Dolphin/Biological Investigations, 5/e - Highlights/Table of Contents

Highlights/Table of Contents

The core of this manual is tried and true. Now in its fifth edition, its clarity, usefulness, and practicality have been proven by generations of students. This manual has always emphasized experimental and quantitative science, and the new revision brings these emphases to the front. The title in this edition reflects an emphasis on Investigative Biology. This commitment is reinforced by a $500 national prize for the best lab report based on a topic in the manual. Chapter titles have also been changed to reflect an investigative approach. Most lab topics now include hypothesis testing or comparative approaches.

The fifth edition includes 70 new illustrations/photographs and is four-color throughout. This lab manual is one of the best illustrated general biology manuals available.

Web Site

The web site for Biological Investigations is expanded. It includes

Links to several hundred WWW sites with information that pertains to each Lab Topic for students and instructors who want to go beyond the minimum.
The Lab Pre Guide, originally written by Kathi Oulman and revised by Chris Minor, represents 10 years of experience in preparing for multi-section labs at Iowa State University using this manual.
Instructor's Resources/Tips section to help instructors prepare and conduct labs easily.
Student Journal of Biological Investigations, compiled from the papers submitted in the national lab report competition associated with this fifth edition.
Bulletin board, where instructors can post comments to the author and to each other.

Lab Topics

Each lab topic has an excellent synopsis of important concepts needed as background for the labs so students can grasp the context of the work to be done in lab. The lab directions are clear and concise. Students are asked to record data in tables and to answer probing questions placed throughout the text. Critical thinking and lab summary questions ask the students to summarize their observations, draw conclusions and apply findings to real-world situations. References to excellent simulations available on CD-ROM from various publishers are included in the lab manual, guiding students who may want to pursue topics in greater depth.

Lab Topic 1

Science: A Way of Gathering Knowledge. The first lab topic is completely new. It is intended to introduce students to the scientific method. They will formulate a class hypothesis and test it. A unique section on critical reading skills for scientific information is included.

Section 1 Basis of Life

Techniques in Microscopy. Minor changes improve the clarity of this introduction to microscope techniques.

Cellular Structure Reflects Function. Text changes emphasize the concept that the structure of cells reflects their function, and asks the students to apply their knowledge by identifying unknowns.

Quantitative Techniques and Statistics. A topic often not included in lab manuals, but one that is necessary for Biology majors. Students learn to handle pipettes, balances, and spectrophotometers. Introduces the idea of statistical variation that will be used in later labs.

Determining the Properties of an Enzyme. Changes made in this lab emphasize hypothesis formation and testing, and using data to reach conclusions about hypotheses. This is a lab that works for beginning students and yields excellent data on pH and temperature optima for an enzyme.

How Do Materials Enter Cells? Traditional investigations of diffusion and osmosis are augmented by a revised section on vacular pumping rates in Paramecium emphasizing hypothesis testing.

Section 2 Continuity of Life

Measuring Cellular Respiration. The hypothesis testing aspects of measuring oxygen consumption in pea seedlings is emphasized. Students are given a hypothetical consulting role and are asked to write a report that summarizes their observations.

Determining Chromosome Numbers in Mitotic Cells. Using standard Fuelgen staining techniques on onion root tip squashes, students are asked to use their knowledge of mitosis to identify and count chromosomes for this species. They are then asked to assume a consulting role and to write a lab report that presents their data for use in a horticultural patent trial.

Observing Meiosis and Determining Cross-Over Frequency. After studying meiosis in Ascaris eggs, students are introduced to the predictability of a scientific model of crossing over and are asked to collect data that tests the model. They then use a Chi-square test to determine it their results fit the predictions of the model.

Comparing Autosomal and Sex-Linked Inheritance. Students use models of chromosomal behavior during meiosis to predict outcomes from fruit fly crosses over two generations. They use a Chi-square test to accept or reject hypotheses based on the model.

Experiments with DNA. Students isolate DNA and use a standard curve to determine the amount that was isolated. They perform a bacterial transformation and test hypotheses about antibiotic resistance, using bacterial growth on plates as their assay.

Early Events in Animal Development. Students observe and compare early events in animal development. Directions are given for working with living sea urchin and chicken eggs as well as prepared slides.

Simulating Microevolutionary Events. Using predictions derived from the Hardy-Weinberg model, students test the influence of population size and natural selection on gene frequencies in simulated populations. An experimental section on UV-induced mutations in bacteria asks students to test hypotheses about dosage effects.

