GENERAL INFORMATION

Course description:

The course includes the study of the marine and estuarine ecosystems. The biological, chemical and physical parameters influencing these ecosystems will be discussed, as will the natural history, physiology and ecology of selected plant and animal phyla. About one half of the laboratory exercises will be spent in off-campus field trips, including a mandatory overnight trip to the University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies in Lewes, DE. There will be some cost to the student for this trip, less than $50.

Prerequisite: BIO 112.

Instructor: Prof. Martin A. Connaughton

Office: 116 Dunning

Phone: Ext. 7727

e-mail: martin.connaughton@washcoll.edu

Office hours: Mon. 2:00 - 3:30 and by appointment or drop-in.

Communication:

Class and individual communications will be sent via Blitz-mail and students are expected to check Blitz-mail daily. I am easier to reach by Blitz-mail than by phone.

Lecture: MWF 11:30 - 12:20, 222 Smith

Lab: Section 10: Tue. 1:30 - 4:30, 02 Decker

Section 11: Wed. 1:30 - 4:30, 02 Decker

Textbooks:

Castro & Huber, "Marine Biology"

Lippson & Lippson, "Life in the Chesapeake Bay"

EcoBeaker reprint packet

Web page:

www.connaughton.washcoll.edu - is my home page, click on BIO 309: Marine and Estuarine Biology to go to the course home page. The syllabus will be posted on the web and updated as necessary. I will also post lecture outlines, text and PowerPoint presentations. In addition, I will post laboratory protocols and any photographs from lab field trips.

Course Goals and Objectives

Goal:

1. To familiarize the student with marine and estuarine habitats and the major phyla involved in these communities, with particular, but not exclusive, focus on the Chesapeake Bay region.

2. To expose the student, first-hand, to as many marine phyla and communities as tenable through laboratory and field exercises.

Objectives:

1. To introduce the student to the basic tenets of physical, geological and chemical oceanography.

2. To examine the diversity, systematics and taxonomy of the major marine phyla.

3. To examine the marine and estuarine habitats of the Chesapeake Bay region (sandy beach, salt marsh, rocky inter-tidal, sea grass bed, mud flat, oyster bar) and the physiology and ecology of the communities of organisms inhabiting these habitats.

4. To examine marine and estuarine habitats found outside of the Chesapeake Bay region (coral reef, mangrove, deep sea, kelp forest, open ocean) and the physiology and ecology of the communities of organisms inhabiting these habitats.

5. To examine the structure, function and behavior of representative specimens of the major marine phyla in laboratory exercises with living and preserved organisms.

6. To characterize the flora and fauna of marine habitats near Chestertown, MD and Lewes, DE through field trips to these locales.

Assessment Techniques

The course grade will be determined from 4 exams, a cumulative final exam and a laboratory grade. The dates of these exams and the material covered on each are listed on the lecture schedule.

Grade breakdown:

Exam 1 15%

Exam 2 15%

Exam 3 15%

Exam 4 15%

Final Exam 15%

Laboratory * 25%

*Breakdown of the laboratory grade can be found on the laboratory syllabus.

Exams must be taken at their scheduled times. Make-up exams must be taken within one week of the missed exam and will only be given if there is a valid, documented excuse (extreme illness accompanied by a physician's note). If you know that you have a conflict with a scheduled exam, the instructor must be notified no less than one week in advance. All exam scores will be final two weeks after the date the exam was given.

Exams will be graded on a 10 point scale, as follows:

100 - 97.5 = A+

97.4 - 92.5 = A

92.4 - 89.5 = A-

89.4 - 87.5 = B+

87.4 - 82.5 = B

82.4 - 79.5 = B-

79.4 - 77.5 = C+

77.4 - 72.5 = C

72.4 - 69.5 = C-

69.4 - 67.5 = D+

67.4 - 62.5 = D

62.4 - 60 = D-

below a 60 = failing

Failure to receive a passing grade (60 or greater) on at least one of the five exams will result in failure of the class, regardless of the laboratory grade.

Honor code:

The Honor Code policy of Washington College is supported in BIO 309 and will be enforced when necessary. Students are expected to write and sign a brief statement of the honor code at the top of all exams and written assignments.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Attendance at lecture is required and will be checked. It is important to understand the facts and concepts from each lecture in order to be adequately prepared for the following lecture. More than three unexcused absences will result in a 10% reduction the final course grade.

Any student late to class twice will lose one of their three 'free' unexcused absences. This will continue until, if need be, the student's grade is reduced, as in the case of three unexcused absences from class.

Any student on Academic or Continued Probation must abide by college policy and be present at ALL classes. Any unexcused absences will be reported to the Assistant Dean's Office.

Laboratory attendance is mandatory. If you know in advance that you cannot attend a given lab, contact the instructor during the preceding week, so that you may be scheduled to participate in the other lab section. Athletes must present, in writing, the dates of competitions which conflict with labs to the instructor no later than the second week of lab, so that make-up labs can be scheduled. Any lab work missed for valid, documented reasons must be made up as soon as possible. Unexcused absence from a lab, or missed work that is not made up, will result in a reduction of 10% from the final course grade.

