Course Descriptions

BIO 195 - Field Studies in Biology

Variable Credit

This course is designed for students who wish to study a particular natural habitat or environment in a focused, hands-on, field setting. The majority of course work is completed in the field at a local or distant location depending upon the title and focus of the course for a given semester. Students will conduct field observations, record data, participate in and design field experiments and construct a field notebook detailing all aspects of their field experience.

Additional fees for travel, lodging, food, and other field expenses may apply.

Prerequisite: One Biology lab course preferred. Permission of instructor required.

New SUNY General Education: SUNY - Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning)

Retiring SUNY General Education: SUNY-NS - Natural Sciences (SNSC)

MCC General Education: MCC-CT - Critical Thinking (MCT), MCC-SCI - Scientific Reasoning (MSCI)

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the physical, biological, and chemical factors that help shape the environment studied.
2. Make and record observations of natural biology, geology, chemistry, and atmospheric features of a particular habitat or environment.
3. Develop inferences and explanations for observations made in the field.
4. Demonstrate the proper use of scientific equipment used for the collection of field data.
5. Construct a scientific field notebook that details field observations, organizes field data, records field experiment procedures, and documents inferences and explanations for observed field phenomenon.
6. Execute a field-based scientific experiment.
7. Report the results of a field-based scientific experiment.
8. Identify and describe significant organisms common to the environment studied.
9. Discuss the distribution and the relative abundance of organisms observed in the environment studied.

Course Offered Fall

Use links below to see if this course is offered:
Fall Semester 2024
Intersession 2025
Spring Semester 2025