INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Todd Scarlett                             Office hours:     Monday         1:30-3:00
Office: 214 Bradley                                                 Wednesday     9:00-11:00 & 1:30-3:00   
Phone: 803-313-7031                
Email: tlscarle@mailbox.sc.edu       

TEXT
 There is no text, but you should have a writing style manual to assist you in preparing lab reports.

CLASS MEETING INFORMATION
Time:         2:30-5:00 pm
Day:          Tuesday
Place:        Bradley 203

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the lab course are to demonstrate ecological principles and to develop a sound understanding of the environmental issues that affect the Lancaster area. To accomplish this objective, the course will consist of a semester-long study on the Catwaba River Basin. Labs will consist of a mixture of field trips, guest speakers, and scientific enquiries that will illustrate how the environment is influenced by human activities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completing BIOL 270L, students will be able to do the following:

• explain how the Catwba River is used by municipalities, industries, and the public
  
• explain how various land uses and industries benefit from the Catawba and how the Catawba is impacted by their use
  
• describe the major environmental problems faced by the Catawba River and how the people of the region are impacted by those problems
  
• use the scientific method to address problems they face in everyday life
  
• use water chemistry and macroinvertebrate composition to compare the condition of streams that may be impacted  by human activities
  

ATTENDANCE
Excused and unexcused absences of more than 10% of the scheduled lecture or lab meetings is excessive and will result in the assignment of a grade penalty of one letter grade deficit at the end of the semester. Thus, if a student misses more than 1 lab, their semester grade will drop one letter. Being more than 10 minutes late to class or leaving class early will count as an absence.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
Students are expected to be respectful and considerate to their classmates and professor. Students exhibiting rude or inconsiderate behavior will be told to leave the classroom. If the behavior is repeated the student will be dropped from the course. Appropriate behavior is particularly important in the laboratory due to the potential hazards inherant in laboratory activities (ie, exposure to chemicals, use of glass containers and hot materials) Inappropriate behaviors include, but are not limited to, use of cell phones or pagers, eating, sleeping, excessive arguing or complaining, insulting or offensive remarks, physical aggression, repeated tardiness, unsafe behaviors. Cell phones, pagers, etc, should be turned off before class. Students sending or receiving calls or messages in the classroom or lab will be told to leave. Students sending or receiving messages during an exam will receive a 0 for that exam.

IMPORTANT DATES
 

January 9	Classes Begin
January 16	MLK Day (no classes)
February 27	Last day to drop without a WF
March 4-11	Spring Break (no classes)
April 23	Last day of classes

STUDENT EVALUATION
Students will turn in lab summaries or reports for most labs. Your grade will be caluclated as a percentage of the points earned on lab summaries and reports. A list of  labs and the number of points each is worth is given below.

90-100 %	A
80-89%	B
70-79%	C
60-69%	D
Below 60%	F

The lab schedule is tentative. I may make changes due to weather, schedule conflicts, or other reasons. Many of the labs will be field trips and will likely run longer that two hours. For all field trips, wear appropriate clothing.
 
 

Date	Subject	Assignment
Jan. 17	Intro to the Catawba River	20 pt Summary
Jan. 24	Effects of Development	10 pt Summary
Jan. 31	Dams & Lakes	10 pt Summary
Feb. 7	Industries on the Catawba	10 pt Summary
Feb. 14	Wastewater Treatment	10 pt Summary
Feb. 21	Agriculture & Timber	10 pt Summary
Feb. 28	Mining	10 pt Summary
Mar. 6	Spring Break (no class)
Mar. 13	Predict Water Quality of Catawba River Tributaries	20 pt Report
Mar. 20	Intro to Field Methods	10 pt Summary
Mar. 27	Water Quality Lab 1
Apr. 3	Water Quality Lab 2	20 pt Summary
Apr. 10	Stream Ecology Lab 1
Apr. 17	Stream Ecology Lab 2	20 pt Summary
TBA	Final Report	50 pt Report