Life Sciences in the 21st Century:
Assignments |
|---|
Jump to the Assigment from...
- August 30th
- By reading this, you are doing your first on-line assignment: Check out these WWW pages!
Make sure you look at "Explore the net!" for interesting links...
- September 6th, Assigned by Dr. Simmons (Biology)
- To be handed in for credit as a "pop" quiz
- Due: Wednesday, September 20, 1995
- Select one article from one of three references available at the Newman Library
Reserve Desk They should be on reserve sometime on Monday, September 11.
These references will be listed under the course coordinator's name, D. E. Mullins:
Biology 2984, index number 9309.
The reference materials containing the articles are:
- Science: Volume 269: pages 324-360 (July 21, 1995) Featuring: "Big Questions
for a Small Planet: Frontiers in Biology."
- Science: Volume 264: pages 1862-1886 (June 24, 1994) Featuring: "Parasitology"
- Scientific American: Volume 273: pages 57-205 (September, 1995) Featuring:
"Key Technologies for the 21st Century."
- If you select an article dealing with a topic of a biological nature, please provide
a one page typewritten, brief summary of the article and include your thoughts on the
implications of this topic on a larger scale. For example, how will these new advances
affect such things as: welfare, social security, or the general sociological/psychological
well being of society?
- If you select an article which deals with a "non-biological" technology, please provide
a one page typewritten, brief summary of the article and include your thoughts on how this
technology might affect biological systems.
- If you have any questions regarding this assignment, please inquire at our next class
meeting, or contact either Dr. Mullins or
Dr. Simmons (See Instructor list
for more contact information).
- September 13th
- This assignment will be worth 10% of your grade for this course.
- Due: Wednesday, September 27, 1995
- Please provide a one page typewritten discussion describing a "typical work day" (8 AM to 5 PM)
ten years from now. Hopefully, it will be an employment situation that you think you would enjoy
and in which you would find a high degree of personal and professional fulfillment.
- If you have any questions regarding this assignment, please inquire at our next class
meeting, or contact Dr. Mullins.
- September 20th
- To be submitted to Dr. Mullins by E-mail
(mullinsd@vt.edu) for credit as a "pop" quiz
- Due: Monday, October 2nd, 1995
- If you are unable to E-mail the answers to these questions, submit them to Dr. Mullins
at the end of lecture, Wednesday, October 4, 1995
- Please provide short answers to the following questions:
- Describe the difference between basic and applied research and propose examples for each type.
- What is biotechnology (define)? Give two examples.
- As always, if you have any questions regarding this assignment,
please contact Dr. Mullins.
- September 27th
- To be submitted to Dr. Mullins
(mullinsd@vt.edu) for credit as a "pop" quiz
- Due: Wednesday, October 11th, 1995
- If at all possible, attend Career Scope '95
- Write a one-half to one page report on what you observed.
You could opt to be more specific by providing a summary of a discussion that you might
have had with one of the Career Scope '95 participants regarding some aspect of career
development or opportunities.
- For those who are unable to attend Career Scope, and therefore unable to file a report,
there will be other ways of handling it:
- I might remove at least one "pop" quiz (lowest score) out of the final tabulation of the course grade
- I could provide an opportunity to do another activity for a "pop" quiz grade
- As always, if you have any questions regarding this assignment,
please contact Dr. Mullins.
- October 4th
- This is a reminder, not an assignment!
- As announced in class, there will be a special program sponsored by the
Virginia Tech Graduate Student Assembly: GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL DAY.
- It is for our undergraduate and graduate students.
- Approximately 50 schools and Virginia Tech departments will be represented and will provide
students with information about their programs.
- Last year, over 600 undergraduate and graduate students took advantage of the opportunity
to acquire information and make contact with the recruiters from the universities.
- Where: SQUIRES STUDENT CENTER, COMMONWEALTH BALLROOM
- When: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1995 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
- Special Note:
- A short write up on this activity can be used to substitute for the Career Scope '95 Assignment
(Assignment 4, which is due on October 11)
- Attendance at this event could be quite useful in obtaining information on Graduate Schools
which may be used on a future assignment regarding graduate school (outlined in the course syllabus)
- October 11th
- Due: Wednesday, October 25th, 1995
- Note, a penalty will be assessed for late submissions!
