Miller/Harley - Preface

Preface

This General Zoology Laboratory Manual is intended for students taking their first course in zoology. Provided are exercises and experiences that will help students: (1) understand the general principles that unite animal biology, (2) appreciate the diversity found in the animal kingdom and understand the evolutionary relationships that explain this diversity, (3) become familiar with the structure and function of vertebrate organ systems and appreciate some of the evolutionary changes that took place in the development of those organ systems, and (4) develop problem-solving skills.

The fourth edition of General Zoology Laboratory Manual has been carefully edited for clarity and conciseness, and important additions to the manual have been made. Numerous older photographs and drawings have been replaced. The glossary has been expanded. The fourth edition has been made more interactive than the third by expanding the Student Worksheets at the end of each exercise and adding a prelaboratory quiz at the beginning of each exercise. This quiz helps students evaluate their readiness for the laboratory exercise and can be used by instructors to assess student preparation. Nineteen black-and-white plates of dissected specimens have been added to aid students during their dissections. The coverage of scientific method in exercise 1 has been expanded. In recent years, cladistic analysis of evolutionary relationships among animals has become increasingly important in zoology. Exercise 7 is a new exercise that introduces students to principles of animal taxonomy and cladistics using animal models. Other exercises in unit II apply these principles by having students use class characteristics studied in an exercise to construct a cladogram for the animal phylum studied.

Pedagogy in the fourth edition has retained popular features from the third edition. Review questions are in the form of "Stop and Ask Yourself" boxes and worksheets, which appear at the end of each exercise and are in a tear-out format so they can be used as graded homework assignments. Boldfaced type is used in the manual to emphasize important terms for each exercise. These include names of structures and concepts students will encounter on exams. A list of key terms is located at the end of each exercise and highlights important new terms and concepts introduced in each exercise. Activities to be carried out by students are highlighted by icons at the beginning (u ) and end (t ) of a set of instructions.

The plan for this manual is as follows:

Unit 1 contains exercises that focus on general biological principles. Exercise 1 includes an introduction to microscopes and scientific method. Problem-solving activities have been incorporated into exercises 1, 3, 4, and 6.

Unit II is a survey of the animal phyla. Exercise 7 is an introduction to taxonomy and cladistics. A brief "evolutionary perspective" begins other exercises in this section and describes the position of the phylum in question within the animal kingdom. Each exercise includes coverage of class representatives, and some have activities that illustrate processes unique to the particular animal group. Most of these exercises conclude with a discussion of evolutionary relationships within the phylum studied and an activity involving cladistic analysis of these relationships.

Unit III is a systematic approach to the study of vertebrate structure, function, and evolution. The evolutionary orientation of unit III helps the student understand the changes that occurred in the evolution of vertebrate organ systems. Many activities ask the student to think critically about the adaptive significance of what is being observed. The shark is used in demonstration dissections, and the rat is the primary specimen for student dissection. Specimens illustrating intermediate stages of evolution of the particular organ system are used as demonstrations when materials are readily available to the instructor.

This manual includes more than can be covered in a one-semester course, which allows some flexibility in course planning based on the preferences of individual instructors. For example, some instructors have a very brief survey of the animal phyla in their labs and focus on units I and III. These instructors can select a few activities in each of the exercises of unit II to survey the animal phyla in a few laboratory periods. Other instructors may omit most of unit I if the students have had general biological principles in another course.

An Instructor’s Resource Guide is available for all adopters of the fourth edition of General Zoology Laboratory Manual. This guide lists all materials required for preparing each laboratory exercise. It also gives formulas for solutions and media and includes suggestions for incorporating living material into the laboratory. Answers to the "Prelaboratory Quiz," "Stop and Ask Yourself" questions, and the worksheet questions are also included in the resource guide.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank those individuals who helped to make this laboratory manual possible. Many comments from users of the third edition were most helpful in preparation of the fourth edition. The comments and suggestions of the reviewers were most helpful. Reviewers of the fourth edition were

Barbara J. Abraham Hampton University

Sarah Cooper Beaver College

Tom Dale Kirtland Community College

Inez Devlin-Kelly Bakersfield College

Peter K. Ducey State University at New York at Cortland

DuWayne Englert Southern Illinois University

Dennis Englin The Masters College

Nels H. Granholm South Dakota State University

W. E. Hamilton Penn State University

Michael Hartman Haywood Community College

Kenneth D. Hoover Jacksonville University

Barbara Hunnicutt Seminole Community College

Karen E. McCracken Defiance College

Thomas C. Moon California University of Pennsylvania

Fred H. Schindler Indian Hills Community College

They will recognize that many of their suggestions are incorporated into the manual. The writing of this laboratory manual would have been impossible without the help of the WCB editors and their staff. The advice of Marge Kemp and Adora Pozolinski has proven extremely valuable. The project manager for the fourth edition was Gloria G. Schiesl. Her ability to keep the manuscript moving through all phases of production is greatly appreciated. I am also grateful for the support of Carol, Trey, Jeremy, Eric, and Bryan during this revision and for their understanding when this project encroached upon family time.

Stephen A. Miller, Ph.D.

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