Pl P 150 (3 credits)
MWF 9:10-10:00 am-- Johnson Hall Room 343
Instructors: Lori M. Carris (carris@wsu.edu) 335-3733, Johnson 329
Jack D. Rogers (rogers@wsu.edu) 335-3732, Johnson 327
Required Text: Hudler, G. W. 1998. Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Course objectives:
COURSE OUTLINE
Reading assignment from “Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds” indicated for each section.
Jan. 7 Fungi and the Tree of Life (Carris)
Assignment 1—The World’s Largest Fungus Questions and Humongous Fungus Article
Jan. 9 Lifestyles of the Fifth Kingdom (Carris)
Jan.11 Mushrooms, molds and mildews—common groups of fungi (Carris) First part of Assignment 1 due
Jan.14 How are organisms named and classified, why should you care? (Rogers)
Jan.16 Did dinosaurs eat mushrooms? Fungi in the fossil record (Carris)
Jan. 18 The Irish Potato Famine: Why we have so many Irish-Americans (Rogers)
Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day--University Holiday
Jan. 23 Rusts and smuts, tea and gingerbread (Carris)
Jared Diamond's "Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication"
Jan. 25 Ergot, the Salem witch trials and the Love Boat (Carris)
Linda Caporeal's "Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem"
Jan. 28 White pine blister rust: The loss of an industry (Rogers)
Jan. 30 Chestnut blight: The economic loss of a species (Rogers)
Feb. 1 Dutch elm disease: An urban disaster (Rogers)
Feb. 4 Sudden Oak Death: A potential catastrophe (Rogers)
Feb. 6 The World’s Largest Fungus (Carris) See Writing Assignment I
Feb. 8 I’ve got you under my skin: Ringworm, toenail fungus, athlete’s foot (Rogers)
Feb. 11 Systemic mycoses: These can cripple, disfigure, or kill (Rogers)
Feb. 13 Antibiotics and pharmaceuticals: Fungal products in the service of mankind (Rogers)
Feb. 15 Medicinal mushrooms, Kombucha (Carris) Link to Fungi Perfecti and MycoMedicinals
Feb. 18 President’s Day Class Holiday
Feb. 20 Mycotoxins, dead turkeys and foamy beer (Carris)
Feb. 22 Yeasty beasties, brewing and baking (Carris)
Feb. 25 Blue cheese, soy sauce and Quorn: Rotten cheese, liquified beans, and fungus burgers (Rogers)
Essay due for Assignment 1, Scientific Literature and the Popular Press
Feb. 27 Magic ‘shrooms (Carris) Stonehenge--Axes or Mushrooms?
Excellent reference: Letcher, A. 2007. "Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom".
HarperCollins, NY.
Feb. 29 Morels, Matsutakes, truffles and other tasty fungi (Carris)
March 5 Mushroom cultivation around the world (Carris) Writing Assignment 2
March 7 Toads, toadstools, poisonous mushrooms (Carris)
March 10-14 Spring Break
March 17 Fungi in temperate forests: Those we know and love (Rogers)
March 19 Fungi in tropical forests: Those we do not know well (Rogers)
March 21 Molds and mildews (Carris)
March 24 Wood rotting fungi: Nature’s trash incinerators (Rogers)
March 26 Fairy ring fungi (Carris)
March 28 An ode to dung fungi: Some words about nerds who study fungi on turds (Rogers)
March 31 Sick building syndrome (Carris)
April 2 Building decay: Collapsing woodwork and stinky rooms (Rogers)
April 4 Bathroom mold/demonstration of airborne spores (Carris & Rogers)
April 7 Lichens (alga + fungus): Two are sometimes better than one (Rogers)
April 9 Mycorrhizae (plants + fungus) (Carris)
April 11 Fungus farmers: ants, termites & snails (Carris) Ancient Farmers of the Amazon video clip
April 14 Fungi in biological control: It takes one to know one (Rogers)
April 16 Fungi that exploit microscopic animals (Carris)
Fungus, plant or animal?
April 18 Water molds (Carris) Writing Assignment 2 due today!
April 21 Slime Molds (Carris)
April 23 Film: “The Rotten World About Us” (50 minutes)
April 25 Fungi, folklore, art and religion (Carris & Rogers
FINAL EXAMINATION Monday, April 28, 8:00-10:00 AM
Two writing assignments will be given during the semester. Each assignment will account for 20% of the final grade. The first will be on scientific literature as interpreted by the popular press, and will be assigned the first day of class (Jan. 7). The second assignment will involve the use problem-solving, inquiry and information retrieval to formulate and evaluate alternative solutions to a case study involving fungi. Students will work in groups of 2-3 for this assignment, with each group assigned a different case study. This assignment will be made on March 5.
Writing assignments turned in after the due date without prior permission from the instructors will not be accepted. The missed assignment will be included as zero (0) when averaging your grade. For example, if you miss an assignment worth 20% of your final grade you can do no better than 80 (B-) in the course.
