Biology 17 – Neurobiology & Behavior (Fall 2012)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Instructor: Mark CooperOffice: 60-2102

Phone: (909) 274 - 4548Office Hrs: T: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

School e-mail: W: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Website: instruction2.mtsac.edu/mcooper

Instructor: Tim RevellOffice: 60-2102

Phone: (909) 274 - 4231 Office Hrs: T: 9:45AM – 11:15 AM, 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM

School e-mail: Th:10:00 AM– 12:00 PM

Website: instruction.mtsac.edu/trevell

IMPORTANT DATES

Holiday’sOther Dates

Sept. 3Labor DaySept. 07Last Day to add

Nov. 12Veteran’s Day Sept. 10Last Day to withdraw without a “W”

Nov. 22-25 Thanksgiving HolidayNov. 02Last day to withdraw with a “W”

Field Trip: Friday: October 19th - SDZSP

GRADING: Your course grade will be comprised of the following:

3 Midterm Exams (100 pts each)...... 300 pts

1 Final Exam...... 150 pts

Homework………………………………………………… 35 pts

Quizzes …………………………………………………… 90 pts

Fieldtrip/Activity Assignments...... … 50 pts

______

Total Possible Points 625 pts

A = 100 – 90%

B = 89 – 80%

C = 79 – 70%

D = 69-60%

F = 59% or Below

POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Cheating and Plagiarism are violations of the college's policy and are considered serious offenses. The Department of Biological Sciences takes all incidences of academic dishonesty seriously and acts accordingly. We reserve the right to give an "F" for the class and the matter will be brought up to the Director of Student Affairs as stated in the school's current College Catalog. In other words, "DON'T CHEAT OR PLAGIARIZE"!!!!!!

GRADES ON EXAMS, QUIZZES AND HOMEWORK - Students will be given all assignments and examsback in a timely manner. If there is a grading error of any sort, the student has oneweek to notify the instructor and solve the problem from the date in which theexam/quiz/assignment was handed back to the class. If you do not meet with theinstructor within that one week period, the original grade is final. The one week period begins when we hand the exam/quiz/assignment back to the class; not necessarily whenyou receive it (i.e., if you are absent and do not pick up the exam for three weeks, youhave missed you opportunity to negotiate your score. We keep ALL exam and quiz questions. YOU MAY NOT, under any circumstances, take one of our exams or quizzes home with you. YOU MAY NOT zerox, copy, or photograph any of our exams or quizzes. Failure to follow these rules may result in an"F" in the course.

POLICY ON CELL PHONES: Cell phones and cell phone etiquettehas become a problem in the last several years. Ringing cells phones in class have become a major distraction to your fellow students and to me. I am now imposing a policy where if your cell phone goes off, you will be asked to leave the room and not allowed to return until the next class break. If you must leave it on for emergency situations, you need to inform me before class.

TURN OFF YOUR PHONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LECTURE ASSIGNMENTS– Each week you will be required to turn in a lecture assignment. Lecture assignments are assigned by week. Each assignment is due the followingweek. For example, during the first week of school you should be learning and completingthe assignment for week one and you will turn in this assignment at the beginning of week2. Late work will be accepted but points will be lost.

IN CLASS QUIZZES – Each week you will take a quiz based on the material in the book, reading material given in class, or topics discussed in class. Quizzes with be worth 15 points each and may consist of true/false, multiple choice, matching and short essay stylequestions. No make up quizzes will be given. All quizzes will be given in the first 10 minutes of class only. If you are late, you will not be allowed to take the quiz.

MIDTERMS AND THE FINAL EXAM -The midterms and final exam will be in the same format as theregular class quizzes. The lecture midterms only cover material for each section. The final exam will be cumulative and will therefore cover information fromthe entire semester. The final exam will be worth 150 points and there will be no make upexams for the final or midterm! Do not miss the final exam or midterm!

OTHER INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1) Attendance: Students are expected to attend all classes and are expected to stay for theentire length of the class without exception. If you leave early, you must inform theprofessor and you lose points as mentioned above.

2) Check your Mt. SAC email OFTEN!!!! We will often send important information out via the Mt. SAC email system. We will not send email to any other account!

3) The attached lecture schedule is intended to assist you in planning your readings for this course. We will expect you have read the appropriate text sections prior to class. We will make every effort to maintain this schedule. Modifications, however, may benecessary. It is your responsibility to attend all classes and be aware of any changes we announce.

4) All assignments are due at the beginning of class. If you are given an assignment anddo not have it ready to turn in at the beginning of class on the day it is due you may turn it in but you will receive ½ credit for theassignment. If you do not do this, it will not be accepted and you will receive a zero. You have one week to complete late assignments. After that, no credit will be given.

5) Note: It is the student’s responsibility to drop a course officially if the student wishesto avoid an “F”. The instructor MAY drop students for non-attendance, but this isdiscretionary. Students who do not drop but do not complete the work will receive an“F”.

6) Note: All papers will be returned to the student as soon as possible. It is the student’sresponsibility to keep these records. No reconsideration of any grade is possiblewithout evidence, and it is the student’s responsibility to demonstrate the basis of anygrade change. Students have one week after an assignment is returned to bring anygrading error to the instructor’s attention. After one week, no grade will be changed.

7) Attitude and success: This is a college level biology course and it is a difficult course. The study of biology, even at a general level, is very complex. I teach this class at acollege level and I expect that you will study and prepare at a college level. I will notlower my standards just to make the class easy for you. If you have the attitude thatthis class (or the professor) is “not fair” or its “too hard” then your negative attitude will probably prevent you from passing our class. We also believe, if you always workhard, show up every day, come to my office hours if you need help, etc. that you will pass our class with no problems. Remember, if nobody is passing the class, then it is probably our fault. But if YOU are not passing (but bunches of other people are) then itis probably your fault!

8) The instructor reserves the right to make any necessary changes to this syllabus or toany part of the class without prior warning.

9) Please notify the instructor immediately if you have a particular situation thatrequires special accommodations (such as a health issue or disability).

TO SUCCEED IN THE COURSE: Your study of biology will be an exciting and rewardingexperience. We will cover a variety of topics that can be both interesting and useful inimproving your life. However, do not make the mistake of taking your study of thiscourse too lightly. To succeed in this course you MUST attend class regularly, studyoften AND effectively, and live a life that is conducive to learning (for example, youneed to sleep, eat, work, etc. within your means!). Failure to meet these basicrequirements will make success difficult for most. Again, Biology is an exciting but challenging class. DO NOT just memorize your notes. We expect you to UNDERSTAND biology. To understand biology you need toask questions, think, and analyze the material we give you. Forming study groups isoften a beneficial method of attack, but only if your groups is serious about studying!

Required Text: Animal Behavior Ninth Edition, 2009 Author: John Alcock

DatesTopicReading

8/27History/Study SkillsCh. 1, Ch. 2

9/3Holiday: Labor Day

9/10Neurology/EndocrineCh. 4, Ch. 5

9/17Genetics /Brain/LearningCh. 3

9/24Exam 1

10/1CommunicationCh. 9

10/8Sex/MatingCh. 10, Ch. 11

10/15Parental CareCh. 12

10/19Field Trip: SDZSP

10/22Exam 2

10/29Feeding/HabitatCh. 7, Ch. 8

11/5Antipredator/SurvivalCh. 6

11/12Holiday: Veteran’s Day

11/19Sociobiology/Human behaviorCh. 13, Ch. 14

11/26Special TopicsAssignment

12/3Exam 3

12/10Final