Welcome to Biology Lab 160N

Your lab instructor: Brett Klaassen

About me. I’m Brett Klaassen

About the courseWe will be using thinkbiologically.com (not moodle.)

Why? Because Moodle costs the University lots of money, it barely works correctly, and often falls short of basic requirements.

Also, thinkbiologically.com allows the information to be freely available to the public. Your tax dollars are paying me to be here, so the info should be free to everyone, right?

This course is somewhat random. Your first three lectures were on the golden ratio, the scientific method, marsupial wolves, and atoms. This will be both exciting and frustrating. Sorry.

This class is really your final chance to get a basic understanding of science. It’s all uphill from here.

Sorry for the excessive text.

About today’s lab

We’re gonna learn the a form of the scientific method What are two important aspects of being a scientist?1. creativity. 2. stubbornness.

Marsupial and placental wolf skull anatomy• Comparative anatomy • Evolution vs Creationism? Nah. It’s not a competition. Faith cannot be

scientifically verified.

Then, there’s a QUIZ (sorry.)

Scientific MethodWhat’s wrong with this image?

Scientific Method

Step 1 is not “observe” …it’s to become an expert, so you can observe critically.

(Nice work, team. You’re already doing it.)

It takes a lot of practice to observe and think of original ideas. Most scientists aren’t even good at it.

Scientific Method

In this lab, we will practice observing and generating questions every week.

It’s easier said than done, but this should simplify things:

Question – what is interesting here?

Hypothesis – What do you think is going on? State it in a testable, falsifiable way.

Prediction – What will happen if you alter something? If/Then statement.

Methods – What are you going to do to test your hypothesis? Try to account for hidden confounding variables and other possible reasons for the phenomenon.

Every week, you should have a QHPM somewhere on your lab write-up. If you get stuck, ask me before you leave lab and I’ll help you!

Thylacines and placental wolves

This is a canid phylogeny.

Notice, there are no Thylacines.

Today you’ll be making predictions based on two hypotheses:1. Both animals were created

similiarly2. The animals underwent

convergent evolution and evolved similar traits.

Thylacines and placental wolves

Focus on the following today:

1. The differences between carnivore and herbivore teeth and skull morphologies

2. How do you interpret these differences? Again, don’t tell me Evolution is right and Creation is wrong. Give me focused answers.

e.g. “Based on many skull characteristics, blah blah…”How does ecology affect the organism’s phenotype?What makes the species different ecologically and morphometrically?

And don’t forget about your QHPM.

Have fun!