Labs | bio102

Diversity at Furman

Week TBA

Fractals and Scale

Week TBA

Patterns occur across biological scales –from cells through ecosystems. Fractals provide a unique way to visualize these patterns. Wolfram MathWorld describes a fractal as “an object or quantity that displays self-similarity, in a somewhat technical sense, on all scales. The object need not exhibit exactly the same structure at all scales, but the same "type" of structures must appear on all scales. A plot of the quantity on a log-log graph versus scale then gives a straight line, whose slope is said to be the fractal dimension.”

In this lab you need to

Use a variety of biology tools and techniques to identify common patterns across at least three (3) biological scales.
Capture an image of the identified fractals at each scale and provide a brief (~ one paragraph) description of the what the image captures
Produce a visually compelling presentation of your images and description using the online software Prezi (http://prezi.com/).

Labs are a key part of this class.

The laboratory sessions in this course complement and supplement the lecture material. The lab exercises will illustrate the type of biological questions that can be addressed through observations and experiments and more importnatly connect to topics in biology that are relvant in current social, politcal, and economic discussions.

Field trips will give you first-hand exposure to various habitats and ecosystems. Attendance is required at all labs and field trips. Do not schedule events, meetings, or any other activities during the scheduled lab period or during times when field trips have been scheduled. Missing a lab or field trip because of serious illness must be documented in detail by a physician. If a family issue arises that might cause you to miss a lab or field trip, you should contact the Associate Academic Dean immediately. She then will contact me to discuss whether the issue constitutes a legitimate reason for you to miss class.

Due dates for lab assignments will be given in class. Typically, you will have at least one week to turn in a lab assignment once you compleated the lab activities and collected the necessary data and information. No late work will be accepted. Not all labs will have a formal assignmnet, rather the data from these labs will be reflected on future exams