Writing Assignment I--The Humongous Fungi: Scientific Literature and the Popular Press
Scientific studies deemed newsworthy and interesting to the public often are summarized in newspaper and magazine articles soon after the studies are published in scientific journals. The results of the study may be misinterpreted because of the journalist’s or reader’s limited understanding of science, or the attempt of the journalist to appeal to a popular audience. This semester we used an article that appeared in Time magazine April 13, 1992, “Humongous Fungus. An Underground Blob May Be the World’s Largest Living Creature”. The article summarized a scientific study published in the April 2, 1992 edition of the scientific journal Nature (Vol. 356: 428-431). During the first week of class you were asked to answer questions to assess your understanding of the information presented in the newspaper article. Your response to these questions is due on Jan. 11. On Feb. 6, we will explain why the study was done, the methods that were used to determine the size of this fungus, the existence of even larger and older organisms, and the public’s fascination with the first, the biggest and the oldest. You are to answer an expanded set of questions (below) as part of a short essay (1 page, double spaced). Essays are due Feb. 25 and will be graded. This assignment accounts for 20% of the final course grade.
Related Links:
The Humongous Fungus Ten Years Later--Tom Volk's Fungi Website
"An Even More Humongous Fungus"--US Forest Service report on the large clone in the Blue Mountains
"Fungus Fest"--Crystal Falls, Michigan
Writing Assignment 2--Case Studies
The objective of this assignment is use problem-solving, inquiry and information retrieval to formulate and evaluate alternative solutions to a case study involving fungi. Key pieces of information will be missing from the case study as originally presented. The assignment will involve the following steps:
1. March 7: Eight case studies will be handed out in class. Read over each case study and decide which case is of most interest to you. Case studies include a question, or set of questions that are to be addressed in the final report. You can work alone, or with one other member of the class. The same grade will be given to each member of a group.
2. March 17: Return the form handed out on March 7, indicating the case study selected, and members of the group working on that case study. Only one form needs to be turned in for each group.
3. Determine the types of information that are needed to solve the case, and identify the appropriate sources for this information. Information from websites may be used if the website is cited correctly in your final report. However, reports should not rely solely on web-based information, and other references must be cited as well.
4. April 21: Final report due.
Requirements: Each group will prepare a 3-4 page (double-spaced) report according to above schedule. The reports are to be prepared using the criteria outlined in the attached rubric. A minimum of two references should be cited for each report. These references may include books, journal articles, or websites, but do not rely on only websites. Refer to the information provided below for proper citation of references. A group report should reflect the work of both members of the group. The reports will be evaluated based on the criteria in the attached rubric. This assignment accounts for 20% of the final course grade.
References: When citing a reference within the report, used the author’s name(s) and date of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence, eg., (Carris, 1999). If the author is not known (common for a website), then use “Anonymous” and the date, eg., (Anonymous, 1999). References are to be cited at the end of the report using the format indicated below.
For reference that is a book:
Hudler, G. W. 1998. Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds. Princeton University Press.
For a reference that is an article in a magazine or journal:
Steindrau, D. C., and Whitfield, J. B. 1994. Chinese caterpillar fungus and world class runners. American Entomologist 40:234-239.
For a reference that is an article in a newspaper:
Angier, N. 1992. Twin Crowns for 30-acre Fungus: World’s Biggest, Oldest Organism. New York Times, Thursday April 2.
For a reference from a website:
q Author’s name (if known, otherwise “Anonymous”)
q Date of publication or last revision (in parenthesis)
q Title of document from website
q Title of complete work (if applicable)
q URL
q Date of access (in parenthesis)
Here is an example of how to cite a website:
Anonymous (updated 2/10/2006). Dangers of taking magic mushrooms. Magic Mushroom Net. http://www.magic-mushrooms.net/index.html (accessed 2/27/06).
Websites that may be helpful for assignment:
Paul Stamet's Mushrooms and Man
EXAMINATIONS
Two closed book examinations will be given during the semester, one at midterm and one during final exam week (see course outline). The midterm examination will be fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice questions and will be worth 20% of the final grade. The final examination will be short answer or short essay questions based upon analysis of a real or fictitious popularized account of a fungal phenomenon, and will be worth 20% of the final grade. Additionally, ten short quizzes will be given during the course of the semester. The quizzes will consist of 3-4 questions based on information from lectures presented the day of the quiz. The quizzes will not be announced in advance and there will be no make-ups allowed. The ten quizzes will account for 20% of the final grade.
Assignment 1 (Scientific Literature and the Popular Press): 20%
Assignment 2 (Case Study): 20%
Quizzes (10 during course of semester) 20%
Midterm Examination: 20%
Final Examination: 20%
GRADE ASSIGNMENT
90- 100 % A
80- 89% B
70-79% C
60-69% D
below 60% F
Students with Disabilities: We are committed to providing assistance to help you be successful in this course. Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. Please go to the Disability Resource Center (DRC) during the first two weeks of every semester to seek information or to qualify for accommodations. All accommodations MUST be approved through the DRC, located in the Administration Annex Bldg, Room 205. To make an appointment with a disability counselor, please call 335-3417.
Plagiarism Policy: Plagiarism is the act of stealing or passing off another’s ideas or work as your own. The most common forms of plagiarism include copying (e.g., cutting and pasting), paraphrasing by changing around a few words or phrases, and failing to cite a source for ideas or facts that are stated. Copying verbatim from a reference, even if you have cited the copied reference, is considered plagiarism. Plagiarism is unacceptable, and papers handed in for this class containing examples of plagiarism will not be given credit. Please refer to (http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/plagiarism/) for advice on how to avoid plagiarizing the work of others in your paper. If you have any questions, talk to one of your instructors.
Suggestions and comments: carris@wsu.edu
Updated April 11, 2008.
