Objectives:
- To identify and understand the function of the
structures that make up the vertebrate body.
- To understand the relationship between a
vertebrate's anatomy and its behavior, activity level, range of movement,
and habitat (to name a few).
- To understand how the diversification of
vertebrates and their functional abilities results from evolutionary
modifications to the common body plan all vertebrates share.
Description:
A
central principle of biology is that function comes from structure.
In this course you will study the structures of the vertebrate body.
You
will learn that all vertebrates share the same basic structure with many of the
same components and sub-structures. You will also learn how vertebrate
structure has been modified over evolutionary time to permit the same components to have very different shapes and to perform very
different functions.The
vertebrate body plan has proven to be extremely adaptable and flexible.
Vertebrates fly the highest, swim the deepest, and move the fastest of
all animals. They also hop,
brachiate, climb, glide, and dig. The
smallest aquatic vertebrate (the goby – a fish) barely covers a pencil’s
eraser, and the smallest terrestrial vertebrate (the flea toad) fits comfortably
on your thumbnail. The largest vertebrate (the blue whale) is over 80 feet
long, can weigh over 150 tons, and has a heart the size of a Volkswagon.
At 188 decibels, blue whales are also the loudest organism (the human
pain threshold is about 130 decibels, and rock concerts peak at around 140
decibels). Vertebrates live in
almost every habitat, and some are capable of enormous feats of strength and
endurance. By many
measures, vertebrates may be the smartest group. While the adaptability of
the vertebrate body plan is sufficient reason to study them, the main reason we study
vertebrates is that this is the group to which we belong. By
studying vertebrates we can learn more about ourselves.
This course has several themes. One major
theme is how an organism's anatomy supports its movement, behavior, and
activity. About half the lectures are devoted to the musculoskeletal
system and the biomechanical analysis of vertebrate movement. In remaining
lectures
we will consider the anatomy of other systems that
provide energy for vertebrate activity, and help vertebrates maintain a constant internal environment.
A second theme from both lecture and lab is that vertebrate anatomy is best
understood through a comparative approach. We will study all vertebrate
groups in
lecture, and while our lab focuses on a detailed examination of the cat we will
be opportunistic about studying other organisms (including humans) as time and
class interest permit.
Labs:
Most of your lab work will be the thorough and
extensive dissection of a preserved cat. You will learn to identify and
know the function of almost every part of the cat body. To help you learn
you will keep a notebook in which you sketch, identify, and explain the function
of every structure, along with annotations and notes to help you study for the
practical exams (which are closed notebook!). A thorough dissection
of a cat takes up most of the semester. Most students find that one lab
session per week is insufficient and put in extra time during the week to
complete their work. This can make it difficult to study other organisms
and to implement our comparative approach. We do however have a number of
resources that allow us to study other organisms (even though we don't dissect
them): preserved specimens, anatomical models, photographic atlases, and
computer programs. We will use these resources as time permits to broaden our
understanding of vertebrate anatomy.
In courses like this, dissection can be a point of
concern. I address this concern by limiting the number of animals
we dissect, examining each in great detail, and by relying heavily on other
visualizations and resources described above. However,
none of these alternatives can completely substitute for dissection. The biggest misconception about dissection is that its purpose
is to see things. If this were true, pictures alone would
suffice. But the true purpose of dissection, as in all science, is
to discover. Through dissection you discover what structures exist
within the body. You discover their shape, how they are connected to
other structures, and how movement of one structure affects the movement of
others. These discoveries lead you to hypotheses about the
biological role these structures play, and the functionality that they
provide. Your hypotheses in turn direct further dissection, and as the
complete structure becomes visible some of your hypotheses about function may be
refuted or supported. Ultimately, your work allows you to discover much
about how the vertebrate body works. Viewed in this light dissection is a
scientific process, and like all scientific processes you learn by doing, not by
seeing or watching.
Workload:
This course is not designed to give you a casual
acquaintance with the vertebrate body. It is designed to give you
expertise. While a lifetime of study is needed to become an expert on
vertebrates, you can become an expert on those topics that we cover this
semester. This means that you are expected to know everything we cover in
reading, lectures, and lab. It can be done -- and it is worth it, since
vertebrates are a fascinating group. Achieving this level of understanding
does require a lot of time, but I am more than happy to help in any way I can.
You should expect to spend a great deal of time reading
and studying diagrams from text, lecture, and occasional outside readings.
Your knowledge of this material will be evaluated by quizzes, two in-class exams, and a final.
You should also expect to spend a great deal of
time in the lab on your dissection. A good dissection requires painstaking
and careful work. Plan on spending as much time as you can in lab, and
plan on coming back several times each week outside of regular lab hours to
study and complete the currently assigned dissection.. There are no lab
reports to write up about your dissection, but you are required to keep a
notebook/journal of what you do in lab, and there are three lab practical exams that require you to identify
structures and explain what they do.
While most of your grade for the course comes
from examinations, quizzes, and lab practicals, we will consider the possibility
of other written or project work. We will discuss these options, and any
necessary changes it would make to the grading scheme, early in the semester.
Policies:
Course
policies are designed to provide an academic environment in which all students
are evaluated fairly and are able to learn to the best of their ability.
Actions by students or groups of students that compromise these polices impact
all students in the course. My job is to maintain this academic
environment, so I take policy infractions seriously. Policies in this
course fall into two broad categories: academic integrity and class
participation.
The
College and the Biology Department have both adopted academic integrity
policies, which you can read online. The College policy is located at
http://www.smcvt.edu/about/policies/academicintegrity.asp, and the departmental policy
is at
http://academics.smcvt.edu/biology/policies/integrity.htm. Everything in the
College policy applies to the departmental policy, but the departmental policy
adds details specific to science education. In particular, the
departmental policy explains how we balance the collaborative nature of
scientific work with the need for evaluating students individually. To
summarize, the rule is simple: work together, write alone, and cite
everything. Please read both policies, and if you have questions discuss
them with me before you turn in your work. I will write up and submit to
the Associate Dean for review all infractions of academic integrity.
Class
participation is important. There is a lot to learn about anatomy, and
most of it is new and all of it is highly detailed. You will learn this
material much better if you maintain a high level of engagement in the course.
Come to lecture and lab prepared: do the reading, check the syllabus, and
have a good idea of we will be doing during our meeting. Ask questions and
bring in personal experiences where appropriate to raise the level of interest
in our work. Without this level of engagement lectures about anatomical
structures can become very tedious - trust me, I know. This sort of
engagement is just as important in lab. In lab it is particularly
important that you do your share of the work, and cooperate with your lab
partner fully regarding study plans and extra work outside of regular lab times.
Attendance is critical to your success in all these endeavors, as is turning in
any written assignments on time. As you can see below, class participation
is part of a "catch-all" category that is worth 10% of your grade.
Finally, participation can play a positive role in your final grade is you are
borderline between two grades.
I encourage you to see me if you have any
questions or concerns.
Grading:
The relative weights of the course assignments are shown below. These weights provide a numerical
assessment of your performance in the course, and they provide an important guideline for
computing your final grade.
| 15% |
quizzes |
| 15% |
first in-class exam |
| 15% |
second in-class exam |
| 15% |
final exam |
| 10% |
first lab practical |
| 10% |
second lab practical |
| 10% |
third lab practical |
| 10% |
attendance, dissection, lab notebook,
participation, etc. |
