Course syllabus for

"Humans and their environments" Biology 140, Biology 440

Fall Semester, 2020

(not offered Spring Semester 2021 nor Fall 2021, Janzen on Sabbatical)).

Time: 3:00 pm sharp to 4:20 pm, Tuesday-Thursday, on dates below.

Method: Virtual via Zoom lectures, recorded at this hour (see calendar), and parked on
Canvas, so may be “attended” at any time after that hour, but we strongly recommend
doing them either at that hour or regularly, at the least, rather than letting them pile up to
a crash attempt at absorption. It is your time; best not to waste it.

Instructor: Professor Daniel Janzen, Room 11, Leidy Labs (basement); tel 215-898-
5636; djanzen@sas.upenn.edu

Teaching Assistant: Ozan Kiratli, kiratli@sas.upenn.edu

Virtual office hours by appointment; he will reply to email requests within 24 hours, but
ONLY BETWEEN 8 am and 8 pm. See “Office Hour Guidelines” on Canvas. Ozan will
forward or include Dan in the virtual meeting where appropriate and scheduling feasible.

THERE ARE NO RECITATION SECTIONS FOR Bio.140/440.

Course website: https://canvas.upenn.edu/courses/1534196

The 2019 web site for Bio. 140-440 was, and still is, open to the public:
https://apps.sas.upenn.edu/caterpillar/index.php (a previous URL was:
http://fission.sas.upenn.edu/caterpillar/index.php), but this Fall 2019 web site will
NOT be updated in 2020 or perhaps, evermore. Instead, the recorded zoom lectures
containing much of the same material, will be edited, polished, updated and made
available through Canvas as one Power Point of images for each lecture (and
associated text, when there is). Associated with that lecture/zoom recording will be
a folder with 1-2 pertinent readings.

Lectures: All lectures will be held on Zoom, the link will be provided on Canvas
Calendar and Modules before 30 August 2020. The lectures will be recorded and
uploaded as video files under Course Recordings on Canvas. We hope to also have them
available for YouTube, but that remains to be seen.

The first full lecture will be on Tuesday, 1 September 2020, continue in examples and
themes on 3 September 2020 (both not good ones to miss, please). Given the virtual
nature of the course, some lectures will be given more time than has been the case in
previous years (Lecture 1-2 is one of those). The lectures and exams for both courses -
Biology 140 and Biology 440 - are the same events (see Course Home Page on Canvas
and calendar below for dates). In addition, Biology 440 students must write a term paper

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(see below). While the content of the three examinations are the same for both courses
and given on the same dates as indicated in the schedule, they are graded/evaluated on
different curves, and Bio. 440 additionally takes into account the quality of the term
paper for a final grade.

The lectures are given as digital image projected essays, mounted on a Power Point blank
background (digital images inserted into blank power point pages). All images used by
Janzen in lecture are in the zoom presentations posted on Canvas. We also record and
post on canvas the lecture material for visiting lecturers. Many images in the power point
are accompanied by a text paragraph approximating some substantial portion of the
comments made about that image in lecture, but certainly not all of them. The text
paragraph may contain additional course material that there is not time to cover in
lecture, but that you are responsible for in the exams. However, we do NOT
recommend attempting to take this course simply by browsing the images and their
associated text without also hearing the recorded commentary. The Zoom lectures and
text are the only way to "make up" a missed lecture (there are no "makeup lectures" or
make up exams). But again, we do not recommend doing the course just from that
source. In the lectures we try to add to what is already in the images as well as
emphasize last- minute thoughts (science is ever-shifting search for more accuracy).

The course philosophy is that each of the lecture topics is huge, worth an entire book if
tackled both by its factual antecedents and background, current analyses and situation on
different parts of the globe. All we can do here is touch on 1-2 concrete on-the-ground
examples, many of which would be required to offer a deep and extensive synthesis, and
relate them to some part of the human experience, mostly “today”. However, all of this
human introspection began 15,000-100,000 years ago in the Pleistocene, and before,
including that each of all of us is a 4-species hybrid of at least four species in the genus
Homo. We have been interacting with the environment, and it with us, for a very long
time.

Textbook: There is no textbook. We attempt to have a few relevant readings available in

an accompanying folder for each lecture. Since there is no textbook, we are assuming
that you will try to really absorb the punch lines and major thoughts from each one of the
readings.

Syllabus: The list of anticipated lecture titles and their dates is below. Unforeseen
circumstances may require a change in order of lectures, but some lecture will happen on
the dates indicated and the examination dates are fixed.

