SUBJECT: Ideas for labs in vertebrate zoology
DATE: 12/95
I am going to become more involved in the vertebrate zoology labs next semester
and I would like some ideas as labs to use. At the moment we basically have
students look at pickled stuff & skeletons and compare, using a evolutionary
focus. We do do some dissections - Necturus, pigeons, rats, perch, dogfish.
What are others doing for this class --- it's one semester with one 3 hr.
lab a week. We also have lab courses in Animal physiology & physiological
ecology, so I want to be careful not to have too much overlap.
Any help would be appreciated
Sherry Brooks
Colgate University
Hamilton, NY
sbrooks@center.colgate.edu
Sherry,
What about including frog development to at least the 4mm stage. What
lab manual do you use, if any? Are you familiar with one by James A. Organ,
* A Manual for the Biology of Vertebrates*, copyright 1972 by JAO but
published by Avery Publishing Group Inc., Wayne New Jersey, second printing
(with corrections) 1977? May no longer be available.
Bob
rrs@bradley.bradley.edu
Robert Rhea Stephens
Biology Department
Bradley University
Peoria, IL 61625
Hi, labbers:
One possibility for getting vertebrate zoology students out of the lab and
looking at live organisms is to have them do some type of birding project.
If your campus boasts a good birder (I used to rely on the chair of the
English department), ask if s/he would be willing to give a presentation
on
the work done by the Audobon Society, Brooks Bird Clubs, etc., and lead
a
birding tour of campus. Students could then be asked to undertake any of
a
number of observation-based projects. They could, for example, be assigned
individually or in pairs to specific places around campus and directed to
compile bird lists over the course of a semester, including observations
on
mating and nesting behavior. You could make a few lab periods available
for
their work, and have a seminar-style set of presentations at the end of
the
semester.
For those whose classes include large numbers of commuting students whose
schedules might not allow them to be on campus at various times of the day,
the assignment could be to do a similar type of project in their own
neighborhoods. Students could also be asked to focus on one particular
species and do a bit of library research on its natural history.
I'll be trying this in the spring of 97 (if all goes well!), so I'd be
interested in hearing if others have tried it, how it worked, what the
pitfalls are, etc.
Cheers,
Kerry Kilburn
ODU Biological Sciences
Sherry Brooks asked what others were doing in vertebrate zoology labs. We
include the following:
(1) Radiologic anatomy
X-ray films of animals are available from veterinarians, and our hospital
will
do whole body images of wild animals (road kills, trapped furbearers, gophers,
squirrels, snakes, etc.) at no charge. Hospitals dispose of thousands of
plain
films, CTs and MRIs each year. We have a large collection and students enjoy
the challenge of interpreting the images.
(2) Investigative reports and hypothesis testing
Students can test hypotheses and write professional-looking investigative
reports. Subjects can include ecomorphology if you have access to comparative
specimens from which they can take measurements. Skeletons are excellent
-
beaver, armadillo, otter, etc. Functional morphology of animals can be studied
from wildlife videos using the pause feature on the video machine. We also
have
them test a hypothesis of human gear ratios described in Science, 29 July,
1994, page 651. They can use each other as specimens. We tell them of the
Science report only after they have designed and reported their experiment,
so
then they can compare their work to that of professionals. See Hildebrand's
books for ideas on ecomorphology.
(3) Preparation of educational displays
We buy freshly killed rabbits (sold as meat) and have the students prepare
a
dissection that they freezedry and paint as a permanent educational display.
This outcome generates far more research, preparation, and care than the
traditional "look and memorize" type dissections. One studnet
team might be
assigned several muscles, for example. They would clean that rabbit portion
except for those muscles, showing the origins and insertions very clearly.
They
may also make a poster or oral presentation.
Hope these are of some help.
Peter Ommundsen
Selkirk College
Castlegar, B.C. Canada V1N3J1
E-mail: ommundsen@selkirk.bc.ca
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