Rocky Mountain Flora Lab (BIOO 335)

Room: Natural Sciences (NS) 202

TA: Jill del Sol Sections: Th 1:00-3:00 (03), 3:00-5:00 (04)

Email:

Office Hours: BioResearch 106 by appointment – but please come by ANYTIME(Fridays/ Tuesdays are best)!

Textbook: Manual of Montana Vascular Plants by Peter Lesica

Student Expectations:

  • Lab time is used to:

1)Learn how to "see" plants

2)Understand how plants are organized and identified

3) Be able to recognize common taxa on sight- families and genera

4) Learn how to use resources like dichotomous keys to identify unknown plants

So…

  • Arrive on time for lab
  • Come to lab preparedby studying that week’s material
  • Work in self-motivated but collaborative fashion with other individuals! Study groups are HIGHLY recommended.
  • Attend the full 2-hour session and help with lab clean-up and reorganization at the close of lab. Please help keep things neat for the next sections.
  • Labs cannot be made-up before or after their scheduled week because each lab requires considerable and unique set-up. If you must miss your scheduled lab: (1) figure out which lab section you can attend instead; (2) E-mail both me AND the TA of that section right away. Must be done before your original section.

Grading: Your grade in Rocky Mountain Flora will be determined as follows.

Lecture Component

1st mid- term 100 pts

2nd mid-term 100 pts

Final exam150 pts

Lab Component

Lab quizzes 36 pts (4 lab quizzes, 9 points each)

Plant collection 60pts

Lab notebook26 pts (up to 2 pts/class)

Lab final 28 pts

Total points 500

  • Lab quizzes. 4 quizzes will be given at the start of lab meetings that coverour activities for that week. Weeks with quizzes are shown in the schedule below. Each quiz is worth 12 points. Quizzes cannot be made up before or after their scheduled week unless specifically cleared with me BEFOREHAND and IN WRITING (email is fine). If you do not do this, you will get a ZERO for that quiz.
  • Lab notebook. You will keep your notes from lab in a notebook or journal. In this notebook you are encouraged to draw, label, and record any observations that will help you identify the specimens covered in lab. You will hand in your notebooks at the end of the semester and I will award you 0, 1, or 2 pts per lab period based on the quality of your entries. BE SURE TO PROVIDE THE DATE and LABSESSION (1-13) FOR EACH ENTRY!
  • Plant collection. I will give more detail on this later in the semester.
  • Lab Final. A comprehensive final quiz will be given at the end of the semester over lab material. I will give more details on this later in the semester.

Personal Notes:

  1. IMPORTANT: This is a memorization-intensive class. There’s lots of new vocabulary, lots of new information, and much of it is in foreign languages (Greek and Latin). There’s really no way around this: YOU CAN’T SUCCEED IN THIS CLASS WITHOUT STUDYING and even BONDING with the plants we discuss.
  1. DON’T LET MEMORIZATION DISCOURAGE YOU! I want you all to have FUN and do WELL in the course. I will do everything I can to provide you the tools necessary for you to earn an A, and I will expect you to put in the effort to make the most of them.
  1. If you have any problems (e.g., schedule, concepts, memorizing), see me sooner rather than later. We’ve all been there, and it’s easier to resolve things early on. I am very reasonable/forgiving of conflicts discussed BEFOREHAND, but much less so after the fact.
  1. I will give out and collect quizzes during the first 10-12 minutes of class. If you arrive late, I’ll still give you a quiz, but I collect all quizzes at the same time, which means you may not have time to finish the quiz if you arrive late. Remember, there are no make-up quizzeswithout prior approval (see above).
  1. MAKE SURE YOUR EMAIL IS CURRENT ON MOODLE/CYBERBEAR!! I often use email and/or Moodle to provide additional materials that will help explain concepts and make labs run more efficiently. It is your responsibility to make sure you receive these materials.
  1. Regularly monitor your grades on Moodle. It is YOUR responsibility to alert me of potential issues. I readily own up to my mistakes and will be very accommodating if you demonstrate I’ve made one (though I don’t do so often, so it’s better if you give me the heads up SOONER rather than later).
  1. Cheating: pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don’t do it. Also, when I catch you, you will get a big ol’ zero.