B E N T O N H I G H

*Zoology Instructor: Mrs. Erin Nash

Room 307
erin.nash@sjsd.k12.mo.us

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives.
It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin
The Scientific Study of the Animal Kingdom

Scientific Inquiry Comparative Anatomy
How is research What similarities exist
conducted in between different
zoology? How can I members of the animal
use scientific tools & kingdom? What do
methods to find the differences between
answers to my the wing of a bat and
questions about the wing of a bird
animals? reveal about their
history?
Evolution Classification Animal Interactions Animal Behavior
How does a What makes an How do animals How does an animals
population adapt to organism an depend upon other behavior affect its
changes in its animal? animals? What is survival and chances
environment? What Is a hawk more closely the difference of reproduction?
factors drive the related to a human or between predator and What is a social
evolution of a a dinosaur? How do prey? Is having a animal? How does
species? we know? parasite always reproduction affect
bad? behavior?

Subphylum: Urochordata However, this is a subject that REQUIRES

Course Description
Welcome to the 2007-2008 school year
and ZOOLOGY in particular. This class
is one year in length, and it will cover
many aspects of the science of animals. It
is designed to be an in-depth, challenging
course. Specific areas of study will
include:
ANIMALIA SYSTEMATICS
Phylum: Porifera (sponges)
Phylum: Cnidaria (corals, anemones,
jellyfish, etc)
Phylum: Ctenophora (comb jellies)
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
(flatworms)Phylum: Nematoda
(roundworms)
Phylum: Annelida (segmented
worms)Phylum: Molluska (mollusks)
Phylum: Arthropoda (primarily
crustacea)Phylum: Echinodermata
(echinoderms)Phylum: Chordata (chordates)
(tunicates)Subphylum: Cephalochordata
(amphioxus)
Subphylum: Vertebrata (vertebrates)
Class: Agnatha (jawless fishes)
Class: Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fishes)
Class: Osteichthyes (bony fishes)
Class: Amphibia (amphibians)
Class: Reptilia (reptiles)
Class: Aves (birds)
Class: Mammalia (mammals)
The above topics will be covered by the
MODERN BIOLOGY text by Holt and
several other supplementary sources.
Your textbook will also be accessible to
you online throughout this course. This
means that if you have internet access at
home, you may not need to lug this text
home! The course is also lab and activity
intensive. For this and other reasons, it
should be an interesting and fun class for
all who are enrolled.
you to study. In a one-year biology
course you may learn as many or more
words than if you were to take a foreign
language course in the same time period.
Obviously, there is just too much to
remember without taking the time to
study. Be prepared to plan your study
schedule so that you can review
important ideas and concepts, read your
book, and memorize definitions for a
small amount of time EACH DAY. This is
much favorable to really fouling your
time up before due dates by cramming to
get everything in!
You will find out in the first two weeks
that this class will incorporate many
different types of learning activities such
as: hands-on labs, dissection labs,
demonstrations, one-to-one laptop
computing activities, cooperative
learning, lecture and large group
 Z O O L O G Y

Biodiversity is the greatest treasure we

have... Its diminishment is to be
prevented at all cost.
~Thomas Eisner, Chemical Ecologist

As stated above, a key
component of this course is
the utilization of dissection as
a tool to understand the
complex systems of living
things and to see how they all
relate to one another. It is
IMPERATIVE that you
participate in these labs.
However, some students
always will choose to be the
group member who looks
and observes while another
might actually do the true
dissection work. I have NO
problem with this whatsoever.
Along with each dissection,
there are many types of data
that will need to be collected,
and then recorded. It would
not make really good sense for
the person holding the
scalpel to have to also
operate the pen right? quiz scores. Another 40% will
It is important for all of us to
remember that these are NOT
wild animals that were
captured in the natural
environment and killed.
EVERY specimen that we will
study this year comes from a
biological supply company
that is in the business of
raising specimens specifically
for laboratory and research
use. Each animal has also
been carefully euthanized in
the most humane way
possible.
Although many different
types of activities will be used
to assess your grade, the
grading and grade scale will
remain consistent throughout.
Approximately 50% of the
quarter and semester grades
will rely on tests and daily
Should some type of a conflict
depend directly on homework
and lab reports and
participation, leaving the final
10% to be covered by daily
journal writing assignments.
Therefore, even if you are not
the worlds best test-taker,
with hard work you can
ultimately succeed in this
class.
Sometime in the first few
days you will need to obtain a
3 ring binder to be used for
this class only. This should be
reserved for ZOOLOGY only.
During the first day or two we
will be forming and
discussing classroom conduct
rules to be followed by all of
us. These are things which
will make our jobs as student
and teacher go as smoothly as
possible. These rules will be
posted during the first week.
arise the following plan of
action will be followed in
numerical fashion in order to
resolve it:
1) Student-Teacher conference
2) Morning detention with
teacher
3) Parent-teacher or parent-
teacher-student conference
4) Referral to disciplinary
administration
* ONE LAST NOTE *
I am not just your teacher
during this period. I am here
to help you in any way I can.
If you have questions or
concerns please feel free to
share them with me before or
after school. I am always at
school before 7:00am, and
other than during cross
country season, I am almost
always available for help after
school.

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