Instructor

Walter I. Hatch

SH 218 Ext 4368

wihatch@smcm.edu

Lecture

MWF 12:00 -1:10 pm

SH 132

Lab

M 1:20 - 04:10 pm

SH217

Office hours

MWF 9:15 - 10:3 0am

Instant messenger

Prerequisites

The only prerequisites for this course are Biol 112, and Chem 106 but Phys 122 or Phys 132 are highly recommended as pre or co-requisites.

Objectives

Comparative physiology is the study of function across levels of organization, from sub cellular through organismal, in order to reveal physiological homologies, patters of physiological adaptation to various environments. and general physiological principles in a wide range of organisms. Physiology combines information about physical and chemical processes with organismal structure in order to understand how organisms evolved their functional characteristics and how they stay alive in the face of constantly changing internal and external environments. In this course we will restrict our study to organismal level of animals function, Cell and Plant Physiology will cover the cellular level of organization and plant function. We will also focus more on patterns of adaptation than on the classical phylogenic approach of revealing homologies in taxa.

My principle objective for this course to provide you with an awareness of our current understanding of animal function in whole organisms their organ systems, organs, and component tissues. Emphasis will be on function as it relates to the survival of the organism and its adaptation to a its environment. Inasmuch as this will be a first physiology course for many students, the objectives of this course will also include providing you with a grasp of the basic principles of animal physiology. Traditional undergraduate physiology courses tend to be biased toward physiological principles illustrated in terrestrial mammalian vertebrates. I will broaden this approach and illustrate these same basic physiological principles through an examination of: a wide variety of animal types as well as to make use of our campus resources by using local fauna (including students) as experimental organisms where possible. Thus the common themes of physiological adaptation of both vertebrate and invertebrate animals to their environment will be stressed. The unique aspects of each will be discussed where appropriate.

Lab Objectives

The objectives of laboratory sections include:

• Introducing you to a variety of methods of physiological research.
• Continued development of your skills in hypothesis formulation and testing.
• Reinforcing basic laboratory skills including observation, data collection, as well as data analysis.
• Reinforcing basic biological reporting skills.
• Illustrating and clarifying principles discussed in lecture.
  

Lab supplies

Students will require the following for the laboratory section of the course.

• Standard student dissecting kit. NOTE: Physiology is the study of living organisms. If your equipment has been used on preserved specimens it must be carefully cleaned before use.
  
• Laboratory notebook (your choice as long as it has a sewn binding)
• A USB data storage device (thumb drive, jump drive, sans disk) for backing up your data is optional - misplacing your data is not.
• Facility with both MSOffice and Blackboard.
  
• Organisms:. Some laboratory exercises will require the student to procure their own experimental animals. We will make collection expeditions into the surrounding estuarine environments. These will be announced in advance.

Textbooks

Hill, Wyse, and Anderson 2008 . Animal Physiology Second Edition, Sinauer

Additional readings as well as source material for the interpretation of data and the preparation of laboratory reports will be posted on blackboard.

Evaluation

Your performance will be evaluated on the basis of your performance on the following items:

Lecture exams

Lecture exams will cover material from lecture, class discussions, textbook and other assigned readings as well as from the laboratory manual, laboratory observations and data. Lecture exams will be cumulative in order to encourage you to review previous material. The final exam will include questions on all of the material covered in the course.

Exams will include

• 'very short answers' (define the following terms) '
• 'not so short answers' (compare and contrast the following)
• 'not at all short answer questions' (discuss the relationship between...), (discuss the adaptive significance of ...)
• Graphic presentation of or interpreting of physiological data

There will be no surprises on exams! You will be provided with study guides containing my explicit expectations. If it's not on the study guide, it's not on the exam.

Final examination

A comprehensive examination covering the lecture and laboratory material for the entire semester. There are no traditional laboratory practical exams in this course. You may, however, be expected to go into the lab and interpret data gathered during your lab experiments using the analysis tools used in lab

Neatness and animal husbandry

Each of you will be expected to leave their work space, equipment and glassware in a clean and orderly state! In order to encourage this behavior, one point will be awarded each time it is accomplished. You will also be responsible for the care of the experimental animals we maintained or subject to pretreatment for subsequent laboratory experiments. These duties will be assigned on a rotating basis for long-term experiments and will be the responsibility of each lab team for short-term experiments. Conscientious performance will lead to the assignment of l0 additional points.

