Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

1. Fieldwork Statement
Fieldwork is a professional competence in many areas of Biology. Standard field practices include measurements of abiotic and biotic components. Fieldwork includes use of all the senses to make observations in natural and built environments. Field training may include developing skills in site characterization, measurement and data collection, application of key terms and concepts, species identification, and observation. Certain protocols may require use of equipment, chemicals, and expensive gear. Field training is experiential often leading to unique sets of observations/data in particular locations. Fieldwork may include inherent risks (uneven terrain, off-trail work with map & compass, variable weather, insects, environmental irritants, travel, stress, etc.). Fieldwork can be physically challenging and may require overland travel on foot or unusual means to field points, carrying field equipment (as well as food, water, and safety equipment), taking measurements under duress (learning new protocols, requiring remaining in an unusual posture or position for a length of time, timing pressures for certain procedures, holding organisms, variable weather, etc.), survival skills, orienteering, and so on.

2. Evolution Statement

To clarify the teaching of evolution and its place in the classroom, the Portland Community College Biology Departments stand by the following statements about what is science and how the theory of evolution is the major organizing theory in the discipline of the biological sciences.
Science is a fundamentally nondogmatic and self-correcting investigatory process. In science, a theory is neither a guess, dogma, nor myth. The theories developed through scientific investigation are not decided in advance, but can be and often are modified and revised through observation and experimentation.
The theory of evolution meets the criteria of a scientific theory. In contrast, creation "science" is neither self-examining nor investigatory. Creation "science" is not considered a legitimate science, but a form of religious advocacy. This position is established by legal precedence (Webster v. New Lenox School District #122, 917 F. 2d 1004).
Biology instructors of Portland Community College will teach the theory of evolution not as absolute truth but as the most widely accepted scientific theory on the diversity of life. We, the Biology Subject Area Curriculum Committee at Portland Community College, therefore stand with such organizations as the National Association of Biology Teachers in opposing the inclusion of pseudo-sciences in our science curricula.

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Use appropriate vocabulary to explain plants' roles in ecosystem processes.

• Use key characteristics and established taxonomic schemes to independently and collaboratively identify, classify, describe, and study plants.

• Apply historical and cultural connections with plants to urban planning, agriculture, socioeconomics, and domestic and international issues.

• Collect data to assess individual plant, population, community, and ecosystem health, and/or biodiversity for a specific local area.

• Recommend actions for future ecosystem monitoring and stewardship needs based on biotic and abiotic data collected in comparable systems.

May include lectures, guest lectures, field trips (off-site, on-site, during class, and/or out of class time), student projects, group projects, and/or community-based learning.

Assessment tasks may include:

• Major independent projects, such as, botanical collections with ecosystem reports, experiential learning plus journals, written papers that require library research, and field journals.
• Open-ended essay questions and multiple-choice exams.
• Classroom assessments such as quizzes, one minute summaries, etc.
• Scientific papers that follow standard scientific format presenting independent investigations and may include peer-review(s).
• Oral presentations of botanical information, positions on contemporary issues that involve plants, laboratory results, and/or major independent projects.
• Design and interpretation of field studies.
• Scientific article critiques.
• Laboratory exams and quizzes.

Themes and Concepts may include any subset of the following and each subset will include historical and cultural contexts:

1. An introduction to plant anatomy and morphology.

2. An introduction to plant cells and physiology.

3. Life cycle and characteristics of the phyla Bryophyta, Hepatophyta, and Anthocerophyta.

4. Life cycle and characteristics of the phyla Lycophyta, Psilophyta, Sphenophyta, and Pterophyta (Lycophyta and Monilophyta).

5. Life cycle and characteristics of the phyla Ginkgophyta, Cycadophyta, and Gnetophyta.

6. Life cycle and characteristics of the phylum Coniferophyta (Pinophyta).

7. Life cycle and characteristics of the phylum Anthophyta (Magnoliophyta).

8. Taxonomic features of the common Pacific Northwest plant families.

9. The use and construction of phylogenies and dichotomous keys.

10. The meaning of phylogenetic reconstruction and evolutionary relationships.