Climate Change

Human activity, including burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and buring trees, has altered the global carbon cycle. This alternation of the global carbon cycle is the proposed cause of global climate change (global warming).

Obviously, global climate change is a very imporant issue facing us today. If you are alive and paying any attention, then you probably know that there is some disgreement out there about (1) whether global warming is occuring, (2) if it is occuring is it a natural occurence or is it caused by humans, and (3)what should we as individuals and a society do about these issues. As I mentioned in class, it is very important that you understand what components of the debate are facts and what components of the debate are based on mathematical models or other forms of argument. I think that it is important that you should be able to explain to other people why scientists will never be able to conduct the experiment that will nail down whether or not humans are causing global warming (we have only one earth).


Further Reading

Carbon cycle- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Carbon_cycle

Global warming- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming

Global warming Frequenty Asked Questions- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming_frequently_asked_questions

Climate change FAQ- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Climate_change_FAQs

Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change_%28IPCC%29

IPCC Assessment for Policymakers- http://www.eoearth.org/article/IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report%2C_Working_Group_I%3A_Summary_for_Policymakers




Here is a link to a powerpoint presentation that I have used in other classes.

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/j33lxyHuPGwVzS

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course a fully engaged student should be able to

- describe why climate scientists have concluded that global temperatures are increasing

- describe why climate scientists have concluded that humans are the cause of this increase in temperature

- discuss changes, other than increases in temperature, that are thought to be caused by humans increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Competition

Competition is one of the most important interspecific ecological interactions. Interspecific competition can influence biodiversity, population sizes, and phenotypic characteritstics.

Readings

Competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Competition

Intraspecific competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Intraspecific_competition

Interspecific competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Interspecific_competition?topic=58074

Exploitative competition- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Exploitative_competition

Competitive exclusion principle- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Competitive_exclusion_principle

Powerpoint Slideshow

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/competition-mbea-activity

Here are the Smart Board Notes on the Lotka-Voltera Model of Competition

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/lotkavolterra-model-of-competition

Clutch Size Model

I have been extremely impressed with the level of detail that Brock has been able to cover in his discussions about calculus. It has been very informative for me to listen to his presentations as well.  Although we don't expect any of you to be considered as "calculus scholars" after just a couple of days of instruction, I have seen that you all have a greater understanding and appreciation about how calculus works, and even more importantly, you don't fear discussions of issues using calculus as a tool.

I wanted to briefly introduce the clutch size model as an example of how ecologists can use calculus in mathematical models that they use to answer questions in ecology. I have used this approach to study house building in woodrats, foraging in beavers, and reproduction in plants.


Here is a link to the Smart Board Notes.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/smart-board-notes-clutch-size

If you ever need a sleep aid, then here are links to a couple of papers where I use mathematical and graphical analysis to try to understand the world. The first is one of the main papers from my Ph.D. and the second is from my Masters.

Parental investment in offspring in variable environments: theoretical and empirical considerations, by Mark McGinley, David Temme, and Monica Geber.
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/mcginley-temme-and-geber-1989

Central place foraging for non-food items:determination of the stick size-value relationship of house building materials collected by eastern woodrats. by Mark McGinley.
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/woodrat-paper

Brock's Calculus Notes from Last Year

Here is the link to Brock's Smart Board Notes about Calculus. June 22nd, 2011

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/brocks-smart-board-notes-calculus

Here is the link to Brock's Smart Board notes. June 23rd, 2011

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/brocks-smart-board-notes-june-23

Introduction to Biodiversity

Readings

Biodiversity- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biodiversity

Species Diversity- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Species_diversity

Species Richness- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Species_richness


Slideshows

Introduction to Biodiversity

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/introduction-to-biodiversity-8383743

Biodiversity: Species, Classification, and Importance

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/biodiversity-species-classification-importance


Species Diversity in Malaysian Bats- Exercise

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/iQrgbLVr19ozgo

Diversity Exercise- Nemo

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/biodiversity-exercisenemo

Diversity Exercise- Candy

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/diversity-exercise-candy-8383776

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- define biodiversity

- discuss components of biodiversity including species richness, species evenness, genetic diversity, etc.

- develop your own "metric" to measure biodiveristy

- use diversity indices such as Shannon Index and Simpson Index

Free Learning- Additional Ecology Content

Because the goal of the MS Squared program is to integrate math and science, this Ecology course contains less ecological content than it would it ecology was the sole focus of the course. I develop course blogs for many of my courses and these blogs contain many lessons that might prove useful or interesting to you. Enjoy

The Rio Grande Class 
http://riograndeclass.blogspot.com/

I teach this course through the Honors College at Tech for students majoring in Environment and the Humanities degree program. This class focuses on the ecology of the Rio Grande River and the surrounding land. The highlight of this course is a week-long canoe trip along the Rio Grande River through Big Bend National Park. Some of the lessons in this blog-

1) Rivers and the hydrologic cycle

2) Importance of the physical environment

3) Adaptations to desert environments

4) Riparian zones

5) Stream Ecology

6) Disturbance Ecology

7) Invasive species

Ecology: The Science Behind Environmental Issues
http://ecologyseminar2011.blogspot.com/

This is a upper division seminar course that I teach in the Honors College. The goal of this course is to provide the basic ecological information required to understand current environmental issues. Some of the topics covered in this blog include-

1) Global carbon cycle and climate change

2) Ecosystem services

3) Biodiversity

Prairies and Rainforests
http://prairiesandrainforests2012.blogspot.com/

I taught this course for the first time last spring.  This course was intended for students majoring in Environment and the Humanities.  The purpose of the class was to examine how the physical environment influenced the ecology, history, and environmental issues of two diverse ecosytems- prairies and tropical rainforests.


