Bio120 assignment (2012)

The BIO 120 assignment is the following.  Students were assigned a species, either a plant or an animal, and they had to look at a picture of it and identify a trait (usually a prominent one) and then find two articles from peer-reviewed journals discussing the evolutionary significance of that trait.  So, for example one student had been assigned a turkey vulture and found articles about how the nostrils/olfactory system evolved in order to detect carrion/food.  Another student was looking for articles about the toxins found in glands  in a mammal called a slow loris.  I believe the students are also to find one of two articles about the natural history of the animal/plant.

I was suggesting the students use BIOSIS or JSTOR .  Also to look at the references list if they find a good article.   The students were also very concerned that the article be peer-reviewed so I was showing them Ulrich’s (hoping Ulrich’s is working today since an email went out that Bowker is down due to Sandy and not sure if Ulrich’s is part of Bowker).

Other general search tips I tell them is:

-          Search the common name along with the latin name

-          The latin name consists of the genus and species (e.g Cathartes aura).  If this does not find any results or too few, then go broader and just search the genus name e.g Cathartes  instead of cathartes aura

-          Think of synonms for the trait or what the trait does (e.g for pit organs of a rattlesnake I was suggesting pit organ* or facial pit* or thermal detect* (since these glands detect heat)

(From Heather)