Transcript Document

Bio 200 section C
Welcome to Evolutionary Biology
Instructor:
Charles Fourtner Ph.D.
Professor Biological Sciences
Faculty Athletics Representative to NCAA
Office = 211 Cooke Hall
email = [email protected]
office hours = 9:00 to 12:00 every week day
http://www.bio200.buffalo.edu
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What are my expectations of you?
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4.
5.
Hard work in lecture and lab
Serious attention to concepts covered
Understanding of competition
Good sportsmanship and courteous behavior
Use my office hours and my Friday morning
Q & A sessions.
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What are your expectation of the
course??
1.
2.
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5.
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Your trip in the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge this semester
Each of you will have a teaching intern that will assist
you in planning your trip, overseeing your project,
developing and writing your paper.
The intern will meet with you in lab the first week of
lab and outline a strategy for you. Each intern is
required to make two trips to the refuge and you are
greatly encourage to go at the same time as your
intern. You may go on your own but you must be in
contact with your intern when you make your trip.
Consider taking a UB ZIPCAR if you have a license
and no vehicle..
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Needs
You should take:
•binoculars
•writing and drawing material
•Something to sit on -- a camp chair
•A camera (cell phones are wonderful)
•Insect repellent
•Some measuring device.
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Teaching interns
Cody Coram
C-1 & C-2
M
16:30
[email protected]
Dena Hayes
C-3 & C-4
M
16:30
[email protected]
Almedina Djesevic
C-5 & C-6
T
9:30
[email protected]
Alisa Li
C-7 & C-8
T
9:30
[email protected]
Megan Klycek
C-9 & C-10
T
19:30
[email protected]
Brian Stutzman
C-11 & C-13 W
13:00
[email protected]
James Kostek
C12 & C-14
W
13:00
[email protected]
Steve Grisafi
C-15 & C-16 Tr
13:00
[email protected]
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What is Evolution
Change through time.
Physical examples
1. Plate tectonics
2. Mountain lift zones
3. Volcanic activity
4. Atmospheric changes in gas density
5. Right here in western NewYork
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Biological examples
1. YOU
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What is Science
Science refers in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base
or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or
predictable type of outcome. Wikipedia
Science…is a way of knowing…is the organized,
systematic enterprise that gathers knowledge about the
world and condenses the knowledge into testable laws
and principles. E.O.Wilson
Science is:
A body of facts and principles about the physical world
A method of discovery
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Characteristics of Science
1.
2.
3.
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5.
Repeatability of observations and experiments
Economy of explanation:
Law of Parsimony OCCAM’S RAZOR
Largest amount of information with least effort
Measurements are used
Science stimulates further discovery
Conciliance: Principles of many fields are
consistent with the discovery
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Types of Reasoning
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Deductive reasoning
General Principles to individual events
Inductive reasoning
Specific events to General Principles
Probabilistic statements
Hypothetical statements
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Characteristics of a good Hypothesis
•Simple
•Consistent with known facts
•Probable
•Uses physical explanations
•Stimulates research
•Makes predictions
•Testable
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Hypothetico-Deductive Method
“Scientific Method”
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Step 1. Ask a question
Step 2. Form an hypothesis
Inductive reasoning
Step 3. Make predictions
Deductive reasoning
Step 4. Test the deductions through observations
and experimentation
Falsification test
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Is a giraffe’s neck long or short??

The Nature Institute - The Giraffe's Short Neck
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HYPOTHESIS ONE
Foraging
behavior
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HYPOTHESIS TW0
Aggressive Behavior
Mating display??
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HYPOTHESIS THREE

Giraffes are herbivores
Main mechanism of escape is probably running
As in many organism longer legs give greater
speed due to length of stride
Longer legs – more difficult to get
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Water
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Examples of other herbivores
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Feeding or water balance
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Step 5. Draw conclusions about
the validity of the hypothesis
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If observations and
analyses support the
hypothesis,
Then hypothesis is
valid
Leads to further
development of the
hypothesis
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If observations and
analyses do not support
the hypothesis,
Then hypothesis is
rejected
Leads to modification of
original hypothesis
Science is self correcting
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When is an hypothesis acceptable
1. When all attempts to falsify
it have failed
2. When it is accepted by the
scientific community
i.e. “True beyond all
reasonable doubt”
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Hypothesis
Guess
Theory
Paradigm
Major conceptual
work
Most comprehensive
model of Science
Science moves from:
speculative
to
certitude
simple
to
elaborate
“Little explanatory
power”
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“great explanatory
power”
to
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