- Procedure:
- Declare a academic major (College & Department)
- Visit the main office of the department in which you are interested and obtain information
regarding the requirements for a major in that discipline area.
- List courses that will fullfill the core requirements on the forms handed out in class.
Information needed to complete this form may be found in the University Core Curriculum: A Guide
for Students (1995-95).
It can also be found through Virginia Tech's WWW pages:
Go to http://www.vt.edu/ugradCat/ucaContents.html and
click on "Academic Information"
- Develop a four-year plan of study on the forms handed out in class. Information needed to complete
these form may be found in the Undergraduate Course Catalogue and Academic Policies (1994-95).
- You should have been given copies of University Core Curriculum: A Guide for Students (1995-95) and
Undergraduate Course Catalog and Academic Policies (1994-1995) when you enrolled at Virginia Tech.
If you cannot find a copy of either of these two publications, you may wish to use Virginia Tech Home Page
to obtain the information listed above.
- Those links again:
- As always, if you have any questions please feel free to discuss them with Dr. Mullins before or after lecture,
or contact him by phone: 231-5978 or E-mail: mullinsd@vt.edu
- October 25th
- Due: Wednesday, November 8th, 1995
- To be submitted for credit as a "pop" quiz.
- Explore the Net: home page for animal sciences
and then...
- Write a 1/2 to 1 page outlining specific information that you found relating to animal sciences.
- You may wish to document the path you followed to get to the endpoint(s) of your search(es)
- As always, if you have any questions please feel free to discuss them with Dr. Mullins before or after lecture,
or contact him by phone: 231-5978 or E-mail: mullinsd@vt.edu
- November 1st
- Report on a TOUR experience to be held on November 15
- Due: Wednesday, November 29th, 1995
- PLEASE NOTE: This exercise will be counted as a 'double' pop quiz.
(double points!!)
- This is an opportunity for each of you to see some of the many kinds of research and instructional
facilities that are available at Virginia Tech.
- Procedure:
- Please sign up on November 8, for the tour that you will be attending. This will be helpful in
making the appropriate arrangements for the tours. A list will be circulated during class.
- The tours will begin at 4:00 pm November 15, in some cases ground transportation will be provided.
- Write a one to two page summary of your observations regarding the information presented during
the tour. This will be due November 29.
- Tour offerings: All tours will be held concurrently
- Agriculture & Life Sciences: A tour of facilities researching computerized agricultural
descision-making, plant tissue culture, reproductive physiology/pesticide residue laboratories.
- Arts & Sciences (Biology): A tour of a stream ecology laboratory, molecular biology
laboratory, and a discussion and a tour of an environmental restoration program.
- Forestry and Wildlife Resources: A tour of the fisheries, wildlife and forest products
research facilities.
- Biotechnology: A tour of the new teaching research facility; the Fralin Biotechnology Center.
- Human Resources: A tour of the exercise physiology and nutrition and foods laboratories in Human Resources.
- Veterinary Medicine: A tour of teaching and laboratory facilities
- As always, if you have any questions please feel free to discuss them with Dr. Mullins before or after lecture,
or contact him by phone: 231-5978 or E-mail: mullinsd@vt.edu
- November 8th
- Due: Wednesday, November 29th, 1995
- To be submitted for credit as 15 percent of the course grade. A late penalty will be assessed!
- Procedure:
- Decide on an area of graduate study or professional school (medical, veterinary, dentistry, etc.)
which you would like to explore.
- Obtain information on the proposed area from a visit to the Newman Library (second floor near
the reference desk) where there are graduate catalogues of many universities available either
in bound form or as microfiche films.
- Select a graduate program (department) to which you would like to apply.
- Provide a concise narrative which should provide the following information:
- The specific area of study you wish to pursue ( you may wish to name a professor with whom you might
wish to work)
- Graduate Record Examination requirements (GRE scores). A copy of information on this testing service
is on reserve in the Newman Library
- Grade point requirements
- Other requirements
- Financial considerations (tuition costs, availability of research or teaching assistantships, etc.
- Provide detailed information on the source(s) of your information (citation of the graduate school catalogue,
Internet web site, etc.)
- As always, if you have any questions please feel free to discuss them with Dr. Mullins before or after lecture,
or contact him by phone: 231-5978 or E-mail: mullinsd@vt.edu
Send comments on this page to the web master.