BIO 315 ENTIRE COURSE

BIO 315 Week 1 DQ 1

What is your personal definition of ecology? How do the definitions of ecology presented by
Essentials of Ecology and the one proposed by Ernst Haeckel vary? Which of these previous
definitions of ecology do you agree with and why?

BIO 315 Week 1 DQ 2

What is the difference between evolution and natural selection? What factors make the Galapagos
Islands such a fertile ground for observing evolution and natural selection? What are some other sites
that you might propose to observe evolution and natural selection in action?

BIO 315 Week 1 Individual Assignment Beren Robinson Field Study Paper
Resources: Field Study by Beren Robinson in Ch. 5 of Elements of Ecology
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper explaining the important aspects of the study and how they relate to
ecology and evolution.
Describe original observations of researchers.
Describe the study in detail:
Research questions of study Hypotheses Variables in study
Discuss research findings.
Include a brief, general overview of how ecologists use evidence and observation to quantify results
before going in to the specific findings of this case study.
Discuss evolution and its relationship to natural selection.
What role do they play in ecology?
What role do they play specifically in the case study chosen?
Propose a follow-up study based on the case study. Briefly address the following questions:
What variables would you alter?
What additional findings might you expect to discover on aspects of evolution or natural selection in
your proposed study?
BIO 315 Week 2 DQ 1
What is intraspecific competition? What are some examples of how the limited quantity of resources
affect intraspecific completion? How does intraspecific competition affect species distribution and their
evolution
BIO 315 Week 2 DQ 2
differentiation or complementary experiments explain aspects of evolutionary theory?

BIO 315 Week 2 DQ 3

Describe the three main types of predator defined in ecology. How does an understanding of fitness,
abundance, and foraging behavior help us understand predation? How does environmental
patchiness or fragmentation affect predatorprey populations?
BIO 315 Week 2 Learning Team Exercises
Complete the following:
After reading Ch. 1 of Essentials of Ecology, create an outline of the main interactions that happen
between organisms, populations, and communities in an assigned ecosystem. Develop an outline and
suggest additional interactions that might be important.
Examine the importance and applicability of this weeks concepts to each team member and to
society in general.
Post your teams outline from this exercise via the Assignments link. Briefly describe how this activity
applied to the weekly concepts.
Post a 150- to 200- word summary from your teams examination and discussion of the weekly
concepts exercise via the Assignments link
BIO 315 Week 2 Individual Assignment Environment, Resources, and Competition
Resources: University of Phoenix Materials: Temperature and Precipitation, Intraspecific Competition,
and Interspecific Competition located on your student website
Imagine you are an ecologist studying ecosystems. In this assignment, you are given a set of data to
study.
Review the Temperature and Precipitation data, Intraspecific Competition data, and Interspecific
Competition data located on your student website.
Analyze the data provided in three graphs.
Environment, Resources, and Competition Presentation:
Prepare a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentationthat answers the following questions:
What are the major characteristics of the environment of the chosen ecosystem?
How do these characteristics affect the animals, plants, and their resources living in the
environment?
Review the temperature and precipitation data. From the data, what can you determine about the
role of precipitation and temperature in biomes?
Review the Intraspecific Competition data. How is the predator community affected by low numbers
of prey? How do high numbers of predators affect the prey community? What are some possible
effects on other species?
Review the Interspecific Competition data, what behavioral data might be inferred from this graph?
What factors might be responsible for the success of the older mothers offspring? Propose a scenario
that might explain the data recorded. How might interspecific competition affect the reproductive
success?
What implications can you infer from the three graphs about the relationship between plants and
animals?
BIO 315 Week 2 Intraspecific Competition and Interspecific Competition Presentation
Resources: University of Phoenix Materials: Intraspecific Competition, and Interspecific Competition
Create a 12- to 15-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that includes the following:
An overview of intraspecific competition and interspecific competition: Explain these
terms, and provide a brief overview of each.

How does intraspecific competition and interspecific competition affect populations?

Review the intraspecific competition data in the University of Phoenix Material:
Intraspecific Competition.

How is the predator community affected by low numbers of prey?

