 

F

0.00

University Grading Standards

A - achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.
B - achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.
C - achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect.
D - achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements.
S - achievement that is satisfactory, which is equivalent to a C- or better.
F (or N) - Represents failure (or no credit) and signifies that the work was either (1) completed but at a level of achievement that is not worthy of credit or (2) was not completed and there was no agreement between the instructor and the student that the student would be awarded an I (see below).
I - (Incomplete) Assigned at the discretion of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g., hospitalization) a student is prevented from completing the work of the course on time. Requires a written agreement between instructor and student.
Finding Out Your Grade
By order of the University of Minnesota Senate, in compliance with Minnesota State Statutes, I cannot post grades for students. Therefore, if you want to find out your grade prior to the University on-line posting, please send me an e-mail message requesting your grade.


Course Policies

Make-up Tests
Make-up tests generally are not given unless you can verify that you had a conflicting interscholastic competition or were instructed by a healthcare professional not to attend class. Make-up tests will not be given any later than 48-hrs after the original test began under any circumstances. The instructor will deal with unusual circumstances on an individual basis.

Alternatives to Written Tests
Alternative forms of the tests are available upon consultation with the instructor. Please work out alternative at least two weeks in advance of the test. Alternative forms of testing are available to all students.

Late Submissions
All assignments (classroom and laboratory) are accepted only during the class period in which they are due. Submissions received late or outside of the classroom or laboratory will be returned with no points awarded. Exceptions are based on the same criteria set for make-up tests. It is your responsibility to know when assignments are due. Due dates are posted daily in the classroom and on the course website.

Alternative Assignments
Alternative assignments are available upon consultation with the instructor. Normally, alternatives are granted when the proposed alternative is a better but just as rigorous way for a student to demonstrate a learning outcome.

College and University Policies

Student Conduct
The University of Minnesota Student Conduct Code governs all activities in the University, including this course.  Students who engage in behavior that disrupts the learning environment for others may be subject to disciplinary action under the Code.  This includes any behavior that substantially or repeatedly interrupts either the instructor's ability to teach or student learning.  The classroom extends to any setting where a student is engaged in work toward academic credit or satisfaction of program-based requirements or related activities. Students responsible for such behavior may be asked to cancel their registration (or have their registration canceled).

Disability Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations will be provided for students with disabilities on an individualized and flexible basis.  Disability Services determine appropriate accommodations through consultation with the student.  See the instructor for information about contacting Disability Services or call DS Student Services at 626-1333.

Harassment
The University of Minnesota is committed to providing a safe climate for all students, faculty, and staff.  All persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.  Reports of harassment are taken seriously, and there are individuals and offices available for help.  Contact the Assistant Dean, 109 Appleby Hall, 625-6885, or the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, 419 Morrill Hall, 624-9547.

Complaints Regarding Teaching/Grading
Students with complaints about teaching or grading should first try to resolve the problem with the instructor involved.  If no satisfactory resolution can be reached, students may then discuss the matter with the Associate Dean and Director of Academic Affairs and Curriculum, 240 Appleby (phone 625-2880), who will attempt to mediate.  Failing an informal resolution, the Office of Academic Affairs and Curriculum will facilitate the filing of a formal complaint.

Complaints Regarding Advising
Students with complaints about advising should first try to resolve the problem with the advisor involved.  If no satisfactory resolution can be reached, students may then discuss the matter with the Assistant Dean, who will attempt to mediate.  Appointments with the Assistant Dean can be by calling 625-6885.  Failing an informal resolution, the Dean’s Office will facilitate the filing of a formal complaint.

Scholastic Dishonesty
Scholastic dishonesty is defined by Student Judicial Affairs as “submission of false records of academic achievement; cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing; altering, forging, or misusing a University academic record; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement”.  Scholastic dishonesty in any portion of the academic work for a course shall be grounds for awarding a grade of F or N for the entire course. 

Plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs when students turn in work that is not their own.  Plagiarism occurs when written work 1) fails to cite quotations and borrowed ideas from outside sources, including the World Wide Web and other student work, 2) fails to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and 3) fails to put summaries and paraphrases in the writer’s own words.  The definition of plagiarism was derived from Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference, Fourth Edition.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999.

Credits and Workload Expectations
For undergraduate courses, one credit is defined as equivalent to an average of three hours of learning effort per week necessary for an average student to achieve an average grade in the course.  For example, a student taking 15 credits should require approximately 45 hours of work each week.

Absence for Religious Observance
The University of Minnesota permits absences from class for participation in religious observances. Students who plan to miss class must:

1.     Inform instructors of anticipated absences at the beginning of the semester;

2.     Meet with instructors to reschedule any missed labs or examinations; and

3.     Obtain class notes from other students.

Instructors are required to assist students in obtaining course materials and assignments distributed during class sessions and to make arrangements for taking missed examinations.

To start off the semester with 5 bonus points, send "I read the syllabus" to: hatch001@umn.edu. Your message must be received no later than 8:00 AM on Friday, January 20, 2006.

Resources for Student Writers

General College Writing Center: Academic Resource Center, 11 Appleby Hall (612.624.0342)   http://www.gen.umn.edu/resources/arc/writing/  This service offers one-to-one tutoring on a walk-in basis or by appointment. Available to students outside of GC, including graduate students, on a limited basis.

 

Student Writing Support: 306b Lind Hall and satellite locations varying by semester

(612.625.1893) http://writing.umn.edu. A service offering face-to-face tutoring for all University of Minnesota students by appointment in Lind Hall and walk-in at satellites around campus.  Two ESL specialists and one IT specialist are on staff. 

 

Online Writing Center:  http://www.owc.umn.edu

A service offering writing consultations via e-mail and online resources for student writers and their instructors. Available for graduate and undergraduate students.

 

The Student Writing Guide: A guidebook providing student writers with detailed, step-by-step guidance through the writing process and lists numerous writing resources. Available on the web in pdf at: http://writing.umn.edu/docs/sws/swgpdf.pdf or at the Center for Writing, 207a Lind Hall, (612.626.7579), writing@umn.edu.

 

University Libraries: http://www.lib.umn.edu The ultimate resource for research, the University library has five major facilities and eleven branch sites with a wealth of reference materials, online resources, books, articles, newspapers, microforms, government documents, maps and more.  Librarians are available and happy to help orient students to all aspects of the library system. You can find research assistance at http://tutorial.lib.umn.edu . The library tutorial, Quickstudy, is a self-paced tutorial covering the research process at the University of Minnesota Libraries.  It starts with selecting a topic for a paper and ends with citing sources for a bibliography. Hands-on research tutorials with a research librarian are also available.  Sign up at http://www.lib.umn.edu/registration/.  These workshops focus on effectively using MNCAT, the library catalogs, the Expanded Academic Index, and more. 

 

Non-Native Speakers: 337 Nolte Center

(612.624.4524)   http://composition.cla.umn.edu/student_web/

Non-Native Speakers (NNS) in need of assistance or guidance with writing concerns can contact Sheryl Holt, the Coordinator for Non-Native Speakers (holtx001@tc.umn.edu). NNS students might also find answers to their writing-related questions on the Composition Program's NNS link: http://composition.cla.umn.edu/student_web/.  Student Writing Support also has NNS specialists to help you with your writing: http://writing.umn.edu

 

University of Minnesota Counseling & Consulting Services: 109 Eddy Hall

(612.624.3323) http://www.ucs.umn.edu/

UCCS Counseling program helps students with their concerns and offers an opportunity to talk with an experienced counselor who can help students select and achieve goals for personal and career development. The center offers three types of counseling: personal counseling, academic counseling and career counseling. The Learning and Academic Skills Center offers classes, workshops, and individual assistance aimed at helping students achieve academic goals.