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Students may complete one or more (or a combination) of the following options for a maximum of 20 points towards their class grade:
1) Donate blood at ECC's Blood Drive, Sept. 30th - Oct. 2nd (5 points). Be a good humanitarian! Help El Camino College assist the American Red Cross with saving lives, and support the Anthropology Club! It's recommended that you make an appointment to minimize your waiting time. Go to: www.givelife.org (use Sponsor Code: ECC; you'll be required to create a username and password). Many appointment times are still available (appointments are scheduled every 20 minutes).
Go to the Student Activities Center on the date and time of your appointment. It takes approximately one hour (sometimes longer, so be patient!) for the entire process. Before you give blood, please review: Donor Eligibility (scroll all the way down to find out whether you're eligible to give blood).
To receive credit, you need to indicate you're giving blood for the Anthropology Club when you sign-in at the blood drive. You'll be given a white slip by the Red Cross nurse. Give this to me as proof of your blood donation.
Please note: you can only earn extra credit by donating blood at this week's American Red Cross blood drive, hosted by the Student Activities Center of El Camino College. No credit will be given for donations to other blood drives.
2) Gibbon Conservation Center Lecture Tour + essay (20 pts, due Week 16). The center houses a variety of gibbon species (most are rare and not found at local zoos), and is a non-profit organization that does not have regular operating hours. Students and guests may visit the center during a scheduled college or university tour on a Saturday or Sunday (see schedule below).
This is a hands-off tour and you'll be required to stay at least five feet away from the enclosures that house the animals. Please don't attend if you're sick (gibbons are susceptible to the same colds and flus humans are). On the tour, you'll have the opportunity to learn about gibbon behavior and threats to their survival, and witness gibbon behavior firsthand (if you attend a morning tour, you're likely to hear gibbon "songs", an amazing aspect of gibbon territorial behavior and unique to this type of ape).
Please visit the following link for tours, directions and fee information ($10 donation for students): Gibbon Center Tour Schedule and Directions. You may attend any college or university tour that's listed as OPEN TO ANYONE (you'll see El Camino College listed on Oct. 12th, but my students are encouraged to attend a tour after we've covered Ch. 7 & 8 in class). No appointments are necessary; you can simply show up on the date and time of your choice. FYI: morning tours are recommended (the gibbons are more active then and often perform their territorial calls and displays at that time - a must see!). Please note that some appointments are not tours, but rather working groups or volunteer days.
Students must provide their own transportation. The gibbon center is in the vicinity of Magic Mountain, and will require you to drive on a dirt road, off a main road. Follow the directions on the website carefully so you don't get lost! You must arrive on time for the tour, so plan to arrive about 10 minutes early to give yourself enough time to the find the center. The length of the tour is one to one-and-a-half hours. Students will only earn credit if they attend the tour and sign the roster at the gate (no credit will be given if you get lost and can't find the center).
The essay is due the day of the final exam, and must be at least 350 words and organized using the following format (typed in 11-12 point font and double-spaced):
Introduction: include a brief summary of the points the facility director made in his presentation during the tour.
Supporting paragraphs: explain how the material in his lecture relates to our class (e.g. the textbook chapters and lectures dealing with primates). Describe several specific examples of gibbon behavior and/or conservation issues affecting gibbon species.
Conclusion: describe what you learned about primate behavior by attending the lectures, and your reaction to, or opinion of, the lecture tour.
For more information about writing a college essay, see College Essay
As proof of your attendance, and to receive credit, sign the roster when you arrive at the center. Make sure you also sign the GCC roster in class after you've attended the tour.
3) Natural Selection Article Essays (5 points each, due Week 16). Read one or more of the following articles, and write an essay that follows the format below:
The Saltshaker's Curse (hypertension in African Americans)
Curse and Blessing of the Ghetto (Tay Sachs in E. European Jews)
Hidden Benefits (Cystic Fibrosis in Caucasians)
Your essay needs to be at least 400 words and must be organized using the following format (typed in 11-12 point font and double-spaced):
Introduction (one paragraph): Introduce the example of natural selection described in the article, along with a brief summary of some of the main points made by the author.
Supporting paragraphs (two-to-three paragraphs): Elaborate on the points you mentioned in the introduction by explaining the relationship between natural selection and the prevalence of the disease described in the article. Focus on concepts such as fitness and selective pressures and discuss how the mutated recessive allele provides a survival advantage in heterozygotes (carriers), rather than including a lot of historical details.
Conclusion (one paragraph): Wrap up the essay by summarizing a key point discussed by the author, and include a brief discussion about what you learned from, or your reaction to, the article.
For more information about writing a college essay, see College Essay
4) WebLab: The "Hobbits" of Flores (10 points, due Week 16).
Watch Alien From Earth (NOVA) (view all five chapters; approx. 50 minutes) and address the four questions below in a typed paper (11-12 point font, double-spaced).
An ancient legend on the Indonesian island of Flores tells of an elflike creature similar to the fictional hobbit of novels and film. But a controversial 2003 archeological find not only suggests that there could be some truth behind the legend but promises to rewrite a key chapter in the human evolutionary story. This program investigates the discovery, analysis, and startling implications of the "hobbit" of Flores.
1) Discuss the evidence supporting the position that the fossils represent a new species (Homo floresiensis) on the hominid family tree.
2) Explain why some scientists thought the fossils were the remains of a diseased modern human (Homo sapiens), or possibly a pygmy. Then discuss the evidence that challenges this assumption.
3) Some scientists initially thought the fossils might belong to a mini-version of Homo erectus, but now recognize they share many similarities with the Lucy skeleton from E. Africa. Describe the anatomical similarities between Homo floresiensis and Australopithecus afarensis.
4) For many years, scientists thought large brains were, at least in part, behind the migration out of Africa by Homo erectus. Provide a detailed explanation of recent evidence from Georgia that contradicts this assertion. |