How do high numbers of predators affect the prey community?
What are some possible effects on other species?
Review the interspecific competition data in the University of Phoenix Material:
Interspecific Competition.
What behavioral data might be inferred from this graph?
What factors might be responsible for the success of the older mothers' offspring?
Propose a scenario that might explain the data recorded. How might interspecific
competition affect the reproductive success?

How does intraspecific competition and interspecific competition drive natural selection
and evolution?
Include data in the graphs to support your answers.
Format your presentation consistent with APA guidelines. Reference the student website as well as
any outside sources used.
For Local Campus students, these are 5- to 10- minute oral presentations accompanied
by Microsoft PowerPointpresentations.

For Online and Directed Study students, these are MicrosoftPowerPointpresentations

with speaker notes. Speaker notes should address what you would say in an oral presentation.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

BIO 315 Week 2 Environment and Resources

Write an 750- to 1,050-word, two-part paper discussing plant and animal adaptations.
Part 1
Choose one plant and one animal living within 40 miles of your current residence. Briefly
describe your environment including temperature and precipitation. Identify the biome in which
you live.
Describe how your chosen plant has adapted to its current environment. Does the plant
use photosynthesis? Does it compete with other plants? How does the plant adjust to
temperature extremes? Describe specifically how the plant has adapted.
Describe how your chosen animal has adapted to its current environment. How does it
obtain food? How does the animal compensate for temperature extremes? Describe specifically
how the animal has adapted.
Part 2
In Part 2, you will transport your chosen plant and animal from Part 1 into a different biome. You may
choose any other biome you wish.
Briefly describe the new biome, including temperature and precipitation averages.
Describe how your chosen plant will have to adapt to its new environment. Identify the
primary challenges the plant will face. What will be the biggest threats to its survival? What
trade-offs would you expect as a result of the new adaptations?
Describe how your chosen animal will have to adapt to its new environment. Identify the
primary challenges the animal will face. What will be the biggest threats to its survival? What
trade-offs would you expect as a result of the new adaptations?
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

BIO 315 Week 3 DQ 1

What are some ways ecologists define populations? What are some of the factors that regulate
populations? What challenges do ecologists encounter when studying populations?

BIO 315 Week 3 DQ 2

What is demographic stochasticity? Why are small populations more susceptible to extinction from
demographic stochasticity than larger populations? Why is demographic stochasticity important to
biologists?

BIO 315 Week 3 DQ 3

What is primary and secondary production? What are the limiting factors on primary production in
terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems? Why is it important for an ecologist to be able to understand the
energy pathways through trophic levels?

BIO 315 Week 3 DQ 4

What is a biogeochemical cycle? Describe how the hydrological cycle transports water through
ecosystems. What are some examples of both benign and disruptive human contributions to
biogeochemical cycles?

BIO 315 Week 3 Individual Assignment Yeast Culture Lab

Outline, Yeast Lab Worksheet, and Yeast Lab Spreadsheet located on your student website
Review the Yeast Lab Worksheet. It contains images of four yeast samples that were observed at 0,
24, 48, 72, and 96 hours.
Count the number of yeast cultures observed at each interval.
Record the data on the Yeast Lab Spreadsheet and analyze the graphs.
Write a lab report of 1,050- to 1,400-words following the Lab Report Outline provided on your student
website. Address all points listed in the outline.
Format your lab report consistent with APA guidelines
BIO 315 Week 3 Learning Team Exercise
Ecosystem Stability
Complete the following:
Identify producers and consumers in your native biome and answer the following questions:
How would removing a producer affect that biome?
What if a consumer is removed?
How are the results different?
In what situation would an ecosystem be unaffected by the removal of producer or consumer?
Examine the importance and applicability of this weeks concepts to each team member and to
society in general.
Post your teams responses from this exercise in a 150- to 200-word summary via the Assignments
link. Briefly describe how this activity applied to the weekly concepts.
BIO 315 Week 4 DQ 1
Define the following terms: biome, mosaic, and patch. What role does scale play in the study of
ecology? Why are aquatic ecosystems classified differently than terrestrial biomes?
BIO 315 Week 4 DQ 2
How does climate influence a biome? What are some of the factors that determine an areas biome?
Why do ecologists study the transitional zones between biomes?