Perspectives in Nature and the Environment
http://perspectivesinnature.blogspot.com/

This is a seminar course for incoming Freshmen in the Honors College. Some of the topics covered in this course include-

1) Community Ecology and the Portal Experiment

2) Ecosystem Ecology

3) Environmental Ethics

4) Religion and the Environment

UM Special Topics in E&B
http://umspecialtopics.blogspot.com/

This is the course that I taught about Ecology and Biodiversity (E&B) at the University of Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year while I was a Fulbright Scholar in Malaysia.

Human Population Growth

I have spent a lot of time telling you that exponential growth is an unrealistic model of population growth. Interestingly, human populations have experienced exponential-like growth. How can this be?

What makes humans different from other species?

In other species per capita birth rates and per capita deaths rates are density dependent. However, as human populations have increased there has been no corresponding decline in per capita birth rates or increase in per capita death rates. What makes humans different from other species?

Humans have the ability to alter their environment so that they can avoid the density dependent effects on birth and death rates. 1) Humans have increased food production by improvements in agriculture (e.g., irrigation, fertilization, mechanized farming, genetically improved crops). 2) Humans have been able to decrease death rates by improvements in medicine and public health (things as simple as not pooping in the water you drink helps a lot!). 3) Humans have elimnated most human predators (ocassionally, someone gets killed by a shark or a mountain lion).

Where is human population growth occuring?

The rates of human population growth are not the same in all regions. Today, human populations are increasing in size much faster in developing countries (e.g., Mexico, other countries in Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia) than they are in developed countries (e.g, USA, Canda, Western Europe). The figure at the top of this post shows the patterns of population growth in developed and developing nations.

Thus we see that populations are increasing most rapidly in the countries that are least able to deal with a rapidly increasing population. See "Population Challenges-The Basics" that can be downloaded from the Population Institute's website.
http://www.populationinstitute.org/population-issues/index.php

Human Population Growth Problem?

There is a great deal of debate about whether increasing human populations are a problem or not, and if they are what should be done about it. Unfortunately, we don't have time to discuss this issue in very much detail in class. My personal opinion is that we have too many people consuming too many resources and the last thing that we need are billions more people living on the planet. This is an issue that I am always intersted in talking more about if you would like to chat.

Further Reading

Here is a link to the article "Human Population Explostion" from the EoE.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Human_population_explosion

Really Cool Video

Here is a link to a YouTube video on "World Population" The first minute and a half or so is a little boring, so you can skip over it if you wish. However, I think the animation showing when and where human population growth has been occuring is really cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BbkQiQyaYc

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- describe patterns of human population growth in developed and developing nations

- discuss some reasons why the pattern of population growth in humans is so different from that in other species

- describe the demographic transition

- discuss their own personal view of human population growth.

Population Growth- Final Thoughts

We have discussed how population ecologists have tried to develop a model (the logistic growth model) that helps them to understand the factors that affect population growth.

We talked a lot about the graph plotting how the population size would vary over time in a population that started much smaller than the carrying capacity (the s-curve). Why does logistic growth show this pattern?

Initially, the population is growing slowly. When populations are small the per capita growth rate is large but because there are only a few individuals in the population rN is small. Over time, the population growth rate increases becasue populations are still small enough that r is still relatively large and now a larger N allows rN to be a bigger number. Population growth rate starts to slow as populations reach their carrying capacity because in large populations the per capitat growth rate is small and even though N is large rN is small. When the population reaches its carrying capacity b = d, so population growth stops.

Density Dependent Population Regulation

We notice that populations don't keep increasing in size forever. That is because populations are naturally self regulating. As population size increases the per capita birth rate declines for the biological reasons that we discused earlier. (When a parameter decreases as population size increases that parameter is said to be negatively density dependent. As population size increases the per capitat death rates increase for the biological reasons that we discussed earlier. (when a parameter increases as the population size increases that parameter is said to be positively density dependent). Thus, the per capita birth and death rates are naturally density dependent in such a way that eventually causes the population size of species to stop growing.

Here is the link to my Smart Board Notes for this topic last year.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/smart-board-notes-622

Logistic Growth

We are trying to develop a mathematical model that helps us to understand patterns of population growth. So far our first attempt, the exponential growth model, did not help us to understand population growth (for reasons that I hope that you understand by now).

The "Real" world

In our attemtp to think about population growth in the real world, we attempted to examine how per capitat birth rates and per capitat death rates should vary as population size varies. The model that describes this pattern of growth is known as the logistic growth model. It is important to realize that although this model is much more realistic, and therefore useful to us, than the exponential growth model, the logistic growth model still only exmaines what I call "the theoretical real world". That is, this model applies to our ideas about how populations should generally behave and do not thus relate directly to studying the population sizes of white tailed deer in central Texas or parrot fish on a coral reef in Fiji. These real world situations are much harder to understand than the simple "idealized" populations that I am talking about in BIOL 1404. You can take an Advanced Population Biology course if you want to learn more about how to apply these models to the "real real world".

Logistic Growth

We have discussed why, in the real world, r should decrease as population sizes increase. If this is the case then there is a population size at which the per capita birth rate equals the per capita death rate. We call this population size the carrying capacity.