Lecture schedule

Date	Topic	Readings
	Oceanography
Jan. 17	Syllabus, world ocean
Jan. 19	Physical oceanography 1 - coriolis & Ekman transport	MB - pp. 49 - 51, 325 - 330
Jan. 22	Physical oceanography 2 - circulation	MB - pp. 58-60
Jan. 24	Physical oceanography 3 - waves and tides	MB - pp. 52 - 58
Jan. 26	Geological oceanography	MB - Ch 2
Jan. 29	Chemical oceanography	MB - pp. 39 - 48
Jan. 31	Flex
	Diversity of marine life
Feb. 2	Marine algae & plants	MB - pp. 79 - 81 MB - Ch. 5
Feb. 5	Exam 1
Feb. 7	Marine invertebrates 1	MB - Ch. 6
Feb. 9	Marine invertebrates 2
Feb. 12	Marine fishes	MB - Ch. 7
Feb. 14	Other marine vertebrates	MB - Ch. 8
Feb. 16	Flex
Feb. 19	No class
	Habitats, communities and their ecology
Feb. 21	Introduction to marine ecology	MB - Ch. 9, LL - pp. 4 -12
Feb. 23	Rocky intertidal zone	MB - pp. 216 - 233 LL - Ch. 4
Feb. 26	- continued
Feb. 28	- continued
Mar. 2	Exam 2
Mar. 5	Sandy beach	MB - pp. 234 - 238 LL - pp. 25 - 40
Mar. 7	- continued
Mar. 9	Introduction to estuarine habitats	MB - pp. 240 - 246
Mar. 12-16	No class - Spring break
Mar. 19	Mud flat	MB - pp. 247 - 249 LL - Ch. 3
Mar. 21	Salt marsh Second EcoBeaker assignment	MB - pp. 249 - 252 LL - pp. 190 - 195
Mar. 23	Sea grass beds	MB - pp. 266 - 268 LL - Ch. 6
Mar. 26	Oyster bars Second EcoBeaker assignment due	LL - Ch. 8
Mar. 28	Flex
Mar. 30	Exam 3
Apr. 2	Mangrove habitats	MB - pp. 252 - 254
Apr. 4	No class - Advising day
Apr. 6	- continued
Apr. 9	Kelp forests	MB - pp. 270 - 274
Apr. 11	Coral reef	MB - Ch 13
Apr. 13	- continued
Apr. 16	Flex
Apr. 18	Epi-pelagic communities Third EcoBeaker assignment	MB - Ch 14
Apr. 20	No class - Sect 10 trip to Lewes
Apr. 23	- continued Third EcoBeaker assignment due
Apr. 25	Exam 4
Apr. 27	No class - Sect 11 trip to Lewes
Apr. 30	Deep sea communities	MB - Ch 15
May 2	- continued
TBA	Final exam

Readings:

MB = "Marine Biology" by Castor & Huber

LL = "Life in the Chesapeake Bay" by Lipson & Lipson

LABORATORY SYLLABUS

Bring to lab each week:

- notebook for drawings, notes, species identification and background material on species.

- textbooks (Lippson and Lippson, "Life in the Chesapeake Bay" and Castro & Huber, "Marine Biology") on days when we are in the lab (not during field trips)

- clothing appropriate for the exercise of the week, i.e. dress properly for outdoor work when we will be outdoors. Proper attire will be discussed prior to each exercise and will depend, in part, on the weather. Hats and beat-up shoes are always a good idea for fieldwork.

Laboratory protocols will be provided on a week-by-week basis.

Assessment techniques:

The laboratory grade will be determined from the oceanography lab write-up, three EcoBeaker lab write-ups, species identification notes and drawings, species lists generated during field trips, and a practical exam on marine flora and fauna.

Oceanography lab 10%

3 EcoBeaker assignments 30% (3 at 10% each)

Species IDs 10% (total)

Species lists - from field trips 10% (total - includes all lists)

Practical exams 40%

(Total = 25% of final grade) 100% of final grade

Laboratory attendance:

Laboratory attendance is mandatory. See above under Attendance Policy for details.

Laboratory Schedule:

Date	Exercise	Readings
Jan. 23, 24	Web-based oceanography exercise - meet in the Newlin room
Jan. 30, 31	Marine algae
Feb. 6, 7	Marine invertebrates 1	LL - pp. 11-20
Feb. 13, 14	Marine invertebrates 2
Feb. 20, 21	Marine invertebrates 3
Feb. 27, 28	Marine fishes	LL - pp. 114-133
Mar. 6, 7	EcoBeaker exercise - meet in the Newlin room	EcoBeaker pp. 99-109
Mar. 13, 14	Spring break - no lab
Mar. 20, 21	Lab practical exam
Mar. 28	Mud flat (no lab for sect 10 - advising day)	LL - Ch. 3
Apr. 3	Mud flat (no lab for sect 11 - advising day)	LL - Ch. 3
Apr. 10, 11	Salt marsh	LL - pp. 190-195
Apr. 18	Sea grass bed, sect 11 (no lab for section 10)	LL - Ch. 6
Apr. 20-21	Lewes field trip - sect. 10 only
Apr. 24	Sea grass bed, sect 10 (no lab for section 11)	LL - Ch. 6
Apr. 27-28	Lewes field trip - sect. 11 only
May 1, 2	Chester river - riverine & oyster bar communities	LL - Ch. 8

Readings:

LL = "Life in the Chesapeake Bay" by Lipson & Lipson

EcoBeaker = reprint packet of EcoBeaker chapters

See the lecture schedule for the second and third EcoBeaker assignments - they will be completed outside of lab.