BIO 315 Week 4 DQ 3

What is the difference between species richness and diversity? What are some of the challenges in
determining the species richness of a community? How can these challenges be overcome?

BIO 315 Week 4 DQ 4

How do alien species affect ecosystems? How might alien plants and animals influence evolutionary
differentiation? Why is understanding diversity and species richness so challenging for ecologists?

BIO 315 Week 4 Learning Team Assignment Ecosystem WebQuest and Presentation
Resource: Ecosystem WebQuest located on your student website
Select an ecosystem to examine. Obtain faculty approval for your ecosystem.
Navigate the Ecosystem WebQuest and answer the questions located within it.
Prepare a 9- to 10- slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation describing your teams selected
ecosystem and Ecosystem WebQuest. Answer all of the questions within the WebQuest.
Present the Ecosystem WebQuest and Presentation.
BIO 315 Week 5 Learning Team Exercises
Case Study Review and Discussion
Complete the following:
Read the field study in Ch. 20 of Elements of Ecology and discuss the questions at the end.
Discuss any concept that a team member is having a difficult time understanding.
Examine the importance and applicability of this weeks concepts to each team member and to
society in general.
Post your teams solutions from this exercise as a 150- to 200-word summary via the Assignments
link. Briefly describe how this activity applied to the weekly concepts
BIO 315 Week 5 Individual Assignment Estuary Project Paper
Resource: The San Francisco Estuary Project website
Read the Introduction to the San Francisco Estuary Project Comprehensive Conservation and
Management Plan found on the San Francisco Estuary Projects (SFEP) website at
http://sfep.abag.ca.gov
Select the Publications link on the left-hand side of the site.
Select the Complete CCMP link under the heading Comprehensive Conservation and Management
Plan (CCMP) revised 2007.
Choose one of the following topics to examine more closely.
Wetlands Management Water Use Pollution Prevention and Reduction Dredging and Waterway
Modification Land Use Management
Write a 1,200- to 1,400-word paper on the restoration of the San Francisco Estuary in terms of one of
the above aspects. Discuss the abiotic and biotic characteristics of the San Francisco Estuary.
Answer the following questions:
How has population growth in the San Francisco Bay area affected the estuary?
How has the habitat fracture in the San Francisco Estuary been increased by human behavior?
How is conservation being used to promote and maintain the biodiversity of plants and animals in the
San Francisco Estuary?
Assess the progress made in conserving the biodiversity of the San Francisco Estuary.
BIO 315 Week 5 Concept Brochure
esource: Tri-Fold Pamphlet Guide
Choose one objective from the class, and create a brochure demonstrating the concepts in this
objective.
Imagine you are creating a brochure for a future BIO/315 student to explain one topic that will be
covered in the class.
Include the following:

Clearly state your chosen objective.

Identify three concepts needed to master this objective.
Summarize each concept with words, pictures or both.
Include photographs, as appropriate.
Include at least two sources in addition to your text.

BIO 315 Week 5 San Francisco Estuary Project

Resource: The San Francisco Estuary Project website
Read the Introduction to the San Francisco Estuary Project Comprehensive Conservation and
Management Plan found on the San Francisco Estuary Project's (SFEP) website
athttp://sfep.abag.ca.gov
Clickthe About the Estuary link at the top of the site.
Click the Documents & Reports link under the heading, and then select An Introduction
to the Ecology of the San Francisco Estuary.
Feel free to use any other resources on the website in addition to this report.

Option 1: Estuary Project Paper

Write a 1,200- to 1,400-word paper on the restoration of the San Francisco Estuary. Answer the
following:
Describe the San Francisco Estuary Project.
How has population growth in the San Francisco Bay area affected the estuary?
How has the habitat fracture in the San Francisco Estuary been increased by human
behavior?
How is the project focusing on maintaining the biodiversity of plants and animals in the
San Francisco Estuary?
Assess the progress made in conserving the biodiversity of the San Francisco Estuary.
How would you personally assess the progress? Is it working?
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.