1) When populations are smaller than the carrying capacity we expect them to increase in size until they reach the carrying capacity.

2) When populations are larger than carrying capacity we espect them to decrease in size untile they reach the carrying capacity.

Fun With Graphs- Exponential Growth

How do I know which graph to draw?

1) In the population ecology portion of this course we will be discussing two models of population growth- exponential growth and logistic growth. Thus, you need to know which growth model you are describing before you know which graph to draw.

2) You can't draw a graph until you know what the axes are.

Hopefully, this is a review, but it is probably worth talking about. The x-axis (the horizontal axis) is known as the independent variable. The y-axis (the vertical axis) is the dependent variable. Changing the value of the independent variable results in a change in the dependent variable. Id DOES matter which variable goes on which axis so try to get it right.

In population ecology there will be two main independent variables that we are interested in studying. Because we are interested in patterns of population growth, we will often want to observe how variables change over time. Time is always the independent variable, so it always goes on the x-axis. Sometimes we are interested in how parameters depend on population size. In this case, population size is always the independent variable.

Powerpoint Presentation

This powerpoint presentation "Fun With Graphs: Exponential Growth" reviews the graphs you are expected to be able to draw, understand, and interpret.

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/mavlOD8flFs67G

Exponential Growth

From the first lesson on Population Ecology we learned that the population growth rate (dN/dt) can be calculated as the product of the per capita growth rate (r) and the population size (N).

dN/dt = rN

This is the fundamental equation describing population growth and this equation is always true.

If we want to use this equation to analyze how population sizes change over time, then it makes sense to start by examining the simplest formulation of this equation which occurs when the per capita growth rate is constant. The equation dN/dt = rN when r is constant is known as the exponential growth equation and this equation describes a patter on growth known as exponential growth.

The graph plotting how population size changes over time is shown in the Exponential Growth article. This graph shows an exponential growth curve (sometimes known as the "j-curve"). If you have questions about why the graph has this shape let me know and I will try to explain it more thoroughly.

It is important that you are able to look at this graph and determine all of the information held in the graph. The exponential growth curve allows us to discuss how two parameters change over time- 1) the population size (shown by the x-axis) and 2) the population growth rate (shown by the slope of the line). I find that it is easier to discuss only one parameter at a time so let's start with the population size.

1) Over time, the population size increases (we know this because the line has a positive slope).

Now let's think about the population growth rate.

2) Over time, the population growth rate increases (we know this becasue the line gets steeper over time.

3) Over time, the rate at which the population growth rate increases over time, increases over time (we know this because the slope increases faster and faster over time).

Thus, if populations are growing exponentially then they keep increasing in size at an ever faster rate forever and ever.

Now try this-

Can you draw the following graphs?

1) plot how the population growth rate varies over time.
(hint- we have alredy described what this pattern will look like using words- just turn these words into pictures).

2) plot how the population growth rate depends on population size.
(hint- this graph is a little trickier, but we do have an equation that relates the two variables)

3) plot how the per capita growth rate varies over time.
(hint- think about what the basic assumption we made aboiut exponential growth)

4) plot how the per capita growth rate
(see the hint from number 3)

Exponential Growth is Unrealistic
Because population sizes keep increasing at ever faster rates for ever, exponential growth does not seem to be an accurate description of population growth in most animals, plants, and microbes. If this is an unrealistic model then why did I teach it to you? I started with exponential growth becasue it is the simplest model of population growth and scientists always like to describe the world using the simplest models that they can.

Obviously, in this case we have started with a model that is too simple to realistically describe the world. What is wrong with the exponential growth model? The fundamental assumption we made about exponential growth is that the per capita growth rate is constant. This must not be a realistic assumtpion.

It is important that you understand, and are able to explain, both the mathematical reasons and biological reasons that exponential growth is an unreasonable model of population growth. I tried to explain biologically why exponential growth is unrealistic in the "Exponential Growth" article and the attached Powerpoint presentation so take a look at those.

Suggested Readings

Here are some articles you should look at from the Encyclopedia of the Earth. I wrote these so they are brilliant!!!

Population Ecology http://www.eoearth.org/article/Population_ecology

Exponential Growth http://www.eoearth.org/article/Exponential_growth

Logistic Growth http://www.eoearth.org/article/Logistic_growth

Carrying Capacity http://www.eoearth.org/article/Carrying_capacity

Intraspecific Competition http://www.eoearth.org/article/Intraspecific_competition

Powerpoint Presentation

Click here for the Powerpoint presentation "Why is Exponential Growth Unrealistic?"
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/IDPugQtl2wvONv

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- draw and interpret the following graphs associate with exponential growth

a) how population size change over time in exponential growth

b) how population growth rate varies over time in exponential growth

c) how the population growth rate depends on the population size

d) how per capita growth rate changes over time in exponential growth

e) how per capita growth rate depends on population size

- explain why exponential growth is an unrealistic pattern of growth for most species

- define and explain the carrying capacity

Population Biology: Basic Parameters

Here is a brief introduction to some of the important parameters that we will need to understand to be able to study population ecology. For each of the parameters it is important that you know (1) the name of the parameter, (2) the algebraic symbol used to represent the parameter, (3) the units of measurement for the parameter, (4) how to calculate the parameter, and (5) how to describe (in words) what a particular value of that parameter means.

It is probably easiest for me to introduce these concepts using an example.
Imagine that in a population of 100 elephants that in one year 10 elephants are born and 5 elephants die.