Laboratory reports

Some laboratory experiments will require the submission of a brief formal laboratory report. These reports will be evaluated for thoroughness, conformity to appropriate format, and the student's ability to analyze and interpret the data collected. Lab reports are due during the lab period following the period in which the experiment was completed. Reports will be accepted after the due date but will be assigned a 10% grade penalty. Other laboratory experiments will only require submission of data tables or graphs and informal explanations. Note: Lab reports are submitted electronically and file names must comply with the Biology Department file naming conventions

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all lectures and complete assigned readings prior to lectures for each topic. Although attendance will not be taken in lecture, missing a class will affect your performance on exams and may result in a grade of zero for class participation. Lecture exams can only be made up if arrangement with the instructor is made prior to the scheduled examination time. Makeup exams will generally be comprehensive oral examinations that are administered on the last day of the final exam period.

Note: Makeup Laboratories are virtually impossible in courses involving live animals and lengthy pretreatment. Missed labs will result in a score of zero and will be counted with your lab scores in computing grades. Therefore, missing more than two labs without prior arrangement will be hazardous to your grade. SH217 is completely booked during lab times but we have some latitude with respect to when you can work in the lab.

Grades:

Students’ final course grade will be determined on the basis of total points earned in the course. A total of 1000 points are possible. The distribution of points is as follows:

Lecture Exams

2 @ 175 pts

= 350

Final Exam

1 @ 300 pts

= 300

Lab Reports

variable*

= 300

Lab Cleanup and animal husbandry

50 pts

=50

Total

= 1000

Note

Students are expected to be familiar with and to abide by the policies on academic honesty as stated in the Student Code of Conduct.

Students are expected to read the Biology Department Safety Manual and act in accordance with its directions whenever they are in any biology laboratory. In order to encourage this behavior , Material from the Safety Manual may appear on any examination.

Tentative Lecture Schedule*

Week

Date

Topic

Reading

01

Sept 02

Fundamentals - Animals and the environment

Chapter 1*, 2, 3, 4*

02

Sep 07

Fundamentals continued -Transport of of solutes and water

Chapter 1*, 2, 3, 4*

03

Sep 15

Food, energy, temperature

Chapter 5, 6, 7

04

Sep 22

Food, energy, temperature

Chapter 8, 9, 10

05

Sep 29

Integrating systems - nervous and synapses

Chapter 11, 12

05

Sep 29

First midterm exam

Chapter 11, 12

06

Oct 06

Integrating systems - sensory processes

Oct 13-14

Reading days

 Chapters 1-14

07

Oct 15

Integrating systems - endocrine, neuroendocrines

Chapter 15,16

08

Oct 20

Integrating systems - endocrine, neuroendocrines

Chapter 15,16

09

Oct 27

Movement and muscle

Chapter 18, 19

10

Nov 03

Internal transport - O2 and CO2 and breathing

Chapter 21, 22

11

Nov 10

Internal transport - Circulation - gas transport

Chapter 22, 23

05

Nov 10

Second midterm exm

Chapter 11, 12

12

Nov 17

Internal transport - Circulation

Chapter 24, 25

13

Nov 24

Water, salts and excretion - salt and water physiology

26,27

26, 27

Water, salts and excretion - Animals in their environments

15

Dec 08

Water, salts and excretion - Kidneys and excretion

Chapter 27, 28

Dec 15

Final Examination Mon Dec 15 2:00 -4:15pm

All

15

Dec 06

Endocrine control

Tentative Laboratory Schedule

Week

Date

Topic

Reading

01

Sept 02

No lab

Lab 01

02

Sep 07

Digital data acquisition

Lab 02

03

Sep 15

Metabolism and body size

Lab 03

04

Sep 19

Metabolic acclimation to temperature

Lab 04

05

Sep 29

Metaneuron - TMP simulations

Lab 05

06

Oct 06

Compound action potentials in crab nerve

Lab 06

 07

Oct 13-14

Reading days no lab

08

Oct 20

Skeletal muscle

Lab 08

09

Oct 27

Sensory reception

Lab 09

10

Nov 03

Endocrine control of Blood sugar

Lab 10

11

Nov 10

Mammalian dive response

Lab 11

12

Nov 17

Smooth muscle

Lab 12

13

Nov 24

Mechanism of Osmoregulation

Lab 13

14

Dec 01

Lab 14

15

Dec 08

Lab 15