Environment & Humans, ECOL 3070, University of Georgia, Fall, 2011

We will update this page as the semester progresses.
Students should check it at least weekly for assignments, deadlines, and other information.

Catalog Desciption

Faculty

General course goal

Our goal is to teach you how to think critically and foster your creativity. We will focus on developing your thinking and presentation skills, understanding concepts and constraints, and not memorizing facts. We will address issues of most interest to class members, not survey all environmental issues of current concern. You will learn through lectures, discussion, field trips, and assignments. You have a tabula rasa upon which to build an independent project -- hopefully one that will teach others to interact with our environment in a better, sustainable way.

  1. Enviromental problems -- Identify ones upon which to focus (over population, climate change, energy use, public health, biodiversity, invasive species,...). You should plan to become an expert in one local, regional, or global environmental issue.
  2. Tools -- learn theory, logical skills, scientific method, experimental design, ecological and evolutionary principles, technology, teamwork,...
  3. Local natural history -- get into the outdoor classroom, learn about the diversity of life around you, photograph nature, collect and analyze data,...
  4. Independent projects -- Can your team change the world?

Schedule

Time -- 11:00AM-1:45AM, Tuesdays

Where

Dates -- The following is our tentative schedule based on UGA's official calendar for Fall Semester, 2011. It may change for logistic and other reasons.

  • 16 Aug -- Introduction
    • Course structure
    • Film: Home
    • Student introductions
    • Assignment-1:
      List two books that you would like to be considered for possible book reports. For each, please list 1) author, 2) year, 3) title, 4) publisher, and 5) ISBN.
      Due before midnight 21 August.
      Email it to dl@discoverlife.org -- Subject: 'ECOL 3070 -- Books -- your name'

       [Add: 15-19 Aug; Drop: 15-18 Aug]

  • 23 Aug -- Environmental and Ecological Questions

  • 30 Aug -- Tragedy of the Commons; Inventory and monitoring techniques
    Bring a digital camera that passes the Dime Test.

    • Assignment-3:
      •Read: Georgia Natural History Survey
      •Upload photographs of at least 5 moth species to your album, documenting where and when you took them.
      We will start identifying these in class on Monday.
      Due before 7:00PM, Monday, 5 September.

       [5 Sep -- Labor Day Holiday]

  • 6 Sep -- Biotic survey (Van 757)
    Group-1: Bring a digital camera to class. Field trip: Orange Trail, State Botanical Garden.
    Group-2: Bring a laptop to class. Species identification.

  • 13 Sep -- Biotic survey

    Group-1: Bring a laptop to class. Species identification.
    Group-2: Bring a digital camera to class. Field trip: Orange Trail, State Botanical Garden.

  • 16-18 Sep FRIDAY-SUNDAY
    WILDERNESS FIELD TRIP -- Joyce Kilmer, North Carolina
    Tips & What to Bring
    Estimated cost: $50
    Requires: Camping and backpacking gear; good attitude, even if it rains.
    Friday: Drive to Joyce Kilmer, leaving 3:00PM, meet in the parking lot on the north side of the Ecology Building
    Car camp -- Rattler Ford Group Campground -- Site 001
    Saturday: visit Memorial Grove old-growth forest, hike to top on Naked Ground Trail, wilderness camp.
    Sunday: Overlook, decend, return to Athens, arriving late afternoon.
    Excused absences: Attendance is required on this field trip. Exceptions will be considered if your are handicapped, on the football team,...

  • 20 Sep -- Biotic survey
    Group-1: Bring a digital camera to class. Field trip: Goldenrods, State Botanical Garden & Southeast Clarke Park.
    Group-2: Bring a laptop to class. Species identification.

    • Assignment-4:
       Send an email to dl@discoverlife.org -- Subject: 'ECOL 3070 -- Book report -- partners' names'
       with partners names, book title, and date at which you will give your report.  Due before 5:00PM, Thursday, 22 September.

  • 27 Sep -- Independent projects

  • 4 Oct -- Biotic survey
    Group-1: Bring a laptop to class. Species identification.
    Group-2: Bring a digital camera to class. Field trip: Goldenrods, Southeast Clarke Park & State Botanical Garden.

       [Midterm: 6 Oct]

  • 11 Oct -- Biotic survey [rain day]

  • 18 Oct -- Independent projects -- [NO CLASS]

       [Withdrawal Deadline: 20 Oct]

  • 25 Oct -- Climate Change

       [Fall Break: Friday, 28 Oct]

  • 1 Nov -- Independent projects -- meet in small groups to brainstorm ideas

  • 8 Nov -- Book reports--Last Child in the Woods and Sea of Slaughter

  • 15 Nov -- Book reports--Four Fish and Natural Capitalism and Our Choice and Cool It

       [21 Nov -- Thanksgiving Holiday]

  • 29 Nov -- Independent projects and species identification

  • 6 Dec -- Friday Schedule -- no class

       [Reading Day: 7 Dec]

  • 8 Dec, Thursday, 12:00-3:00PM -- Book reports--The Future of Life and The Forgotten Pollinators and Collapse and A Sand County Almanac and Hot, Flat, and Crowded

       [Grades due: 20 Dec, 5:00PM]

Grading

Photographic Album

One of your assignments is to "digitally collect," document and identify 50 species accurately in your photographic album. For details see 'How to contribute' under Albums and Things to Know for Natural History Photography Albums. In this class you will be expected to submit, document and identify photographs of

  • 20 plant species (including 10 wildflowers)
  • 20 insects (including 10 moths)
  • 10 additional species (including insects, plants, frogs, mammals, birds, lichens, spiders, mushrooms,...)
  • ladybugs count as wildcards -- you may use them to fill any category.
These species must be of wild things, not ones from zoos, pet shops, pinned museum specimens, herbarium specimens, and the like. Pay particular attention to the sections on academic honesty. This album is your collection and not something that someone else has done. Also be warned that this assignment is a procrastinator's nightmare. Get started early and it is an easy assignment. Wait until the night before it is due and you will be in deep trouble. Plan on submitting more photographs than you think necessary, because you will probably not be able to identify everything that you photograph.

Equipment

Academic honesty

All academic work must meet the standards contained in "A Culture of Honesty." Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work. The link to more detailed information about academic honesty can be found at: http://www.uga.edu/honesty.

Books

The course has no assigned text. You will be expected to present a book report to the class with a partner, starting on 16 September. Select from the following:

Reference texts and other readings [not for book assignments]

  • Trivers, R. L. 1985. Social Evolution. Benjamin/Cummings. ISBN 0-8053-8507-X.
  • Friedman, T. L. 2005. The World is Flat. A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. New York. ISBN-13:978-0-374-29288-1.
  • Smith, T. M. and R. L. Smith. 2009. Elements of Ecology (Seventh Edition). Pearson Benjamin Cummings. ISBN 0-321-55957-6/978-0321-55957-9.
  • Stiling, P. D. 1996. Ecology: Theories and Applications (Second Edition). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-221939-5.
  • Ricklefs, R. E. 1990. Ecology (Third Edition). W. H. Freeman & Co. ISBN 0-7167-2077-9.

Videos

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