1) Population Size (N) units- individuals. Measures the number of individuals in a population.

N = 100 individuals

In this population, there are 100 elephants.

2) Population Birth Rate (B) units- number of births per time. Measures the number of births per time that occur in a population.

B = 10 births/year

In this population, each year there are 10 births.

3) Population Death Rate (D) units- number of deaths per time. Measures the number of deaths per time that occur in a population.

D = 5 deaths/year

In this population, each year there are 5 deaths.

4) Population Growth Rate (dN/dt) units- number of idividuals per time. Measures the rate of change of the population size.

dN/dt = B - D

dN/dt = 10 births/year - 5 deaths/year = 5 individuals/year

In this population, the population size increases by 5 individuals each year.

5) Per Capita Birth Rate (b) units- births per time per individual. Measures the number of births per time averaged across all members of the population.

b = B/N

b = (10 births/year)/100 individuals = 0.10 births/year/individual

In this population, each year 0.10 babies are born for each individual in the population.

6) Per Capita Death Rate (d) units - deaths per time per individual. Measures the number of deaths per time averaged across all members of the population.

d = D/N

d = (5 deaths/year)/100 individuals = 0.05 deaths/year/individual

In this population, each year 0.005 individuals die for each individual in the population.

7) Per Capita Growth Rate (r) units = individuals/time/individual. Measure the rate of change in population size averaged across all individuals. The per capita growth rate can be calcuated two ways.

a) r = b - d

r = 0.10 births/year/individual - 0.05 deaths/year/individual = 0.05 ind/year/ind

b) r = (dN/dt)/N

r = (5 individuals/year)/100 individuals = 0.05 individuals/year/individual

In this population, each year 0.05 individuals are added for each individual in the population.

Practice Problem

In a population of 50 tigers, in one year 10 tigers are born and 20 tigers die. What is B, D, dN/dt, b, d, r?

Here is the link to the Smart Board Notes.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/smart-board-notes-620

Analyzing Data Part 3- Linear Regression and Chi Square Test

Chapter 5. Correlations between quantifiable variables.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

1) determine when you need to use regression to help you test your hypothesis

2) use Excel to conduct regression analysis

3) interpret the outcome of this test to correctly draw conclusions


Chapter 6. Associations Between Categorical Variables

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

1) determine when you need to use a chi square test of association or a chi square goodness of fit test to test your hypotheses

2) calculate the expected values in the chi square test of association or chi square goodness of fit test

3) use Excel to conduct the Chi Squre test

4) interpret the results to correctly draw conclusions


Appendix 1.

I added Appendix 1 to the lab manual for students that might have been a little bit less math phobic and who might actually benefit from understanding a bit more about how the math of the statistical tests work. Because you are all comfortable with math, I hope you take a look at this short section.

Process of Science- Final Thoughts

After you have finished reading the entire book, don't forget that the three most important summaries are found on pages 30 - 32. Enjoy.

Here is a link to the Smart Board Notes from last year.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/smart-board-notes-617

Analyzing Data Part 2- Comparing Means

The link below contains the Smart Board notes from last year when we were covering this topic.  I hope these notes are helpful.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/lecture-statistical-tests

Chapter 4. Comparing Means

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

1) determine when you need to use a t-test to help you test your hypothesis

2) determine which type of t-ttest you should use (i.e., one-tailed vs two-tailed test, paired vs unpaired test)

3) use Excel to perform a t-test on the computer

4) use the output of the statistical tests to correctly draw conclusions

Conducting Statistical Analyses on Excell

In the next couple of days you will learn how to use Excel to conduct simple statistical analyses such as the t-test, linear regression, and the chi square test. Although Excell is certainly not an ideal statistical program package, it is widely available, so it is a good place to start. The following article by Eva Goldwater contains a useful review about the pros, cons, and techniques of conducting statistical analyses on Excell.

Using Excel for Statistical Analysis- Caveats.
http://people.umass.edu/evagold/excel.html

Analyzing Data- Part 1

One of the most important ways that ecologists (and many other scientists) use math is to help them to analyze their data. We have already talked a little bit about how scientists use tables and graphs to help display their results. In addition, scientists often need to use statistics to help them test their hypotheses.

Really understanding how to use statistics to help test hypotheses usually requires taking a Statistics class. Let me say right up front that this is not a statistics course. Instead the goal of this portion of the course is to illustrate some of the steps that scientists use to analyze their data. Some of the material that we cover will probably be a bit advanced for you to use in the middle school classroom, but most of what we discuss can easily be scaled to the appropriate grade level. However, because you will be involved in some sort of research project this summer, you should all benefit from learning how scientists use statistics to test hypotheses. Who knows, you may even be able to test out your new knowledge of hypothesis testing on your projects.

During this portion of the coure we will use "The Process of Science", a lab manual that I wrote when I was coordinating the labs for all of the non-majors Biology courses taught at TTU (Plant Biology, Animal Biology, and Ecology & Environmental Problems). My suggestions on how to use the manual are written on the first page. I will let you read Chapter 1 on your own. In class we will start with Chapter 2 because that is the first chapter that involves math.

Chapter 2: The Importance of Quantification

Expected Learning OutcomesBy the end of this course, a fully engaged student should be able to
- identify variables that are easily quantified and variables that are not so easily quantified.
- identify the dependent and independent variables
- ask and answer questions using the three most common approaches that scientists use to analyze data-
a) comparing means
b) testing for correlations between two quantifiable variables
c) testing for associations between two categorical variables
- distinguish between positive and negative correlations.