Section 3 Diversity and Phylogeny

Using Monerans as Experimental Organisms. Students investigate the diversity of Eubacteria, including Cyanobacteria. They perform several tests used in determinative bacteriology, and investigate applied bacteriology by making yogurt.

Diversity and Phylogenetic Trends Among the Protists. Students investigate the incredible diversity of protists and investigate phylogentic trends leading to multicellularity.

Fungal Diversity and Symbiotic Relationships. Students look at the diversity found in four phyla of fungi and investigate lichens and mycorrhizae as examples of symbiosis.

Plant Phylogeny: Adaptation to Terrestrial Living. Students investigate the broad theme of adaptation to land by comparing the structure and life cycles of mosses, liverworts, ferns, pines and flowering plants. New sections have been added on the lesser gymnosperms, and an introduction to the angiosperms.

Animal Phylogeny: Evolution of Body Plan. Students are asked to collect evidence to test the hypothesis that an evolutionary sequence from simple to complex can be found in the phyla included in this lab. A new section on collecting nematodes from soil samples adds an ecological component.

Protostomes I: Evolutionary Development of Complexity. Students are asked to compare major evolutionary trends seen in these animals as compared to those in the previous lab.

Protostomes II: A Body Plan Allowing Great Diversity. By studying several arthropods, students will see how a general body plan can be modified to fill an incredible number of niches. New illustrations and a key to insect orders improve this lab.

Deuterostomes: Origins of the Vertebrates. Starting with the Echinoderms and proceeding through the lower Chordates, students develop an appreciation of the origin of the vertebrates.

Section 4 Plant Form and Function

Investigating Form and Function in Photosynthesis. Students look at leaf structure, isolate chlorophyll and determine its absorption spectrum, and test hypotheses relating rate of photosynthesis to light intensity. A new section on hand section leaves and comparing leaf structure is included.

Pathways of Fluid Movement in Plants. This lab has been refocused on the concepts of primary and secondary growth of vascular tissues as well as how form reflects function. A description of hand sectioning techniques has been added so that students may prepare some of their own materials.

Angiosperm: Reproduction, Germination, and Development. Students study flower structure, gamete formation and fertilization. New sections have been added on plant callus culture and hormone effects on cell differentiation. Another new section provides directions for testing the effects of giberellins on Wisconsin Fast Plant mutant dwarf strains.

Section 5 Investigating Animal Form and Function

Investigating the Digestive and Gas Exchange Systems. Students start their dissection of the fetal pig integrating microscopic and gross anatomy. They investigate the feeding behavior of Hydra and measure human lung capacities using a respirometer.

Investigating Circulatory Systems. Material has been rearranged to proceed from invertebrate to vertebrate anatomy integrating microscopic and gross anatomy of the fetal pig. A new section on the histology of blood has been added.

Investigating the Excretory and Reproductive Systems. Students comparatively study invertebrate excretory systems including making preparations of living flame cells from planarians. They integrate the gross and microscopic studies of the mammalian systems.

Investigating the Properties of Muscle and Skeletal Systems. Students study the gross and microscopic anatomy of vertebrate systems. A new section on the physiology of muscle uses physiogrip transducers connected to a computer to measure the properties of muscle, replacing the old exercise based on frogs.

Investigating the Nervous and Sensory Systems. Students learn the gross and microscopic anatomy of the mammalian brain, spinal cord, eye and ear. Directions are included for measuring some of the properties of cones in human eyes and for measuring conduction velocity of the giant nerve fibers in an earthworm.

Section 6 Ecological Biology

Statistically Analyzing Simple Behaviors. Students collect data and use Chi-square statistics to analyze hypotheses regarding photactic, geotactic and chemotactic behavior in fruit flies.

Estimating Population Size and Growth. Students estimate the sizes of theoretical populations using quadrat sampling and mark and recapture techniques, calculating experimental errors. They plot data showing logistic growth in a population of amoebas. Using a computer program they test hypotheses regarding population growth.

Standard Assays of Water Quality. Students test for coliform bacteria in water samples. They measure dissolved oxygen using a micro-Winkler technique in light and dark bottles containing aquatic plants. By using water samples from local bodies of water, instructors can make this an investigative lab with local implications.

The Appendices include directions for how to:

Use significant figures in scientific calculations

Make graphs

Use simple statistics including standard deviation and the Chi-square test

Write a lab report

Use the Internet

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