Syllabus

BIOL 315 - ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY

WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Spring Semester 2023
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Instructor: Neal D. Mundahl
Office: 250 Pasteur
Telephone: (507) 457-5695
e-mail: nmundahl@winona.edu
Office Hours: MWF 8:00-9:00, 10:00-11:00, MW 1:00-3:00, or by appointment

Text: Environmental Science, by Miller & Spoolman

Evaluation:
- Four exams of equal value - 100 points each
- Lake Winona Chloride Project - 100 points
- Weekly news summaries & discussions - 300 points

Grading:
A percentage of the points earned out of the total possible points will be calculated for each student. You should earn the following percentage to be assured of a given grade: A - 90%, B - 80%, C - 70%, D - 60%.

Lecture Topics & Assigned Readings

Introduction/Interrelationships-Review - Chapter 1
Ecosystem Structure and Function-Review - Chapters 2-5
- food chains, food webs
- energy flow, nutrient cycling
- primary and secondary productivity
- succession and climax
- biomes
Population Dynamics and Control - Chapters 6-7

** Exam 1, Wednesday, 1 February 2023

Soil, Hunger, and Pesticides - Chapter 10
Water Resources - Chapter 11

** Exam 2, Monday, 27 February 2023

Water Pollution and Control - Chapter 11
Air Pollution - Chapters 15
Waste Management - Chapter 16
Mineral and Energy Resources - Chapters 12-13

Renewable Energy Resources

** Exam 3, Friday, 31 March 2023

Land Resource Issues - Chapters 8
Endangered Species - Chapter 9
Society and the Environment - Chapters 17

** Exam 4, Thursday, 4 May 2023, 8:00 AM

This course satisfies a 3 s.h. oral intensive requirement for University Studies.

The University Studies oral intensive requirement has six goals.  These goals are encompassed in requirements or learning activities that promote students’ abilities to:

• earn significant course credit through extemporaneous presentations;
• understand the features and types of speaking in their disciplines;
• adapt their speaking to field-specific audiences;
• receive appropriate feedback from teachers and peers, including suggestions for improvement;
• make use of technologies used for research and speaking in their fields; and
• learn the conventions of evidence, format, usage, and documentation in their fields.

Oral requirements for this course:

• Each student will participate actively in weekly discussions of current environmental issues in the news, as well as leading (in groups of 2 or 3 students) one discussion session during the semester.  Students will come prepared each week to discuss 10 news items that they have located in various print, broadcast, or internet media.  Discussion participation, leadership, and news summaries will be worth 280 points.  Discussion leaders will be evaluated by the instructor and the class.

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