Chapter 3: Hypothesis Testing

Expected Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to
- explain when we must estimate the "true answer" using a sample
- explain why we can not prove that a hypothesis is true when we estimate the true answer with a sample
- apply the steps in the hypothesis testing protocol
- determine when you need to use statistics to test hypotheses

How to Display Information- Intro

I think that understanding how to properly display and interpret information in tabular and graphical forms is a critical skill for students in math and the sciences. In this Powerpoint Slideshow I discuss how to choose the most effective ways to present your results.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/lets-start-with-some-basics-displaying-information

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to
- discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the following ways of presenting data- tables, bar graphs, area graphs, and pie charts.
- determine which form of presenting their data is most appropriate for a given situation
- describe, in words, the information held in a table or graph
- help their students to be able to produce and interpret the appropriate table or graph

Let's Try Some Problems

Here are some problems that researchers planning their research activities would have to solve. Let's see if you can figure out how to answer these questions.

1. Researchers from TTU would like to provide research experience to school teachers from Texas and Malaysia. Grant funds to provide this experience are limited (in fact, right now they are lacking).

Flying from Lubbock Texas to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia costs $1700. Travelling by bus from Kuala Lumpur to Krau Wildlife Reserve costs 120 MR. Food and lodging for a teacher at KWR costs 80 MR per day.

Answer the following questions assuming that the total budget for providing a research experience for teachers is $15,000.

a) If we spent all of the money on teachers from Texas then how many could we take?

b) If we spent all of the money on teachers from Malaysia then how many could we take?

c) How many Texas and Malaysian Teachers can we take if we want to have equal numbers of Malaysian and Texan teachers?

d) How many Texas and Malaysian teachers can we take if we want to spent half of the funds on teachers from Texas and half on teachers from Malaysia?

2. Twice each day (once in the evening and again in the morning) researchers hike to the trapping area, check the traps and process the captured bats, and then return to the lab.

Once the researchers reach the trapping grid it takes 10 minutes on average to check each trap (including travel time between traps) and process all of the bats. The time it takes to reach the trapping grid depends on the distance of the trapping grid from the lab and the terrain. Generally, the researchers are able to walk one and a half times faster on flat land than while walking across hilly terrain. The average person walking through hilly terrain is able to travel two miles in one hour.

a) How long should it take to sample 10 traps in a sampling grid located 4 km from the lab when the entire travel distance is across flat terrain?

b) How long should it take to sample 20 traps in a sampling grid located 1 mile from the lab when half of the travel distance is across hilly terrain and half is across flat terrain?

Malaysian Bat Education Adventure

Because "bats are cool" we thought that students in Texas might like to learn more about them. As part of our pilot project we developed curriculum on bats for use in 4th grade classrooms including some pretty cool videos. We were able to find teachers at North Ridge Elementary School in Lubbock that were willing to work with us. Each night, Tigga and her graduate students go out into the field to capture bats in the rainforest. Each day, Tigga would send the data back to the students who then used the data to answer questions about bat biology, ecology, and biodiversity. The highlight of the MBEA for the students was that they were able to interact with Tigga "live from the field" by a video conference. Tigga was able to show the students bats and answer their questions about bats and her research while she was in Malaysia and they were in Lubbock. I think that we, the teachers, and the students all thought that our pilot study was a great success so we hoped to be able to scale the program up to cover more grade levels.

My Visit To Krau

I was able to spend two weeks during March, 2009 visiting Tigga and her students at Krau so that I could learn more about the work that they were doing. Each night and then again early each morning we would head to the field to check the bat traps (to learn how the scientists study bats check out http://www.ttu-mbea.org/studying-bats/). The bats were really cool (you can see all of the bats at http://www.ttu-mbea.org/meet-the-bats/). It was my first time to be in a rainforest at night, which wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be and I did manage to avoid getting eaten by a tiger!

Life in the Field

You can imagine the glamorous life style of scientists studying bats in the rainforest. Actually the living situation at Krau is not so bad. During my visit Tigga and Ain, a Malaysian graduate student studying for her Ph.D. at Texas Tech, were joined by Goddo and Cathy, two reserchers from the Philipines who were there to learn about bat research were living at Krau. A Malay women from the nearby town brought us food for lunch and dinner- my first exposure to Malaysian food.

The house


The front porch. Because the house had no AC we spent a lot of time on the front porch. It was fun to watch the birds and monkeys pass by.


Inside the house. This room served as living room, dining room, and research office.


The Bats

The bats were cool. It is much easier to show you some photos than to try to explain about them.

Ain with bat










The MBEA Today

We added two new collaborators, Steve Crooks, from the Collge of Education at TTU, and Rob Peaslee, from the College of Mass Communications at TTU. We submitted a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to fund the full development of the project, but unfortunately that proposal was rejected. However, I think that many of the materials will allow us to use math to learn more about ecology... just like the scientists do it.

To learn lots more about MBEA check out the website at http://www.ttu-mbea.org/

Patterns of Natural Selection

There are three main patters of selection- directional selection, stabilizing selection, and disruptive selection. In addition, to the readings in your textbook, you will find useful info on this topic in the Encyclopedia of the Earth article on Evolution http://www.eoearth.org/article/Evolution.



Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, the fully engaged student should be able to

- distinguish between directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection
- describes how directional. stabilizing, and disruptive selection work
- give examples of traits produced by each of these patterns of selection
- draw the graph that shows the relationship between fitness and trait size that produces each of these patterns of selection.

