Description

) Address an interesting comparative physiological topic of your choosing about animal, (Please do not write about ecology, cancer or human biology. These are great topic just not part of this course.) 2) Demonstrate that you have found the relevant scientific literature, 3) Write a summary of the issues using the primary scientific literature, and 4) Provide an overview of the field by articulating an interesting point of view

Term Paper

Bio 337 –339 Comparative Animal Physiology

23  points

Due  Wednesday  21 April 2021

The goals of the paper are for you to:

1) Address an interesting comparative physiological topic of your choosing, (Please do not write about ecology, cancer or human biology. These are great topic just not part of this course.)

2) Demonstrate that you have found the relevant scientific literature,

3) Write a summary of the issues using the primary scientific literature, and

4) Provide an overview of the field by articulating an interesting point of view

The paper should include:

1. Title page: Title, your name, the course name and number, and the date.

1. Abstract – Summary of the paper written in 3 to 6 sentences

III. Introduction

1. Define an interesting comparative, evolutionary or environmental physiological question(s)
2. Describe its dimensions- its significance, the levels of biological organization being investigated, the kind of physiology involved, implications for understanding other fields of biology, etc.
3. Outline how you intend to address different aspects of the question(s) by defining subtopics and linking them with a compelling logic.

1. Subtopics – use subheadings and write about each aspect. These sections will form a major portion of the paper

1. Overview-summary- Conclusion – review the evidence and clarify what you have discovered or learned. Include a section about what is still unknown and where the research might go or what additional information you would want about the topic

1. Literature cited –(20 primary literature papers needed for full credit, more are occur welcome and demonstrate a greater understanding of the literature) include a well formatted citation section. If you use web sources (it is likely a few will be necessary), make sure you use the correct citation style for internet sources. Here is one source of information http://library.osu.edu/how-to-find/ask-us/how-do-i-cite-references/cse-citation-guide)

_________________

I know you all can write fairly well, so I expect that grammar, spelling and basic organization will be fine, especially if you get someone to check it for you.

This paper is hard work and perhaps unlike anything you have been asked to do before. It will take many hours of careful reading and writing to produce a high-quality paper.

As to length, I expect that you can do a first-rate job in 2000 to 4000 words. It may be longer or shorter and still be of the highest quality.

I will especially look for the use of citations in the paper to support your statements. I will give a much better grade to a paper that has only 1500 words but cites 20 papers from primary literature showing the has student synthesized the information than I will to a 4000 word paper with 8 citations from web sites that are clearly not from the primary literature.  I will value your paper more if it supports a statement with citations to several papers than a paper that simply restates what you read in each journal article –say one or two paragraphs per paper.

Please feel free to ask any questions as you go.

Here is an example of the style of writing I have in mind from a former student in my lab, Woody Woods. The paper is in part about the metabolic costs of fireflies flashing., a good comparative physiology subject. Notice the citations early in these first two paragraphs of the paper that document the big ideas. Notice that Photinus the species is italicized.  If you google the paper you can get the entire PDF on line.

Woods Jr., W.A., H. Hendrickson, J. Mason, and S. M. Lewis. 1997. Energy and predation costs of firefly courtship signals. The American Naturalist. 170:702-708.

Mate choice in many animals favors those individuals exhibiting the most conspicuous visual, acoustic, or olfactory signals (Andersson 1994). Signal costs play a critical role in sexual selection theory because they are required to prevent the runaway evolution of exaggerated courtship signals as well as to maintain signal reliability (Grafen 1990; Maynard Smith and Harper 2003). Signal costs could arise through diverse mechanisms, including immediate reductions in signalers’ fitness through parasitism or predation (Cade 1975; Tuttle and Ryan 1981; Zuk and Kolluru 1998) or indirect fitness reductions caused by heightened energy expenditure. However, few studies have quantitatively assessed the multiple costs that might be incurred by courtship signals (Kotiaho 2001). Even among the well studied acoustical signals produced by arthropods and amphibians, most studies have focused on either energy or predation costs (e.g., Cade 1975; Prestwich et al. 1989; Zuk et al. 1995). Indeed, multiple costs have been measured in only a few species (Tuttle and Ryan 1981; Bucher et al. 1982; Kotiaho et al. 1998), making it difficult to determine the relative importance of different cost categories.

Bioluminescent signals are used by diverse organisms, including numerous arthropods, polychaetes, mollusks, and fishes (Wilson and Hastings 1998; Herring 2000). Surprisingly, however, the costs associated with bioluminescence have not been quantified. In Photinus fireflies, courtship relies on rhythmic, precisely timed bioluminescent flashes that are emitted by a light-producing lantern located on ventral abdominal segments (Lloyd 1966; Carlson and Copeland 1985). Male Photinus fireflies emit bioluminescent signals in two courtship contexts. Males signal as they fly in search of females; once a female responds, males generally land and engage in a lengthy courtship dialogue with females (Vencl and Carlson 1998; Demary et al. 2006). Within Photinus species, males vary in the pulse duration and pulse rate of their courtship signals, with coefficients of variation ranging from 10% to 20% for flash timing parameters; females prefer signals with longer flash durations or faster flash rates when choosing their mates (Branham and Greenfield 1996; Cratsley and Lewis 2003; Michaelidis et al. 2006).

More writing tips

Students are having difficulty writing papers, particularly the abstracts and introductions.  (I am not worried about this and know it is hard because by-in-large you have not had much experience writing in this style before.) But to help you along, I wanted to include some general comments here.

Three reminders

1) Save writing the introduction and abstract till the end and if you do write a version early on then be prepared to go back and rewrite them.

2) Use the sample I gave you of another student and use review papers you are reading as  models for what you are trying to accomplish

3) Study the instructions I gave you as to what to put in the paper.  In your need to get the paper done you may not have taken time to study the instructions.  Please read them again to orient yourself about the goal of each section.

Abstract

The abstract is intended as a short advertisement for the rest of the paper.  It summarizes the main point(s) of your effort. In 4 to 8 sentences your goal is to draw the reader into the topic, tell them the important issue you are going to address,  give them the specifics of what you found and help them with an interpretation of why this is interesting or important.

Introduction

An Introduction to a paper is usually 3 to 6 paragraphs. It is intended to pull the reader in,  orient them to the importance of the topic, zero in on the topic of the paper or questions you intend to answer.  For review paper you also  tell the reader the order of the subtopics to be considered and the logical of how these topics are going to be connected.  As you consider writing your introduction, think about how you can accomplish these goals. Assume the reader is a biologist who has taken our course.

Elaborations.

Pull in the reader – For example, imaging you are going to write about incubation by birds.  You want to pull in lots of readers so you can start by talking about how animals assistant in the development of their young beyond just producing an egg.

A topic sentence could be “Animals use a variety of strategies to assist in the develop of their young after eggs are laid .  Then give examples.

The next paragraph could begin:

“One kind of assistance is to increase developmental rates by providing heat for the eggs.  Impacts and examples

Then Orient them to the importance of the topic –

Bird incubations strategies what is unique or important: variety of approaches, Brood patch, size of clutch, heat transfer, egg temperatures

Zero in on your topic what are the big questions you are going to address

Physiology of the brood patch

Describe the subtopics of the paper (major headings) and how they are connected