Assignments

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Portfolio and Website Checklist

LECTURE ASSIGNMENTS

• 8/24 Introduction - Two-part assignment...
  
  1. Maintain a class journal. Include one entry for each lecture and each lab. The Journal should include for each entry:
     • brief summary of what you considered the key points
     • what you liked or found most helpful/useful
     • suggestions for improvement
  2. Explore the on-line lecture on the history of biology and the Land-Grant system.
     
  
  
• 09/06 Standard Operating Procedures:

  1. Prepare a Standard Operating Procedure for an activity which would typically be used in gathering of scientific information. Hand in a copy and place a copy on your web site

  2. Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's)
  Look up two chemicals that you might use in your research print it and place copies on your web site under # 3 lecture assignment
  

• 09/20 Information Technology & Science - Read about the history of the Internet from its inception as a single ARPANET node at UCLA in 1969 through the creation of the TCP/IP protocol in 1982 that made it possible for any computer to talk to any other across the growing decentralized network, to the birth of the WWW in 1992 and its explosive growth following the release of Mosaic a free powerful browser in 1993. Also read more about How the Internet Works.
  
  
• 9/27 Scientific Writing:

Gopen, G. D. and J. A. Swan. 1990. The Science of Scientific Writing. American Scientist. 78:550-558.
All students are expected to read this paper. Each group of students will be expected to the discussion of each of the following sections. You may wish to chose a major spokesman

• 10/04 Scientific Writing:

Select a unit of discourse from a scientific journal which is 500 to 1000 words. Provide a copy of this selected unit and indicate with notation (numbered) each of the "criteria" for meeting the reader's "expectations" discussed in Gopen and Swan's article. This assignment should be turned in as a hard copy, and need not be uploaded to your website.

• 10/11 Designing Research Projects:

For this assignement you are given two questions. You are to use your knoweledge of experimental design determine the objectives and research components in the hypothetical studies.

Due date: Wednesday Oct. 18, 2006

LAB ASSIGNMENTS

• 8/25 EndNote: Computer-based Bibliographic Technology
  
  For this assignment you are asked to compile a bibliography of 8 -10 references (minimum) on a topic of your choice. You must save the refernces in your EndNote Library.
  
  Download assignment (Description & Grading Rubic)
  
  Due date: Thursday Sept 7, 2006
  
  
• 09/07: World Wide Web I: Site Map of proposed web site. You are asked to develop a diagram (map) that shows how you plan to link pages of your student web site. See an example of a site map for a simple web site. A hardcopy of the map is due on Thursday Sept 14, 2006. You should also create an electronic image of the map, which you will upload to your web site at a later date.
  
  
• 09/07: Geospatial Technology 1: Dynamics of a GPS Readings. You are asked to record the GPS coordinates in UTM of a stationary object to determine the accuracy of the readings. Download a full description of the assignment and the method for calculating accuracy (deviation from the true reading). A write-up of the assignment is due on Thursday Oct 26, 2006 in three formats (html, pdf, and doc). The write-up in the three formats should be accessible and available for downloading from your web site.
  
  

• 09/14: Video clip: Select a video topic and obtain video
  recordings using a VHS, SVHS or digital video
  recorder. From these recordings, prepare a video clip about 10 to 15 seconds in length on a scientific subject of your choice.

09/21: 35mm and digital images:

1. Capture images using each type of 35 mm flash system: 1) macrobracket + 100mm macrolens and 2) ring flash + 55mm macrolens. Select two representative slides from each system to be included in your hard copy and electronic portfolios: A total of four slides. Some of these slides will need to be scanned and used in your electronic portfolio.
2. Capture several images using each of the  digital cameras  assigned to this lab exercise. These images  may be edited; one may be used for a color print to be included in your hard copy portfolio  and four of them  included in your electronic portfolio.

 

• 10/05: Adobe Photoshop Image- Compose an image in a Jpeg format using Adobe Photoshop. This image should be composed of at least 4 layers, including 3 images and a text layer.

 

• 10/12: Scientific Illustration- Prepare a black & white line drawing of an organism or piece of scientific apparatus (students choice), including a size indicating scale.

 

• 11/09: Confocal Microscopy-Read and provide a "one page" summary report on a research article that describes the application of a confocal procedure. Include an appropriate bibliographic citation