Natural Selection

An understanding of the process of natural selection helps us to understand the amazing diversity of life on the earth. In order to be able to explain how the process of natural selection works it is important that you are able to understand and explain frequency distributions.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course a fully engaged students should be able to

1) define the process of natural selection

2) distinguish between the patterns of stabilizing, disruptive, and directional selection and provide examples of each pattern

3) describe how the process of natural selection has produced a trait that is an adaptation to a particular environmental condition.


Readings

Natural selection http://www.eoearth.org/article/Natural_selection

Here is a link to a website from UC Berkeley that might be useful to take a look at-

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_25

Quick Intro To Units and Conversions

As I mentioned briefly in class the first day there are a number of problems that my university students have when dealing with math and graphs. My theory (and great hope) is that if we start teaching students to do the right thing early in their education and we continually force them to do things correctly that these relatively simple actions will become second nature. A guy can dream, can't he!

Units

I am constantly frustrated that students give me answers without any units! I think that much of their failure to use units comes from laziness and carelessness, but some of it might stem from lack of a true understanding of what units mean and why they are important.

The Powerpoint Slideshow linked below attempts to introduce some very basic concepts about properly using units and converting from one unit to another. This presentation is intended to be introductory only. If if is too basic then we will quickly move on, but if we need to spend more time on this topic then we can certainly do that (it will be great to have Brock around to provide the mathematical expertise). As I discussed on the first day, please don't hesitate to provide feedback that will help us to present the most useful information to you as possible.

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/lets-start-with-some-basics

This link from Math.com has some useful info about unit conversion.

http://www.math.com/tables/general/measures.htm

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- choose the appropriate unit for any measurement
- be able to discuss/explain why it is important to use the correct units
- concert from one unit to another
- explain the process of converting units at a level that will be understood by their students

Now it is time for you to become the "unit police"!

Why Combine Math and Ecology?

Math is fundamentally cool. In my experience there are limited numbers of people who are inherently turned on by math. I am probably not the best person in the world to tell you how to get more students fundamentally excited about learning math. One thing that I have picked up over the years is that I am very sensitive, and students are very sensitive, to how interested a teacher/speaker appears to be about their topic. When the teacher acts as if they find a topic to be fundamentally cool, then I am more likely to pay attention and appreciate what they are saying. Thus, my suggestion to all teachers is to be excited and interested in what you are talking about and if you aren't, then fake it! In my biology classes I routinely teach topics that I find fascinating as well as those I find much less interesting (for example, the life cycle of the moss). I am always pleased when I hear students say that they are surprised that anyone "could be so excited about mosses". Don't worry if your students think that Ms. X or Mr. Y is a goofy math geek! Remember, your middle-school students are the same kids who think that Justin Bieber is cool, so why should you care what they think!?!

Math is interesting. I am always thankful that I get to teach biology rather than algebra because I get to talk about cool stuff like dolphins, canibalism, and tropical rainforests, or when all else fails, I can always bring up sex! Fortunately, a knowledgeable math teacher might be able to use a number of interesting ecological phenomena as a situation for teaching math.

Math is relevant and useful. Many students might never find math to be fun to learn, but they might want to learn more math when they realize that math is an important and relevant tool. Part of the art of being a good math teacher is to be able to choose a variety of contexts to apply mathematics because different students are going to be interested in different topics.

I have to admit that I was in the last quarter of my senior year in college before anyone ever showed me how being able to use math could help me to learn about biology (statistics and calculus to solve optimality problems). I often tell my students, and now I am telling you, if there was one thing that I could havd done differently that would have made me a better biologist it would have been to learn more math!

The mercenary approach. For many students the best way to inspire them to want to learn more about math is "greed". You can show them a result of a recent study that examined the income of students with different majors in college. It is interesting to note that two of the three highest earnings (mathematics & computers and engineering) were those that required the strongest background in math!

http://chronicle.com/article/Median-Earnings-by-Major-and/127604/

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, the second most important Expected Learning Outcome from this degree program is-

By the end of this program a fully engaged student should be able to effectively integrate appropriate mathematics into their science classroom or the appropriate science concepts into their mathematics classrooms.

Please let Brock and me know how we can help you to achieve this goal.

Ecology

Ecology has been defined in many ways. The definition that I prefer is that "ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organism and their environment." Organisms interact with two distincly different parts of the environment. The "abiotic (non-living) environment" includes all of the non-living attributes of the environment including water, soil characteristics, temperature, etc. The "biotic environment" includes all of the living organisms and involves interactions such as competition, predation, mutualism, etc. Not only is ecology a fascinating topic to study, but a strong understanding of ecology is critical if we expect to understand, and deal with, many environmental issues.

Hierarchical Organization of Ecology

Ecology can be studied at different hierarchical levels.

1. Individuals have phenotypic characteristics such as morphology (e.g., eye color, height, etc.), physiology (blood type, photosynthetic ability, etc.), and behavior (food preferences, response to stimuli, etc.). We can understand the characteristics of organisms by studying how natural selection has affected those traits.

2. A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area. Individuals in the same population interact via competition and sometimes predation (e.g., canibalism).

Some species live in very large populations whereas others live in very small populations. Ecologists are interested in understanding the factors that influence population size (this is important because when population size equals zero individuals then a population has gone extinct.)

3. A community is a group of different species living together in the same environment. Interspecific interactions including competition, predation, and mutualisms are some of the most interesting, and most important, aspects of ecology. Understanding the factors that influence the biodiversity of communities is an important area of modern ecology.

