Zoology lab provides a wonderful opportunity to join with partners to conduct ...
The project can involve almost any aspect of animal biology that the group finds.
ZOOLOGY/REHNBERG/2012
ZOOLOGY LAB: INDEPENDENT RESEARCH Zoology lab provides a wonderful opportunity to join with partners to conduct an independent research project. The project can involve almost any aspect of animal biology that the group finds interesting. With Dr. Rehnberg as a consultant, the groups will work on projects during February, March, and April with the goal of presenting a research talk to the class in May. Hold a brainstorming session with your group and come up with more than one possibility for a project. Choose a nontrivial problem that has real relevance to your animal. Avoid easy but uninteresting topics such as “The Effects of Popcorn on Mouse Activity” or “Do Finches Prefer Classical Music to Hip Hop?”. The animal species and topic are up to you, but both need an OK by Dr. Rehnberg. The project can be either field- or lab-oriented, but it must be interesting to you and your partners. If you hope to do a field project, make sure that the subjects are reliably available – this will require repeat scouting. The field site could be your back yard, a "green" area on campus, a local forest, the York Water Company property across from campus, the Codorus Creek, a well-stocked bird feeder, etc. etc. Make certain that you obtain permission to use a site when appropriate. The species that you observe should be reliably present, macroscopic, diurnal, not aggressive or dangerous, and "active". Squirrels, ground hogs, overwintering geese, ducks, gulls, pigeons, sparrows, and other birds could be acceptable. Family pets and animals at distant zoos and aquaria may not be used. If you choose to do a lab project, wild birds or mammals may not be used. Local pet stores have useful selections of affordable vertebrates. Other species are available through outside suppliers. See Dr. Rehnberg for details about acquiring animals.
Here are just a few hypothetical examples of the kind of potential projects that seem feasible: ** Document parental behaviors in Canada geese on land and water. ** Explore the remarkable reproductive capability of mudworms. They simply fragment themselves and then recreate the missing body part. ** Study some aspect of swimming power or endurance in fish. Use the department’s swim tunnel in the animal room. ** Design a project that assesses how substrate properties help or hinder crayfish in remaining stationary in flowing water. Use a swim tunnel to evaluate substrate particle size starting with sand and increasing to small rocks. ** Look at some aspect of movements in small terrestrial animals. We have an activity tracking system designed for mice, but it can probably be adapted to other small rodents and even large invertebrates such as beetles or cockroaches. ** Measure aerobic fitness in small animals using our running treadmill and oxygen-measuring respirometer. Again, these instruments are designed for mice, but other small species might also
work. ** Determine evaporative water loss in insects. Use the wind tunnel in the animal room to study the loss of body water in different types of bugs (e.g., larva vs adult … butterfly vs beetle) under varying environmental conditions. ** Look at some aspect of behavior or development in tadpoles. Tadpoles appear in VAST numbers in local ponds in Spring. A small pond near York has been known to support large numbers of tadpoles in April (March??). Lots of possibilities here. ** Do webs of the eastern tent caterpillar trap heat from the sun? Use data loggers to record web temperatures in the field … compare to Dr. Rehnberg’s published data on the fall webworm caterpillar. ** Use the famous Skinner Box to evaluate learning in small rodents. What conditions expedite or hinder instrumental learning? ** Study climbing activity of tree frogs. They have adhesive pads on their digits that allow clinging to surfaces.
An important requirement for the project is a literature search. The literature search will provide much-needed background information on your topic and also suggest questions, strategies, and protocols. The lit search will hopefully produce a number of primary research articles that are related to your topic. Books, websites, and other secondary sources can help supplement your information. Write a detailed research proposal ASAP. The proposal should include (1) a statement of research intent, (2) a review of literature and (3) design and methods. Include any anticipated costs for animals and supplies. Don’t let Rehnberg get off easy … pay him office visit(s) about any and all aspects of the project.
Due date for the proposal: Before March 24 BUT … if you know what you want to do, don’t wait until the proposal deadline. Begin (and end) your project ASAP. Bad strategy: begin this project late in the semester.
THE TALK Power Point presentations should be based on the standard IMRAD format. The talk needs to be tightly organized and highly rehearsed in order to last about 18-22 min. This will allow for a few minutes of questions from the audience and still not exceed the 25 min maximum. Information from both primary and secondary literature should be used in the talk. Consult your copy of the Lab Report Format For YCP Biology Courses for the details of format. Visual aids are an important part of any oral presentation. Identify the photographer (e.g., you) or the source of all images. All members of the group must participate in the presentation.
INTRODUCTION This will be a brief section in which you provide basic background information on your animal and the research topic. Involve literature. The last sentence(s) of this section should be a statement of your research objectives or hypotheses. Slides of your animal would work well in this section. Know how to pronounce all of the words in your talk. MATERIALS AND METHODS This will also be a brief section in which you describe what you did and where you did it. Don’t short-change this part of the presentation. Describe the locality, habitat, and relevant environmental conditions of your field site. Slides of the site would enhance your descriptions. If your work was done in the lab, describe your animal care, experimental design, and procedures. Most groups will say something about sampling, sample size, replication, and statistical procedures. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (combined or separate) This will be the longest section of the talk and will describe and provide interpretations of measurements and observations. Show tables and figures that will support your presentation of results. Your interpretations of data should involve both common sense and an understanding derived from the literature. CONCLUSION This will be nothing more than a few sentences that provide the take home message for your audience.
IMPORTANT TIPS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION Rehearse. STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND FACE YOUR AUDIENCE (a reason to rehearse). Don’t read your slides to the audience … if reading is to be done, let your audience do it. Paraphrase your slides and provide additional relevant information. Address your visual aids on the room screen with a pointer. Be tasteful about colors, backgrounds, and animation. Know pronunciations of all words (e.g., species names). Rehearse.
Due May 6 at 7 pm: the Power Point file of the project presentation Due May 7 at 8 am: 1) 1-page outline of the presentation that indicates each speaker’s contribution 2) hard copies of two cited articles 3) data notebook
Each group must keep a single data book that is used by everyone working on the project. Be consistent and thorough about making entries in the data book. It will be submitted at the end of the semester and evaluated as part of the final grade.
