Dolphin/Biological Investigations, 5/e

Preface

This edition of the lab manual is dedicated to the many students and colleagues who have been my patient teachers. I hope that it returns some of what has been learned so that a new generation of biologists may soon add to our wonder of nature's ways while advancing our understanding of life's diverse forms and processes.

Students who use this lab manual perform modern and classical experiments while testing hypotheses. The directions are easy to follow and lead them efficiently through the lab work. They collect quantitative data and are guided in their data analysis up to the point where they make a decision regarding the hypotheses. In so doing, students learn the methods of science while participating in discovery.

Nature of the Revisions
As reflected in the subtitle, this lab manual reflects fundamental biological principles based on the common thread of evolution: form reflects function; unity despite diversity; and the adaptive processes of life. The manual was written for use in a two-semester introductory biology course serving life science majors. I have emphasized investigatory, quantitative, and comparative approaches to studying the life sciences and have integrated physical sciences principles where appropriate. In choosing topics for inclusion, I sought to achieve a balance between experimental, observational, and comparative activities. The comments of several expert reviewers were incorporated into this revision, clarifying many points from previous editions. Approximately 70 new photographs and illustrations were prepared by illustrators working under my direction, making this one of the most thoroughly illustrated manuals available for general biology courses. The activities included in each lab topic have been tested in multisection lab courses and are known to work well in the hands of students.

Throughout the manual, the concept of hypothesis testing as the basic method of inquiry has been emphasized. Starting with a new lab topic 1 on the scientific method, and reiterated in experimental topics throughout the manual, students are asked to form hypotheses to be tested during their lab work and then are asked to reach a conclusion to accept or reject their hypotheses. Hypothesis testing and a comparative trend analysis also have been added into the more traditional labs dealing with diversity so that students are guided to look across several labs in reaching conclusions. Labs investigating physiological systems and morphology emphasize the concept of form reflects function. Comparative activities are included to demonstrate the adaptations found in several organisms.

New lab topics have been added to this edition. Coverage of plants has been expanded in the plant diversity section and a new lab on the role of hormones in plant development using Wisconsin Fast Plants and tissue culture are now included. There is a new experiment using a quantitative assay of soil nematodes that can be adapted to compare soil fauna from different habitats and gives students additional experience with live animals. The muscle physiology lab has been rewritten as an investigation of the twitch response of human finger muscles using computers to record and analyze the response.

Organization of Lab Topics
The lab topics have a standard format. All start with a list of equipment, organisms, and solutions to be used during the lab, informing students about what they will encounter in the lab. A brief introduction explains the biological principles to be investigated. These introductions are not meant to replace a textbook. They are included to summarize ideas that students will have had in lecture and to discuss how they apply to the lab. The lab instructions are detailed and allow students to proceed at their own pace through either experimental or observational lab work. Dangers are noted and explained. Data tables help students organize their lab observations. Questions are interspersed to avoid a cookbook approach to science and spaces are provided for answers and sketches. New terms are in boldface the first time used and are followed by a definition. At the end of each lap topic, several alternative suggestions are given for summarizing the lab work. A homework assignment usually describes a writing assignment or lab report. Critical thinking questions emphasize applications. A lab summary based on several questions organizes the reporting of lab activities in a more stepwise approach. An Internet journey section points the students toward information sources on the WWW and further readings direct them toward textbooks typically used in undergraduate specialty courses or to readings from Scientific American. Many of the topics include references to computer simulations that can be purchased on CD-ROMs from various vendors. Appendices include discussions of the use of significant figures, directions on making graphs, a description of elementary statistics, instructions of how to write a lab report, and a section on how to use the Internet and WWW.

Acknowledgments
I would especially like to thank Chris Minor, the lab coordinator at Iowa State University, for suggesting the inclusion of the new lab topic and for suggesting new lab activities dealing with plant development and human muscle contraction as well as numerous comments about previous editions.

I also wish to thank the critical reviewers who made constructive suggestions throughout the writing of this manual: William Barstow, University of Georgia; Daryl Sweeney, University of Illinois; Gerald Gates, University of Redlands; Marvin Druger, Syracuse University; Thomas Mertens, Ball State University; Cynthia M. Handler, University of Delaware; Stan Eisen, Christian Brothers College; Paul Biebel, Dickinson College; Stephen G. Saupe, St. Johns University (Minnesota); Sidney S. Herman, Lehigh University; Margaret Krawiec, Lehigh University; Charles Lycan, Tarrant County Junior College; Olukemi Adewusi, Ferris State University; Karel Rogers, Adams State College; Peter A. Lauzetta, Kingsborough Community College (CUNY); Maria Begonia, Jackson State University; Thomas Clark Bowman, Citadel Military College; Gary A. Smith, Tarrant County Junior College; Timothy A. Stabler, Indiana University Northwest; William J. Zimmerman, University of Michigan-Dearborn; and Nancy Segsworth, Capilano College (British Columbia).

Reviewers
Carolyn Alia, Sarah Lawrence College
Gordon Atkins, Andrews University
E. Rena Bacon, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Nina Caris, Texas A & M University
James T. Colbert, Iowa State University
Angela Cunningham, Baylor University
Carolyn Dodson, Chattanooga State Technical Community College
Frank J. Dye, Western Connecticut State University
Phyllis C. Hirsch, East Los Angeles College
Cathleen M. Jenkins, Cuyahoga Community College
Shelley Jones, Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Elaine King, Environmental Biologist, Consultant
Sonya Michaud Lawrence, Michigan State University
Brian T. Livingston, University of Missouri - Kansas City
Jacqueline S. McLaughlin, Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College
Susan Petro, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Gary A. Smith, Tarrant County Junior College
Joan F. Sozio, Stonehill College
David Steen, Andrews University
Geraldine W. Twitty, Howard University
Carl Vaughan, University of New Hampshire
Ming Y. Zheng, Houghton College

Connie Haakinson and Suzanne Guinn, editors at W.C. Brown Publishers, were most helpful during the preparation of the revisions, and I thank them for their patience and support. Special thanks goes to my friend and illustrator Dean Biechler who operates Chichaqua Bend Studios and to students of the Biological/Pre-Medical Illustration Program at Iowa State University. They prepared the illustrations for this and several of the earlier editions of the lab manual. By working directly with them, I have clarified many of my understandings of biology and have truly developed an appreciation of how form reflects function in biological systems. Last, but certainly not least, I thank my family-Judy, Jenny, Garth, Shannon and Lara-for their support throughout the preparation of this and earlier editions.

If you have questions or comments, please contact me by E-mail (wdolphin@iastate.edu).

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