All students are responsible for having read the pdf files in the folder on canvas
accompanying the lecture, just as if they were part of a textbook or text captions for the
images you have already seen in the lecture. We do not expect you to absorb and be able
to regurgitate the details of all of this reading. Rather, we expect you to attempt to read it
and absorb as many of the punch lines, rationale/philosophy, questions being addressed,
etc. as your vocabulary and background allows. There will be 1-2 questions on each of

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the three exams about each .pdf reading. Some more may be added as the course moves
along.

Examinations: There are two mid-semester exams (see calendar below for dates) and
one final exam (on the regular campus-assigned date, speculated in the calendar below).
All questions in all examinations will be on Canvas and multiple-choice, you will have a
full day (24 hours) to take the exam and the entire class period is available to complete
them after starting (80 minutes for midterms, 120 minutes for the final). You will have
only a single attempt to take the exam. They are open book, open source. It is assumed
that you will use your own brains and understanding to address them, rather than have
your answers be plagiarized from someone else (who could easily have gotten them
wrong) and not the result of group discussion (which could also come to the wrong
conclusion). You will have only the class duration to reply to them (1:20 minutes) from
when you receive it (your choice of time), and by far your best chance is to be
sufficiently familiar with the material that you feel that ALL questions are a breeze to
answer correctly. And you might well do it – but in 20 years no one has ever gotten a
perfect score on any of the three exams. But then again, they have never been open book.
All students in all courses will take the same exam, but the final grades will be assigned
differently to the two courses. No letter grades will be assigned to the numerical scores
on the two mid-semester exams, but you can compare your score with that of the curves
for the two classes as separate units, which will be posted on Canvas. We assume that the
Canvas system will allow you to have your personal score as soon as everyone takes the
exam. Please be sure that you have read the Code of Academic Integrity.
(https://catalog.upenn.edu/pennbook/code-of-academic-integrity/)

There are no make-up exams. Under extenuating circumstances (written medical

leave) we will drop your lowest grade on one of the two mid-semester exams, and
assign a numerical score based on how you would have done based on how you do
on the other two exams (a mid-semester exam and the final).

Course paper: Only those students registered for BIOL 440 are required to write a term
paper.

 Each Bio. 440 student must send me personally ( djanzen@sas.upenn.edu ) and

the course TA, Ozan Kiratli ( kiratli@sas.upenn.edu ), a brief 1-2-paragraph
statement by e-mail before midnight on 24 September, as to the subject of your
semester paper, with a proposed title. Please do not send as an attachment, but
rather as the CONTENT of an email. Be certain that the body of the first part of
the email message contains your full name, PennID number, and your FULL
email address. Without this input, we cannot give you a passing grade in the
course. The topic of your semester paper must be a subject of personal interest to
you. Additionally, it must deal with some specific aspect of interaction between
humans and their non-human biological environment (ideally something that you
have already had a bit of experience with, but that is not mandatory). We do not
suggest topics because it is very important that the topic is of direct interest to

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 you. Your email message must include a third paragraph briefly explaining your
personal interest in the topic; please identify this paragraph as such.
 By midnight on 5 November, I need from each Bio. 440 student an e-mail
message (not an attachment) containing a detailed outline (equivalent of 1-2
printed pages) of your semester paper; again, without this outline on this date, we
cannot give you a passing grade in the course.
◦ Please do not send as an attachment, but rather, please send it within the body
of an email message.

These two requirements for outlines are so that we can glance through them and suggest
that you have bitten off too large a package, or that it is only a half empty basket needing
a bit more weight. It is supposed to be a realistic but pleasant exercise.

The Bio. 440 term papers are due as e-mail electronic documents on the date and time of
the final exam. Please send this document as an attachment that you have converted to a
pdf. The paper should be 20-40 pages double-spaced typing in length or its equivalent,
12 point type (please reduce the .pdf to be less than 20 MB (if this is impossible because
of images, talk to me about it). Please send to my djanzen@sas.upenn.edu address and to
Ozan as well. Without this .pdf document, we cannot give you a grade in the course.

Unfamiliar terminology: This course is likely to occasionally use unfamiliar

terminology. I recommend that you keep a list of such words and ask your Ozan about
them during an appointment, but also Google and Wikipedia can be useful to triangulate;
you might as well get used to exploring them as would a dictionary or encyclopedia. Part
of becoming bioliterate is in figuring out how to extract information from the web instead
of fully depending on a direct human interface.