4. An ecosystem involves all of the biotic components in a community as well as the abiotic components. Unlike the lower levels of the ecological hierarchy where the focus is on living organisms, ecosystem ecologists are interested in understanding the flow of energy and nutrients through the ecosystem. Some of the most important environmental issues facing us today are caused by human alteration of these cycles.

Prerequisite Knowledge For This Course

Because you come from such diverse backgrounds, I don't expect that all of you will have "expert" knowledge in ecology. That's OK, because you have probably picked up a surprising amount of information in your past schooling, reading the media, and watching nature shows on TV. Thus, I will start this course assuming that you have only a basic level of understanding and then build from there.

Ecology Content Resources For This Course

I have been working with middle school and high school teachers for many years in a variety of projects. I have concluded that one of the ways that I can help practicing teachers is to help them become more confident about their mastery of content material. I think that it is always valuable to know more about the material you are teaching than you expect your students to know.

In 2009, as part of the Multidisciplinary Science Masters Degree, I taught a course called "Ecology for Teachers". As part of this course, I developed an "online textbook" called "Ecology Reader- Ecology for Teachers" which is posted on the Encyclopedia of Earth. This reader, and the course blog that I developed for the MSCI course, should serve as valuable content references for this course.

Because the scope of the "Ecology for Teachers" course was broader (it included a discussion of Evolution as well as Ecology) and deeper than required for this course, I will be sure to clearly let you know what content information you are responsible for in this course in the Expected Learning Outcomes for each lesson.

Ecology Reader- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecology_Reader-_Ecology_for_Teachers

Ecology for Teachers (2009) blog- http://ecologyforteachers.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

BIOL 5311- Course Syllabus

BIOL 5311- Ecology for Teachers (MS2) – Couse Syllabus

Summer I, 2011

Instructor: Dr. Mark McGinley

Office: McClellan Hall Rm 215

mark.mcginley@ttu.edu

806-632-1945

Course Outline

The purpose of this course is to teach students enrolled in the MS2 program how to integrate ecology and mathematics in middle school classrooms. This course will provide both content information as well as examples of how to effectively integrate ecology and mathematics. This course will collaborate closely with MATH 5361.

Required Course Materials

There is no required textbook for this course. The Ecology Reader: Ecology for Teachers located online at the Encyclopedia of Earth (http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecology_Reader-_Ecology_for_Teachers) should provide information about ecological content for this course.

The blog for this course, http://ms2ecology.blogspot.com/, will provide important information about content, activities, expected learning outcomes, additional resources, etc. Please check this site often.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, a fully-engaged student should be able to:

1) Discuss explain important ecological concepts and use their knowledge to develop curricular materials appropriate to their teaching needs.

2) Discuss how mathematics can be a useful tool for understanding ecological concepts and apply these concepts.

3) Integrate math and science in their classrooms.

4) Explain to their students, student's parents, fellow teachers, school administrators, general citizens, and the people that organize education in the state of Texas why it is essential to be able to integrate mathematics and biology in middle school classroom.

Explicit Expected Learning Outcomes for each lesson will be located in the course blog.

Methods for Assessment of Learning Outcomes

A variety of assessment techniques may be employed, including the teaching project, problems and activities to be completed during class, activities in the learning circles, direct questioning of students, and answering student questions in class.

Grading

The written report/poster portion of the team teaching project will account for 5-% of your grade while the presentation portion will account for 25%. The remaining 25% will be determined by in-class activities in learning circles, homework, and participation.

Grades will be assigned based on the following scale

 > 90 A (represents “excellent” mastery of material)

 80 – 89 B (represents “good” mastery of material)

 70 – 79 C (represents “adequate” mastery of material)

 60 – 70 D (represents “poor” master of material)

 < 60 F (fail)

Because the course grade is based solely on the level of mastery of the material, it is possible for all, or no, students to receive a particular grade. Thus, everyone benefits by working together to help their fellow classmates master the material.

General Policies

Any student, who, because of a disability, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements, should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make such accommodations as may be necessary. Students should present appropriate verification from Student Disability Services. No requirement exists that accommodations be made prior to completion of this approved process.

Texas House Bill 256 requires institutions of higher education to excuse a student from attending classes or other required activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy day. A student who intends to observe a religious holy day should make that intention known to the instructor prior to the absence. A student who is absent from classes for the observance of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence. A student may not be penalized for the absence; however, the instructor may respond appropriate

The Mark McGinley Story

You have already gotten to know Brock, so now you can learn a little bit more about me. Here is the perfect cure for insomnia!

The Formative Years
I was born in Corpus Christi, TX and after a couple of moves we ended up in Rosenberg, (near Houston) where I attended grade school. I was interested in biology from an early age; I watched Marlin Perkins and Jacque Cousteau (your parents should know who they are) and I spent a lot of time outdoors on family camping and fishing trips. Even though I grew up near Houston during the Apollo years, I always thought that it would be much cooler to be a biologist than an astronaut.

When I was in the sixth grade my family moved to Australia for four years. This was an amazing life change for a kid who thought that the annual trip to my grandparents’ house in Oklahoma was a big deal. I had the incomparable experience of living in another country and experiencing a whole new way of life. Probably the biggest difference between Australia and the U.S. was the schools. I went to an all-boys English-style, private school where we had to wear uniforms (suits and ties) and straw boater hats to class everyday (this probably explains my preferred style of dress today).