Questions: If you have questions, please ask the TA. Do not rely on rumor. Where it is
feasible and possible, Ozan will pass puzzles on to me.

Names: ALWAYS put your first and last names on emails - there are many of you
with the same first name or last name (human taxonomy still acts like we are a little
village).

Thank you.

Dan Janzen 6 august 2020 djanzen@sas.upenn.edu

Professor of Conservation Biology

Department of Biology
University of Pennsylvania

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FAQ:
How much time should I be spending per week on this course?
The variation per person of the amount of effort is very high, depending on what you
wish to gain from the course; however, at a minimum there needs to be viewing without
distraction of the two 80-minutes lectures per week (in one go or split as you like), a few
hours per lecture for the assigned 1-2 readings, and review of the material should be
enough per week. But again, your presence in this course is assumed to be because you
want to be there, so the amount of time and concentration you invest is up to you.

If I am on a different time zone...

The lectures will be available for viewing on Canvas shortly after they are held. You will
be able to view them on the same day and any subsequent day. As for the exams, since
they will be available to you personally for an 80-minute slot during 24 hours, you will
be able to find a time that works for you to take the test regardless of your time zone.

If I need an accommodation…
In case you need an accommodation, the new format is better designed to provide
resources the students would need, allowing students to take the class at their own pace.
As usual we will be following recommendations of the Student Disabilities Services, and
meet their requirements. You are welcome to e-mail us directly with any further
questions and assistance you may need.

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University Resources:

Learning Resources:
 Weingarten Learning Resources Center
https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/lrc
 Academics Plus for International Students
https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/lrc/lr/academicplus.php

Wellness:
 Wellness at PENN
https://www.wellnessatpenn.com
 The Penn Program for Mindfulness
https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-
service/mindfulness
 Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
https://caps.wellness.upenn.edu
 Sleep resources
https://campushealth.wellness.upenn.edu/SleepWell

Financial:
 PENN Student Financial Services
https://srfs.upenn.edu/sfs
 PENN First-Generation Low-Income Program
https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/fgli
 Student Employment
https://srfs.upenn.edu/student-employment

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Anticipated course lecture calendar:

(1) 1 September Ants and Acacias: ecology and evolutionary biology of

a mutualism - two stories: your professor, and biology;
first half of the story.

(2) 3 September Ants and Acacias: ecology and evolutionary biology of

a mutualism - two stories: your professor, and biology;
second half of the story.

(3) 8 September The world is not colored green, but L-dopa, cocaine and
caffeine. AND, biodiversity prospecting.

(4) 10 September Pleistocene anachronisms: the plants the megafauna left

behind.

(5) 15 September Why do bamboos wait so long to flower? From

whence the chicken.

(6) 17 September The great green solar panel.

(7) 22 September First mid-term exam, open book, time limited to 1:20
hours; through 17 September and readings associated.

(8) 24 September Socioeconomics and biology of tropical timber harvest:

carbon bioeconomics.

(9) 29 September Bushmeat: A day in the life of an African hunter.

(10) 1 October Mimicry: population ecology, evolution, selection,

Phylogeny, taxonomy, perception and inference: why
does so much nature look the same?

(11) 6 October Short? summers: arctic biology.

(12) 8 October Life on a small Caribbean island.

(13) 13 October Guest lecture, to be determined…………

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(14) 15 October What is in a name: taxonomy and DNA barcoding.

(15) 20 October BioAlfa, bioliteracy: facts and biopolitics thereof.

(16) 22 October Animals and their biotic environment: Liomys salvini

Mice, professional seed predators.

(17) 27 October Animals and their biotic environment: beaver, Castor

canadensis professional social builders.

(18) 3 November Guest lecture: Ozan Kiratli, your TA: why is he here?
where is he going? What does he do in this biologists'
guild/silo/ivory tower?

(19) 5 November Second mid-term exam, open book, time limited to 1:20
hours; through 3 November and readings associated.

(20) 10 November "Paradise Reclaimed": in class video on Area de

Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica +
readings and lecture commentary.

(21) 12 November Biodiversity development; collage of examples from a

tropical world: school education, water, biodegradation,
biodiversity prospecting, touch on PL12.

(22) 17 November Full dissection of the integration of a geothermal

industrial site, PL12, into a conserved wildland: trials
and tribulations.

(23) 19 November GUEST lecturer: Professor Rob Pringle, Biology,

Princeton, topic to be determined

(24) 1 December What is a flower? And why.

(25) 3 December What is a fruit? And why.

(26) 18 December ANTICIPATED DATE of the final, but will update

when know.