The move also provided me with the opportunity to travel the world. During trips through Europe and Asia we saw many places of historical and cultural interest. Among my favorites were the Coliseum in Rome, the Tower of London, and Mt. Fuji in Japan. More importantly, my travels exposed me to many new biological experiences including seeing hippos, gazelles, elephants, and a cheetah in South Africa, snorkeling and beachcombing in Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, and the Great Barrier Reef, chasing emus through the Australian outback, watching a male lyrebird do his mating dance, watching fairy penguins come ashore for the night off of the coast of southern Australia, and many sightings of other Australian wildlife including kangaroos and koalas (how many people do you know that have ever seen a koala running along the ground?).

During the summer before my sophomore year in high school we moved to Thousand Oaks, CA (old-timers will remember TO as the former summer home of the Dallas Cowboys before they were ruined by Jerry Jones) where I graduated from high school. During my senior year I spent a week studying ecology and philosophy in Yosemite National Park and this trip confirmed by desire to be a biologist.

Education

I enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara to study biology. UCSB is an incredible place to go to school (I could see the ocean from my bedroom window three out of the four years that I was there) and it also happened to have one of the best ecology programs in the world. Joe Connell (one of the most influential ecologist of our era) taught the ecology section of my intro biology course and also taught my first ecology course, so it is probably his fault that I am here today because after finishing his course I knew that I wanted to be an ecologist. Later, after taking courses from Steve Rothstein and Bob Warner, I became interested in behavioral and evolutionary ecology and I decided to go to grad school to study behavioral ecology. I went to Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS which was a pretty big change from UCSB. I enjoyed K-State (I learned to bleed purple for Wildcat basketball) and I was lucky to be able to spend summers working for my advisor Chris Smith at the Mountain Research Station in Colorado studying pollination in lodgepole pine. My Masters Thesis extended optimal foraging models to examine woodrats foraging for non-food items (sticks that they use to build their houses). I also did a theoretical study examining how food stress should affect sex ratios. I earned a Ph. D. at the University in Salt Lake City. For my Ph. D. thesis with Jon Seger, I developed models and conducted experiments to understand the causes of seed size variation in plants. During my little free time, I played volleyball with the U of U Volleyball Club team and I was probably the only person in the whole city who did not ski (I still don’t see the point of intentionally getting cold). I spent two years working as a post-doctoral researcher with Dave Tilman at the University of Minnesota. Our research focused on succession in old fields at Cedar Creek Natural History Area just north of Minneapolis.

Life at Texas Tech
I started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University in 1991. I am currently an Associate Professor with a joint position in the Honors College and the Department of Biological Sciences. In the Honors College I work closely with the Natural History and Humanities degree (this degree progam recently changed it's name to Environment and the Humanities(http://www.depts.ttu.edu/honors/nhh/).

Teaching

I teach a wide variety of classes at Tech. Two of my favorite courses are Tropical Marine Biology (taught in Jamaica and Belize) and the Rio Grande Class (we take a week-long canoe trip through Big Bend over Spring Break). For the past 6 summers I have worked as a scuba instructor and marine biologist with Odyssey Expeditions leading sailing and scuba trips through the Caribbean (British Virgin Islands, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines).

Scholarship
For several years I conducted ecological research in the sand shinnery oak community in West Texas. My current interests are in science curriculum development, environmental education, and informatl science education. I serve as a member of the Stewardship Committee of the Environmental Information Coalition and as an Associate Editor for the Encyclopedia of the Earth (http://www.eoearth.org/). In the Malaysian Bat Education Adventure we are using the ecology of Malaysian Bats as the focus of an integrated science curriculum for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.

Development Leave in Malaysia
I have just returned from spending 11 months as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Malaysia. While I was there I was a Visiting Professor in the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. I taught a course, worked with Malaysian scholars, and spent a lot of time travelling around and learning more about Malaysia. I was able to see lots of interesting biology in the rainforests and coral reefs. How many people do you know who have seen a wild Orangutan, a Borneo Pygmy Elephant, and have had a sea turtle lay eggs in their hand? I had a great time over there (what I am doing back in LBK?)!

To see more about my adventures check out my blog
http://markinmalaysia.blogspot.com/


Traveling


I enjoy traveling and I have been able to explore my passion for scuba diving on dive trips in Texas (San Solomon Springs in Balmorhea and the Flower Garden Banks) throughout the Caribbean as well as Yap, Palau, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Galapagos Islands. My favorite marine critters include hammerhead sharks,

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to BIOL 5311, the Ecology course in the MS Squared degree program. Thanks for giving up part of your summer to come to the garden city of Lubbock (you know what they say about Lubbock- "it is a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit"). I know that there is nothing you would rather be doing than sitting through 4 hours of class everyday!!



There are at least two main goals to this course. First, to increase your content knowledge in the ecology-related fields in biology. Second, to show you how you can use mathematics in the biology classroom. This summer's experience will be organized similarly to last summer's Math and Physics courses (I am sorry that I wasn't around to be able to play with all of David Lamp's toys). Brock Williams, your devoted math professor, and I will work together to try to integrate the ecology and math concepts and practices in the most effective way possible. If all goes according to plan, by the end of the course you should have new content knowledge in both ecology and math, examples of how the study of ecology can benefit from using mathematics and how ecology can serve as a topic for discussing math concepts, and most importantly, the confidence and experience you apply your new knowledge and skill to your math and science classrooms in the future.